During a visit this week to “Live With Kelly And Ryan” (via NME), Kidman spoke about the “Being the Ricardos” backlash and how it almost led her to back out of the project. Kidman stars as Ball opposite Javier Bardem as Desi Arnaz. The film is Sorkin’s third directorial feature following “Molly’s Game” and “The Trial of the Chicago 7.” Sorkin directs from a script her wrote. Years ago, Cate Blanchett was circling the role of Lucille Ball.
“When the reality of playing her hit me, I went, ‘What I have said yes to?’” Kidman said. “To which I then went, ‘Oh no, I’m not right. Everyone thinks I’m not right, so I’m going to try to sidestep this.’ The producer Todd Black and Aaron Sorkin were both like, ‘Absolutely not.’ I was in Australia and they were like, ‘No.’ And thank God, because then I was so grateful because I got to fall in love with her.” Sorkin has defended Kidman from the start. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter last month, Sorkin said he was not looking for an actress to impersonate Lucille Ball’s voice and mannerisms. Instead, Sorkin wanted the best actress to play the character of Lucille Ball that he wrote in the “Being the Ricardos” script. That actress was Kidman. “We made this movie during COVID, and so in Zooming with Nicole and Javier and everyone else, I’d make it very clear to them that I am not looking for a physical or vocal impersonation of these people,” Sorkin said. “Leading up to the first rehearsal, I’d write to them every day, ‘Just play the characters who are in the script.’ I know that Nicole was working on Lucy’s voice for a while, and I wanted to relieve her of that.” Sorkin continued, “As far as audience anticipation, that’s something I’m just not worried about. I’m certain that when people see the movie, they’ll leave feeling that Nicole has made a very solid case for herself.” Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.
