Lucille Ball was, in her day, one of the most powerful women in Hollywood, not just because of the success of I Love Lucy, but because of her successful studio, Desilu Productions, which produced many hits. She was a smart businesswoman, one of the most gifted comediennes in history, and apparently quite a piece of work in romantic relationships. Her marriage to Desi Arnaz lasted twenty years, half of which they spent on-camera for I Love Lucy’s decade-long run. It was no secret – the last years of their marriage, and the last years of the show, were pretty difficult for both Lucille and Desi. And now Aaron Sorkin is going to make that tragedy into an overly cerebral, dialogue-heavy walk-and-talk. Starring Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem. WHAT.
Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem are in negotiations to play the iconic Hollywood couple Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, respectively, in the upcoming film “Being the Ricardos,” directed by Aaron Sorkin.
The movie will take place during a production week on the set of “I Love Lucy,” starting with a Monday table read through an audience shoot on Friday. Ball and Arnaz will face challenges that could end their careers and their marriage.
Sorkin has written the screenplay and will direct the film for Amazon Studios and Escape Artists. Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal and Steve Tisch of Escape Artists will produce. Escape Artists’ Jenna Block and David Bloomfield will serve as executive producers, alongside Stuart Besser, Lucie Arnaz, Desi Arnaz Jr., and Lauren Lohman. A production start date isn’t clear as the COVID-19 pandemic has shut down most projects filming in the U.S.
There have been various Lucille Ball bio-pics and Lucy/Desi screenplays batting around Hollywood for years, but this is the first time I’m hearing about Aaron Sorkin being attached to one. And the casting…my God. This is tragique. I’m a fan of Nicole Kidman too, I think she’s a fine actress. Javier Bardem is a fine actor as well. But they’re both terribly wrong for Lucy and Desi! My goodness. And if they’re doing it at the end of Lucille and Desi’s marriage… I mean, why not Debra Messing? She’s always been discussed as a potential candidate for a Lucille Ball project. I feel like Jessica Chastain would be a better choice than Kidman too (and Chastain’s face moves). AMY ADAMS! Why not Amy Adams??
As for Javier… dude is Spanish. He has a completely different accent than Desi’s thick Cuban accent. Ooh, did you know Bobby Cannavale is half-Cuban? HMMM. (I literally spent five minutes Googling and I feel like I found a much better cast for this project, I hope Aaron Sorkin calls me. Amy Adams and Bobby Cannavale should be Lucy and Desi.)
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
Aren’t they both just a little too old ? Presumably they’ll have younger actors for the earlier years ?
yeah, they’re both too old, don’t look anything like Desi and Lucille, and Nicole Kidman’s face doesn’t move in the slightest so how in the world is she supposed to portray Lucy.
just truly, epically awful casting.
my issue is not the age per say. As you said, Nicole’s face can’t move anymore, how can she possibly portray Lucille?
Anyway, another biopic to pass………….
Exactly. Lucille Ball had the most expressive & animated face, Nicole Kidman’s Botox-frozen face is the complete antithesis of that.
I spent every episode of the Undoing trying to decide if Nicole got a bad facelift to go with all the filler and Botox. Her skin was just so pulled looking, especially around the cheeks and temples. So no, she can’t do Lucy justice. Pass the role onto someone who is still capable of expression.
I used to hang out on the Paramount lot when I was a kid, I met Lucy quite a few times when she was doing her “The Lucy Show”. She was a hard, gravel voiced, take no shit woman who COMMANDED the set, and when the red light when on, SWOOSH: Funny, slapstick, rubber-faced-wide-eyes GENIUS comedienne. Nicole Kidman not only doesn’t look like her, she won’t come close to *sounding* like her, or have ANY of her comedic timing. The ONLY thing they have in common is height. ***AND I WILL NOT FORGET HOW NICOLE (Along with WILL FERRELL) SCREWED UP “BEWITCHED” !! lol
Actress who were GREAT Lucys incl. Debra Messing and Fran Drescher, who, sadly, are too old, unless you are doing Lucy AFTER I Love Lucy and more into to “Lucy Show” years (don’t forget, Lucy was older than Desi, and was already in her late 30s when I Love Lucy was starting).
To me, you HAVE to get Lucy *right*. SHE is the main dish.
Yep, Kidman’s face can’t move. Horrible casting. Debra Messing would be a better choice although she is a bit older too.
@(TheOG) Jan90067
Thanks for sharing some truly delightful to read bits about LB! This role belongs to either Messing (my choice) or Drescher. Kidman is spectacular at what she does, but this isn’t her part. Messing would have slayed.
Lucille Ball was 40 when I Love Lucy began. I don’t think age is an issue, but please, just no. They both deserve more respect.
OOPS.. Sorry FHMom… I didn’t see you posted about Lucy’s age when I put up my post above.
Lucy at 40 still had it because when she was young she was quite something. Bone structure.
Which doesn’t fit w/the later “gravel voiced” woman — there IS a lot going on. And the theme is how they changed. The theme of their life, not necessarily Sorkin’s.
They should’ve cast several people for Lucy and a couple guys, maybe, for Ricky. Be avant garde. Actually, they could cast someone like Amy Adams to “play” the younger Lucy. It would be innovative.
Have several women play her over time. But then, Sorkin only has one gear, which I like, but only one. So maybe different writers for each Lucy?
This could be so much better if people only respected a woman’s success, and a Cuban man’s success.
Too old and not at all right for the roles.
I love Aaron Sorkin (I know some people find his fast walking/talking style to be annoying, but I love it), I love Nicole Kidman, and I love Javier Bardem. I do not love this. It just feels very off to me.
I think casting people like Lucy and Desi has to be very carefully done, or else they become caricatures, and so at least from that point, I dont think Nicole and Javier would turn them into caricatures, but I also just dont see it. At all. and I dont see how Aaron Sorkin is going to make this work.
I dont know. Maybe it will be better than we’re thinking. but reading this, I’m just thinking, NOPE.
I love Aaron too, I’m a Lucy fan and I am hating him for this casting. It’s a misfire on every level. There are other redheads in Hollywood, ones with faces that still move! And Javier, ugh, how was he even considered for Desi??
Jessica Chastain should be the only name discussed for this.
Or Debra Messing.
I saw Debra Messing’s name somewhere else and she would have been PERFECT.
Debra Messing, yes. Or the actress from Enchanted maybe.
Or Rachel Brosnahan.
Huh?!
I concur.
Exactly my reaction too… Whuhhh?
hate it with passion and on so many levels.
agreed
Ditto! Javier is too burly. (He’s more my type, but less a Ricky Ricardo.) As for Nic, her American accent is unreliable at best, not to mention the pronounced NFEI (natural facial expressiveness impairment) others have cited.
Nicole’s face is so distracting to watch. She’s talented and beautiful but I find myself staring at all the work she has had done. Amy or Jessica would be better choices. Also, how hard is it to find an actual Cuban actor?!
Amy!
And yes, Nicole’s face has that weird puffy, pillowy look people get when they use too many fillers. I still think her biggest mistake was inflated her upper lip. Her whole mouth drifted half an inch down her face.
She was so beautiful before she started doing things. She could have aged really gracefully.
Yeah, I used to love Nicole and I still think she’s a great actress, but watching her in the Undoing was distracting because of the work she has had done. Her face doesnt move.
I think she’s a great actress and she was beautiful, but during The Undoing I just found myself staring at her completely wrinkle free forehead, distracted by how she was supposed to be feeling ALL OF THE EMOTIONS and yet none of them showed on her face.
It’s her mouth that distracts me the most now. In the undoing, she would kind of stick her tongue halfway out when she was thinking, but her lips didn’t move. It looked like someone was sticking their tongue through a plastic mask. Very disconcerting. I think she’s a wonderful actress, and beautiful in stills, but I cannot watch her act anymore.
I agree. The Undoing was nearly unwatchable when she was on screen because she was supposed to be looking worried or terrified, but because she can’t move her face to furrow her brow, she just gave crazy eyes. It was ridiculous.
So wrong! And while I think Javier Braden is sexy, Desi Arnaz had matinee idol looks when he was younger.
oh nooo
Couldn’t think of 2 more wrong people for a role like that.
Wasn’t Cate Blanchett announced for this a while ago? I think they had a photo of her with the hair and makeup too.
ETA: I can’t find the photo anywhere, so maybe I imagined that. I love both of them, but I think Cate would’ve been better than Nicole Kidman. An unknown was probably the way to go here though.
I believe I read that she bowed out of the project. If this is an indication of how it’s going, then I can see why
Nicole Kidman has nowhere near the range of facial expressions required to play Lucille Ball on camera and in private dealing with a volatile marriage. Ball liked to mug for the camera. Her face crinkled up. Kidman literally cannot do this.
Nicole is like a porcelain doll now,which is such a shame because she is such an amazing dramatic actress but now with a face that cant move.
I’m truly hoping our Cuban people stand up and DEMAND their representation (I’m there with you). Desi is a gd icon for Cubans specifically and Latinos in general. This man had his own studio and ran with the big boys during the 1950s and 60s (hello racists) and produced some of the biggest TV shows in history. His Cuban heritage was a huge part of who he was. And I’m sorry, but Javier Bardem doesn’t look like he could EVER pass for Cuban, even if you want to make the argument that all of us Latinos and chicanos and Hispanics are the same. F your “big” celebrity names and do Desi right.
And I like Nicole Kidman but Lucy put some wrinkles on her face making those faces. BIG FAIL
NO. Nicole’s face is frozen & Lucille contorted her features purposely. Nic can’t do it. Desi was a handsome man with very even features. I love Javier, but his face is almost scary. Bad profile.
My I would have thought of the actor Raúl Esparza and for the actress absolutely not Kidman because Lucille Ball had a very expressive face and an atmosphere more joyful and warm than Nicole Kidman. So I think would Debra Messing, Amy Adams, Laura Dern, Jessica Chastain or Cate Blanchett will be a better choice that Kidman .
Hate it, but that’s because I loathe biopics that entail actors imitating the known voice/expressions of someone else. It’s always so forced and garish. Not to mention distracting. I can’t imagine anyone trying to twist their face into Lucy expressions–even worse a well-known actor who will NOT disappear into the role. It’s gonna be baaaaaaaad. No effin thanks.
I think about rami malek in bohemian rhapsody…..that film will NOT age well
Javier Bardem? They couldn’t at least get someone from the Caribbean? I don’t like Nicole Kidman for the role but I dislike Javier more. And totally agree about the age thing.
Yikes…uhhh, no, just….no. I think we all knew this project would have to be Big Names…but wow, there are better Big Names for this!
And how long before someone tries to argue: “POC! There’s representation!” Because Javier was cast?
Ummm, NO. He’s Spanish. A preemptive STFU to whoever tries to raise that.
I don’t get it to be fair. Why is it in this instance okay for a white European actor to play him?
And the accent comment? They never get accents right anyway. Not when playing Europeans either.
I like them, so I will watch. But I don’t know. I’ve never found Nicole good at funny.
Nicole learned nothing from the Grace Kelly debacle. And Aaron, dude, Javiar as Ricky.
What the hell is wrong with you. He is not Cuban, not even close and a huge fail on your part for not even trying.
Bardem can presumably work with a dialogue coach on the accent, but can he be funny? In the James Bond film he was quite hammy, and I think that’s maybe the same tone he has in ‘Mother.’ Can anyone think of a truly comedic performance of his?
Same issue with Kidman. She was in ‘Paddington’ and ‘Bewitched,’ but nothing else in her recent filmography comes to mind.
Maybe Sorkin’s script is going to be about how she was dead serious when not in her Lucy persona, and here’s the potential disintegration of a marriage. It could be interesting to watch the couple try to strategize how to deal with accusations of Communist sympathies. Still, i think Kidman’s cosmetic work has stranded her in the uncanny valley, so maybe she should focus on voice work for a couple years.
Regardless of accent, Bardem is a Spaniard. Ricky was proudly Cuban. This casting is incredibly ignorant.
Nicole Kidman? NO!! She is way too plastic at this point to play anything but a Barbie doll. I found her so jarring when I watched The Undoing on HBO.
I love Nicole but a lot of her most recent roles, as I’ve watched them, I’ve thought “I would rather see Amy Adams in this.” I thought it the whole way through The Prom. It feels true here too. I feel like Adams more recent projects have been so wrong for her and Kidman’s roles should have been Hers. I hate it? LOL
Nope. Leave things be. They are major icons. We dont need stars cast. If anything we need extremely talented comedians and musicians who actually look like Lucy and Desi. They are out there.
I know it wasn’t a biopic, it was fiction based on fiction, but i can’t trust Nicole Kidman since she was involved in that dreadful “reworking” of Bewitched.
Stay away from my nostalgic sitcoms Nicole!
saddest part was that was a nora ephron film.
I really don’t care for Amy Adams and I have no idea why. She just bugs but still a much better choice as Lucy.
Honestly the worst part of the film will be Sorkin. He’s got issues writing women and minorities.
I’m the same with Jessica Chastain. I just dont care for her. I think sometimes that’s just how it goes. Some actors you “click” with, so to speak, even as a fan, and some you dont.
I feel that way about Debra Messing. Lol. Just not a fan.
Oh man, Amy Adams and Bobby Cannavale would have been perfect casting! I would have watched the hell out of that.
My mother suffers from dementia and we have “I Love Lucy” and “Mr. Bean” on constant repeat – two shows that can still actually make her laugh out loud.
I love this. Its so heartening when they can still connect with things. Getting to hear her still laugh is a real gift in all of the crappy reality of the other stuff.
I don’t have dementia, and I still watch them, too! lol. And I DO still laugh out loud!
I have a dear friend I went through grad school with. We used to do Lucy marathons when we needed a break. We STILL do Lucy marathons every so often. She even used the I Love Lucy episode where Lucy tells Ricky she’s pregnant to tell her own husband she was pregnant when she had her first! lol
Lucy may be “simple” by today’s standards, but funny will ALWAYS be funny!
My father, too, is in dementia, and the only thing that can make him laugh is Faulty Towers. I am so grateful for that show!—for allowing my father to return, at least a little, to himself, and back to us. He doesn’t laugh at much of anything else, onscreen or off.
Lucille Ball had a very expressive face and a loud, boisterous voice.
Nicole Kidman can no longer move her face and baby-whispers her lines most of the time.
She’s just all wrong for this and it makes me mad because Lucy is sacred. She’s a national treasure. You can’t just put anyone into that role, I don’t care how many awards she’s won.
I hate it.
I cannot fathom either of them has the comedic timing to make this work the way it should.
Amy Adams is right there. Have they not seen Miss Pettigrew lives for a day?
+1 Amy in Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
Amy Adams would be fantastic! I just re-watched American Hustle and she was so good. I love that movie and also the costumes are gorgeous. I also really love Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day! Lee Pace should be an A list movie star and i don’t know why he isn’t.
Also, I humbly submit Pedro Pascal
This! I think Pedro has just the right charisma and swag to play Desi. And Debra Messing, Amy, or Jessica for Lucy. Nicole is just not at all right for the role.
Pascal is Chiliean, not Cuban. Pretty sure there are actual Cuban actors out there they can cast.
Yes, I’m well aware of where Pascal is from. I did not suggest him for his nationality.
I love Nicole in so many of her roles, but this is just wrong. Wrong look, wrong energy. And anyone who has seen the Lucy and Desi episode on Will and Grace would know that Debra Messing was born to play Lucille Ball! If you guys haven’t seen, you really need to! It’s some of Debra’s best acting!
This is horrific casting. Nicole Kidman is almost 6 ft. I don’t think of Lucille Ball as short but she wasn’t a tall, slender woman like NK, at all. Also don’t think Kidman could pull off the voice. Or the expressions. The production needs a new casting director cause this is borderline embarrassing.
Lucille Ball was 5’7” apparently, so yeah Nicole would be WAY too tall. This is reminding me of that awful Grace Kelly biopic where Nicole for some reason played Grace.
I dont understand this project
The time for this bio was like 20, 30 years ago
I’m a bicentennial baby, so my mom and her boomer peers grew up with Lucy while her parents were grown the show debuted. My generation knows of the show because reruns still came on tv in the 70s and 80s, especially after the advent of Nick at Nite
But now? How many of late Millenials or Gen Z know or care about Lucy and Desi
Also,.I recall a miniseries from the 90s about the rise of Lucy and Desi separately, then as a couple and then their split
So I’m just wondering who is this project for and why now all of a sudden?
Eh, it’s better than another comic movie I guess
Ugh I hate both of these choices. Someone like Jessica Chastain, Amy Adams, or even Bryce Dallas Howard (she is the youngest at 39 and makes the most sense for this project). Also I may not know many Cuban-American actors but surely someone else could fill the role of Desi Arnaz? I just thought of Freddy Prinze Jr. who is of Puerto Rican descent, but I’m sure there are other actors I’m not thinking of.
I like your picks better: Amy and Bobby.
I do recall many years ago (20???) there was a TV movie about Lucy & Desi. Their children were quite upset about it. I am sure their attitudes have not changed. Plus, I believe that one of Lucy’s children has recently lost their spouse to cancer. Lucy’s children be shown some respect for their privacy. Hopefully this project will be dropped.
Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz Jr. are both exec producers on this, so I’m guessing they’ll be okay with it.
Thank you, Granger. I missed that. Obviously they are fine with it!
this is hollywood – they dont care about people’s feelings, they care about money
LOVE IT
Awful casting in both cases. An Iberian from Spain does not count as representative casting, he doesn’t even look anything like Desi, and Nicole Kidman can’t even move her face or perform an entire role without her Aussie accent slipping. Boo! BOO!
Throw the whole movie in the trash and call me when you cast Amy Adams, Kate McKinnon, or Debra Messing as Lucy and Raul Esparza, Oscar Nuñez, Enrique Murciano, or Matt Cedeño as Desi.
If it’s “totally impossible” to find a Cuban actor to cast (I mean, it’s not), I would also accept Oscar Isaac, Demian Bichir, Wilson Cruz, Nicholas Gonzalez, Jon Huertas, Esai Morales, Ignacio Serricchio, etc etc etc etc.
This is not difficult, Hollywood! You’re just not trying, like at all.
RAUL ESPARZA is brutally underrated.
Nicole, while very talented, will be terrible in this role.
I agree too old as well, but according to the internet, Lucille Ball was 40 when I Love Lucy started its six year run (and Desi 34). That’s a lady with some good skin!
I agree with all the comments about Nicole’s face. A good director might have the wherewithal to say to her, stop with the botox, let’s make sure you’ve got Lucy’s expressive face. But I don’t see that happening with Aaron Sorkin.
Yeah not feeling this duo at all for Lucy and Desi
Nicole? As Lucy? WTRF?
Tragic. I grew up watching Lucy and Ricky, and believe neither of these actors have the comedic depth, chemistry nor visual appeal to play two of my favorite TV stars.
My god. Why? Was there a point in Lucy’s career where she’d had so many cosmetic procedures she couldn’t move her face anymore? Where she’d bleached and straightened her hair so much it looked like a cheap wig? That’s the only way Kidman could work for this.
They seem kind of old for this, physically Nicole Kidman is nothing like Lucille Ball. Definitely could see Debra Messing or Jessica Chastain or even see someone funnier and physically more to type in a good wig. Also, thinking Spaniards are interchangeable with Latin Americans can be both racially and culturally insensitive. As noted above, Cuban accent is unique and some people might feel a ways about a European taking such an iconic role. I remember when some people were upset about Jennifer Lopez playing Selina because she was Puerto Rican origin, not Mexican.
Isla Fisher. Beautiful and zany and gut laugh funny.
+1
so first we get kirsten stewart cast as princess diana.
then we get lily james as pamela anderson & sebastian stan as tommy lee.
now we get nicole kidman (whose face is literally frozen) playing the most facially expressive comedienne in hollywood history.
& javier bardem, who STILL SUPPORTS WOODY ALLEN PUBLICLY, a spanish dude. SPANISH. playing a cuban.
hollywood, wtf all over.
the casting directors arent alright
I agree, this casting is tragique. Neither of these actors (kidman, bardem) are clowns. THey are both masters at atmosphere and occasional higher energy moments. You need major clown skill and energy to do what Lucy and Desi did. I’m willing to be surprised, I guess, but Jessica Chastain and Amy Adams are also totally wrong for this. A young Debra Messing, someone actually adept at pratfalls, let’s not pretend it’s not a skill set.
I still hope they change their mind, and hire an actual Cuban for Desi. For example, four-time Tony nominee Raúl Esparza is a powerful actor/singer who is a first generation Amercian born Cuban with a first-hand understanding of Cuban culture. And sorry, if he’s not as big of a name as they want. Maybe if Hollywood slows down with its discriminatory casting and hires Cubans/Latinos more often, they can make big names, too. Raúl also was the lead singer in the Babalu, a tribute organized and directed by Lucie Arnaz for her father a few years ago, so this would be a beautiful full circle.
Fail casting.
And I just realised Pitbull the singer can look like Desi if he had hair.
Debra Messing or Isla Fisher for Lucille. I can also imagine Anne Hathaway as her.
Can someone explain to me why Debra Messing seems to be a unanimous choice apart from the red hair? I don’t think I’ve seen her in anything apart from Will & Grace. Is she a big box office draw? And what are the comparisons to Lucille Ball? Thanks
You saw her in Will and Grace but don’t understand why some of us think she has the comedic chops to play Lucille Ball?
I don’t think we can help any further.
I saw her in a few episodes of Will & Grace, and no I dont understand. Hence the question. Thanks for not helping.
Messing was funny on Will and Grace, but physically she looks more like her, especially the big eyes. She may be a little old, but definitely a good middle aged Lucille.I think she played her in a TV movie years ago, maybe with Andy Garcia, can’t remember. I like the idea of Anne Hathaway as well. I’m surprised no one even considered Oscar Isaac as Desi. Anyway, there are a lot of really good Latin actors who physically would look more like Desi. Javier Bardem looks like his face is made out of a flour sack.
Hi Argus,
Watch ep 16 entitled ‘We Love Lucy’ of Season 3 of the newer Will & Grace seasons.
Debra Messing plays Lucille Ball in it and is uncannily good as her.
It’s really quite something and I am not a Debra Messing fan.
I love the option of Bobby C as Desi. He actually looks like him but not quite sure if he could pull off the accent because he has a stronggggggggggg NY/NJ accent and I can’t recall of him doing any roles where his voice is not his iconic voice. As for Nicole, it’s a strong no for me. I vote for Debra and I never thought about Amy Adams but she may be a good choice as well.
They’re both old and she is not animated enough to play Lucille Ball. I really don’t think he’s animated enough to play Desi Arnaz.
Mark Ruffalo looks soooo much like Desi, and has Desi’s charm, too. I think he has Italian heritage, not Cuban, though.
I LOVE Lucille Ball! Hard to imagine anyone doing her justice, but at the very least being able to muster a facial expression is a definite requirement. Not shading anyone for botox, but we’re talking about real bonafide theater here.
Full disclosure, after my family immigrated to the United States, I was a very lonely child. I had no friends at school and very little grasp of English. I loved that Desi had an accent too and I could laugh at most of it without understanding the language.
I like this
I’m thinking Jessica Chastain and Pedro Pascal.
Or maybe Mark Ruffolo….