Nicole Kidman almost backed out of playing Lucille Ball after receiving backlash for not resembling her
"Everyone thinks I’m not right, so I’m going to try to sidestep this," the actor recalled thinking
Aux News Lucille Ball
When Nicole Kidman was cast as Lucille Ball in Aaron Sorkin’s Being The Ricardos, people on social media acted like she’d said she kicks puppies. There were hundreds of tweets saying Kidman was poorly cast. Debra Messing started trending on Twitter, with many suggesting that she would’ve been the better choice to play the silver screen legend. And it turns out that Kidman, despite not being very active on social media, wasn’t immune to the harsh and very loud criticism.
During an appearance on Live With Kelly And Ryan, the actor said the backlash made her consider dropping out of the film. “When the reality of playing her hit me, I went, ‘What I have said yes to?’ 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,” she explained.
But she was convinced to stay: “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.”
The trailer did manage to convince some that Kidman wasn’t a bad pick, with the actor looking like an uncanny valley version of Ball, and trying her hardest to get the voice right (it’s not quite there, but it’s passable enough).
Now, the main casting issue people are concerned about is that Javier Bardem—who is from Spain—is playing Desi Arnaz, who was Cuban. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Sorkin defended his decision, claiming it’s not wrong to cast a non-Latinx actor in a Latino role:
“I want to tell you my opinion on this and I stand by it, which is this: Spanish and Cuban aren’t actable, OK? They’re not actable. By the way, neither are straight and gay. Because I know there’s a small movement underway that only gay actors should play gay characters. Gay and straight aren’t actable. You could act being attracted to someone, but most nouns aren’t actable.”
“We know that blackface is demeaning because of its historical context, because you’re making ridiculous cartoon caricatures out of people. We know that Mickey Rooney with the silly piece in Breakfast at Tiffany’s and that makeup, doing silly Japanese speak, we know that’s demeaning. This is not, I felt,” he continued. “Having an actor who was born in Spain playing a character who was born in Cuba was not demeaning. And it wasn’t just the casting consultant who agreed, Lucy and Desi’s Cuban American daughter didn’t have a problem with it. So, I’m very comfortable with it.”
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impressed by her in the trailer. It’s crazy an A-lister like Kidman still feels like a fraud when viewing the world from others eyes even with her success, a lesson to all us pleebs who feel like imposters sometimes.it’s also weird when people focus so much on appearance for roles. Spencer for example, well I don’t think Stewart looks a lick like Diana but my mind completely fell for how well she captured the mannerisms that I forgot it was Stewart very quickly.
Can you guys fucking once not act like you weren’t the ones who led the mob and pitchforks?
If you’re gonna get mad, the commentariat deserves as much of your scorn as anyone else.
“The most important thing about casting an actor as a real-life person is how much they physically resemble that person.” – Idiots the world over
Well you forget that acting is really easy and anyone can do it. Except that half of the people who are currently doing it are all simultaneously the worst actors on earth and shouldn’t be allowed near any project.
“I’m gonna go on Twitter and pretend I’m upset about something I don’t understand and/or just learned about 5 minutes ago.”– Also idiots around the world
You get it. We get it.
Capturing the subject’s energy matters a lot more than looking exactly like them. Nothing I’ve seen Kidman in suggests she has Lucille Ball’s physicality or comic timing or other not-quite-definable traits. I think it’s going to feel like a flat impersonation and when the impersonation is flat most people will zero in on the lack of physical resemblance first as they can’t explain what’s really missing.
Kidman has amazing comedic talent and people forget that just because she’s in a lot of prestige television.Even Nine Perfect Strangers relied a lot on Kidman’s comedy as much as people focused on the accent. It’s a bit darker of a brand of humour she brings, but it still relies on a lot physical/comedic timing.
My biggest complaint remains that she no longer wears a human face.
“But we’ll happily make exceptions whenever we feel like it. OMG CHARLIZE THERON MONSTER SO BRAVE.” – same idiotsThe more alleged nuance your position has, the greater your moral and intellectual responsibility to both articulate and defend it. Instead, we’re once again (still? Forever?) at the mercy of people who think “I’ll know it when I see it” is good enough – because, well, they’re Good enough.I mean, if you’re asking me to explain and defend exactly why Charlize Theron and Nancy Cartwright are in the clear, but Nicole Kidman and Hank Azaria aren’t, you’re already presumptively a Bad person. A Good person would know it just by seeing it, just like I do. And once it’s obvious you’re a Bad person, then it’s also quite likely you already know exactly why I’m correct about everything. You’re just being Bad in another way, simultaneously, by pretending you don’t get it and muddying the waters by demanding explanations and arguments.
A good example is Angela Bassett doesn’t really look like Tina Turner bit she did a great job inhabiting her.
I think this concept of an actor “looking right” has led to some other regrettable choices, like ‘Rogue One’ deciding to create a digital Tarkin in the wake of Peter Cushing’s death, rather than casting an actor who might not look 100% accurate but can actually, you know, deliver a human performance.
If Chevy Chase tried playing Gerald Ford now, even in a comedy sketch, he’d get the same shit from the same people; ironically, this is about the last thing that Chase deserves criticism for.
They were originally going to cast Crispin Glover as Lucille Ball, until they thought better of it.
I would totally watch this. Especially if Ricardo was played by a snail, voiced by Fairuza Balk.
And he almost got the part…until he almost kicked the casting director in the face.
Fuckkkk…I really want Crispin Glover as Lucille Ball now.I can’t get that image out of my head!
And they wouldn’t even actually have to have him on set to do it. They could just have a random actor wear his fake face like in Back to the Future II!
Crow T. Robot would’ve been a good choice. He would have look adorable in a red wig and a dress.
“WAHHH, Ricky, it turns out I was never funny!”
I still think the decision to replace Chris Pratt with Javier Bardem was the right one.
Hahahahaha… Ok, I’m sorry. But “it did manage to convince some” while linking to YOUR OWN STORY just cracks me up.
Respect to Sorkin for saying what he believes and not giving into the Twitter mobs. The “only gays can play gays” trend (among others) is so dumb. (And yes I’m gay so I’m “allowed” to have an opinion on the matter)
That makes at least two of us then! Art is artifice, gay actors who can’t act don’t get to skip the line.
Yeah, plus, are gay men really having a disproportionally hard time finding acting jobs compared to straight men, because of their sexuality? Like, come on.
I don’t think it’s as much an issue now but even 15-20 years ago being out would disqualify a gay man from playing the lead in romantic comedies, the best they could hope for would be comic relief sidekick.
Now that, I can buy. But yeah, a lot’s changed since the mid-2000s.
yeah gay men get less roles once they come out which sucks
The worrying corollary of “gay and straight aren’t actable” is that gays can /only/ play gays, which is very limiting, and would… disqualify Quinto as Spock! Jodie Foster as Ellie Arroway! Neil Patrick Harris as poonhound Neil Patrick Harris! I won’t allow it.
Also it’s kinda weird to ask gays to publicly announce what kind of people they like having sex with in order to be eligible for certain roles, imo
I can’t believe they didn’t get someone named Lucy to play the part. How dare them…
At times she looks like Lucy but then her extended chin and plastic surgery cheek bones ruin it. One thing she appears to nail is Lucky’s voice. Spot on!
Psst, the consensus on “latinx” has landed on “don’t use it, it’s condescending and demeaning”. You might want to update your style guide.
Debra Messing started trending on Twitter, with many suggesting that she would’ve been the better choice to play the silver screen legend.Yes, this was definitely a real sentiment and not an astroturfing campaign by Messing’s publicist.
after so much plastic surgery she doesn’t resemble anyone
she should be playing aliens and queens in fantasy movies
she looks like she is wearing a mask to trick facial recognition software
I’m interested to see the result. My opinion of Nicole Kidman has shifted greatly over the years, since its nadir about halfway through Eyes Wide Shut. What a god-awful movie. I was prepared to hate her in Moulin Rouge, not be disappointed when she didn’t win the Oscar (although it’s tough to argue after looking back at that year’s nominees – wow).Kidman is a very good actor whose work I think suffered from the overexposure early in her career. Pretty sure she’s as up to the task as anybody.
Latainx isn’t a thing. Please stop trying to make it a thing.
“I was in Australia and they were like, ‘No.’”Out of context, this just sounds like Black and Sorkin were disapproving of her geographical location.