Kidman feared I Love Lucy casting in Being The Ricardos
Los Angeles – Landing an Oscar-winning A-lister should be welcome news for any movie, but Being The Ricardos producers faced a furious backlash when Nicole Kidman was unveiled as the star who would play legendary comedian Lucille Ball.
Fans of the seminal 1950s sitcom I Love Lucy railed against the Australian actress’ casting as the US national treasure with such venom that Ball’s daughter even posted a video imploring them to “stop arguing”.
“’She doesn’t look like her.’ ’Her nose isn’t the same.’ ’She isn’t as funny.’ Blah blah blah blah blah,” said Lucie Arnaz in January. “Just trust us. It’s going to be a nice film.”
Kidman and writer-director Aaron Sorkin stuck to their guns, and audiences will soon make up their own minds as the film premieres on Amazon Prime Video on Dec 21.
The original I Love Lucy followed the wacky exploits of the Ricardos, a young interracial couple living in New York City, and was watched by up to 60 million viewers at its peak.
Being The Ricardos takes place largely behind the scenes during one week of production on the sitcom in 1952, during which Ball – the show’s lead actress – was very publicly accused of being a Communist.
Javier Bardem plays Desi Arnaz, Ball’s husband both in real life and on-screen in their hugely successful series.
He said it was not ideal to shoot the film during the pandemic as he and Kidman were unable to meet prior to the filming to create a comfortable relationship.
“But it happened... because she’s a great actress, and we did our homework and we came very prepared for it.”
While the casting of a 52-year-old Spaniard to play a more youthful Cuban stoked further controversy among devotees, Sorkin told his actors that he had no interest in replicating the hugely influential sitcom itself.
“He was just so not interested in the carbon copy impersonation – and that’s bold,” said Kidman, 54, at a recent preview screening.
“I had massive trepidation about a month prior, and Aaron had to get on the phone and send me some e-mails saying ‘you got this’... it was frightening but incredibly exciting,” she said.
Being The Ricardos highlights Ball’s trailblazing work as a female star who called the shots on set, and Arnaz’s impressive influence over suited executives and sponsors despite his previous status as a bongo-playing bandleader from Cuba.
As the week unfurls, tensions also bubble in the couple’s frequently tempestuous marriage, with reports that Arnaz was unfaithful and the discovery of her pregnancy.
While the focus is on the real people behind the show, Kidman is occasionally called on to recreate moments from the series, including a famous comedy set piece in which Lucy stomps grapes in an Italian vineyard.
“It was my obsession to get it absolutely accurate,” recalled Kidman. “It was (Sorkin’s) obsession to have the human beings portrayed.”
The original I Love Lucy remains popular on US television reruns even today, although Bardem and Kidman admitted it was “not as well known” to them growing up in Spain and Australia respectively.
But Lucie Arnaz was a regular and “terrifying” presence on set, said Kidman, with Sorkin and his cast “on the receiving end” of her advice about her parents’ depiction.
“I emphasised to each of them that I am not looking for an impersonation of these characters... ‘Play the characters in the script. You’re fully equipped to do this’,” recalled Sorkin.
“I didn’t want either of these two to freak out, to feel that burden that it’s an impersonation. The impersonation is just smaller than what we were doing.” - AFP/REUTERS
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