Matt Bomer knows that even if he’s not a Ken, he’s still a ten.
Bomer, who is currently starring in the limited series Fellow Travelers and in the movie Maestro, went on the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon earlier this week where he talked about how busy he was in 2023 and how it lead to him missing out on an opportunity to play one of the Kens in this year’s biggest blockbuster movie Barbie.
When Fallon brought up that Bomer has been making headlines this year because he auditioned for Barbie, but ultimately wasn’t in the movie, Bomer shared that he had a great time auditioning and wore “four different looks” including “Malibu Ken” and “business suit Ken.”
“I got really into it, actually,” he said of the process. “I had some projects in development — I wasn't sure if they were gonna happen, or when they were gonna happen — so I auditioned.”
Ultimately, Bomer didn’t take the role because he had other projects lined up and thought it would mean spending too much time away from his family.
While many actors would end up with major regrets having missed out on the opportunity, Bomer said he doesn’t regret it.
“I mean, I hope I get to work with Greta someday — she’s phenomenal,” he said about the film’s director Greta Gerwig. “But I think they made a perfect movie and it was cast perfectly, and I got to do Fellow Travelers and Maestro and spend time with my family.”
Watch the entire interview below.
Maestro is a biopic that tells the story of bisexual composer Leonard Bernstein and his wife Felicia Montealegre starring Bradley Cooper and Carey Mulligan in those respective roles. Bomer plays clarinetist David Oppenheim, a man Bernstein had a romantic and sexual affair with before his marriage.
In Fellow Travelers, Bomer plays Hawk Fuller, a Washington, D.C. insider who is hiding his gay identity during the Lavender Scare. The series follows him and three other men through the McCarthyism of the ’50s, Vietnam War protests of the ’60s, disco and hedonism of the ’70s, and the AIDS crisis of the ’80s.
Maestro is currently streaming on Netflix, while Fellow Travelers is streaming on Showtime and Paramount+.