Nicole Kidman Says she's "Way Out Of Her Comfort Zone" in Playing Lucille Ball

[JamesG]

Nicole Kidman says She's "Way Out Of My Comfort Zone" as Lucille Ball: "I'm Never Cast Funny"
by Janine Puhak
June 11, 2021


Nicole Kidman loves Lucy! In a recent conversation with Chris Rock for Variety, the 53-year-old Oscar winner opened up about the joys and challenges of playing comedy queen Lucille Ball in Aaron Sorkin's upcoming film, Being the Ricardos.

Pushing herself to perfect Ball's voice, Kidman said: "I've had to put in an enormous amount of time on Lucille Ball right now, because she has a very particular way of speaking."





Agreeing with the 56-year-old stand-up star's comment that Ball was "just one of the most talented people to ever roam the earth," Kidman said, "I am way out of my comfort zone right now, Chris! I'm free-falling."

"I'd like to be funny. I'm never cast funny," she said. Joking with the actress, Rock said, "Oh, you could be funny. You're playing Lucille Ball. You better be funny."

"Lucille Ball is hopefully funny. The strange thing about Lucille Ball is that everyone thinks we're remaking the 'I Love Lucy' show, and it's so not that. It's about Lucy and Desi and their relationship and their marriage," Kidman said. "It's very deep, actually."





Praising the comedy and sitcom legend as a "trailblazer," Kidman highlighted just how far ahead of her times Ball truly was.

"She formed her production company. Desi was Cuban, and she had to fight to get him on the show. They had just so many things in their marriage that are so relevant today, and what she was also dealing with in terms of everything that artists deal with, where you're up against big corporations. And you're like, "No, this is art,'" Kidman said.





Being the Ricardos is a biographical drama about Ball and her husband, Desi Arnaz, who starred in the popular 1951 sitcom "I Love Lucy". The two were married in 1940 and split in 1960.

Javier Bardem stars as Arnaz, Ball's then-husband and comedic partner. Tony Hale, Alia Shawkat, Clark Gregg and Jake Lacy also appear, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Aaron Sorkin will direct.

A release date was not yet announced.

https://ew.com/syndication/nicole-ki...lle-ball-role/

[Babalu]

I really can't see it but time will tell.

[Wawwie]

If the movie is called "Being the Ricardos" that was when Lucy was in her early, mid and late 30s. Nicole Kidman is 56, so I think that's kinda long in the tooth to be playing Lucile Ball.

[JamesG]

Cate Blanchett was originally supposed to portray Lucille Ball when the project was first announced and Lucie Arnaz said she was pleased with her casting.

It wasn't announced why Blanchett was replaced w/ Kidman.

[JamesG]

Nicole Kidman on Replacing Cate Blanchett in Being the Ricardos
by Jessica Wang
Dec. 27, 2021


Aaron Sorkin's biographical drama Being the Ricardos almost cast another Oscar-winning Australian actress as Lucille Ball, and its star is addressing the switch-up for the first time.

Nicole Kidman stars as the legendary comedian in the Amazon Studios drama, which chronicles Ball's turbulent personal and professional relationship with husband Desi Arnaz (Javier Bardem) over the course of a production week on set of their hit sitcom, "I Love Lucy".




Kidman was cast in the role after Cate Blanchett, who was in early talks to star as Ball, dropped out due to scheduling conflicts. In an interview with The New York Times published on Sunday, Kidman reflected on replacing the fellow Aussie, sharing a personal casting philosophy: everything happens for a reason.

"I feel like there's a sacred pact among us all — whoever gets something, that's where it was meant to land," Kidman said.




Ball and Arnaz's daughter Lucie, who serves as executive producer on the film, told the Times that she was "devastated" when Blanchett departed the project. "It just took too long and we lost her," she said. "I was devastated."

Arnaz said the casting process had been challenging before finding Kidman. "None of them made me happy," she said. "It was always like, who's the flavor of the month? Who's got the hot movie of the minute?"




While the project found its Ball, Kidman's casting initially caused a stir online: critics noted that she bore no resemblance to the comedy icon. The Oscar winner admitted that the backlash caused anxiety — so much so that she tried to drop out of the film.

"I went, 'What have I said yes to?'" Kidman said while on "Live with Kelly and Ryan" earlier this month. "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."

Sorkin and the film crew had other ideas. "The producer Todd Black and Aaron Sorkin were both like, 'Absolutely not,'" Kidman said. "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."

https://ew.com/movies/nicole-kidman-...-the-ricardos/