Back in January, we learned of a film being made about Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. The film – written and directed by Aaron Sorkin – will be about Lucy and Desi’s final years of marriage, and their final year of I Love Lucy, when their marriage was faltering. I should note that this film has the approval and backing of Lucy and Desi’s children (also named Lucie and Desi). But Sorkin had big casting issues, as we learned when the project was announced. Sorkin cast Nicole Kidman as Lucy and Javier Bardem as Desi. I’m offended by the casting even more now than I was in January. It’s really insulting! Anyway, yesterday Hollywood Life published some exclusive photos from the LA set, with Nicole Kidman in her Lucy wig:
Nicole Kidman is the spitting image of Lucille Ball on the set of the comedian's biopic! https://t.co/44WPhbFmls pic.twitter.com/hR2xC0Wyjv
— HollywoodLife (@HollywoodLife) April 29, 2021
The comments on that tweet are priceless. Nicole is NOT the “spitting image” of Lucille Ball in any way, shape or form. It really bothers me that they could not even get the WIG right!! The best comment was “She looks like an older Taylor Swift, but not Lucille Ball.” That’s the wig – they’ve given Nicole’s Lucy some kind of Swift bangs and it’s awful.
Anyway, people are mad about this casting all over again and they’re calling for Debra Messing to be cast as Lucy. My idea, back in January, was that Amy Adams had the look and range for Lucille Ball. And I still think Bobby Canavale would be a much better Desi.
If you never saw a picture of Lucille Ball, then yes, she's the spitting image. pic.twitter.com/KbKuwONChV
— Mrs Olson Says (@mrsolsonsays) April 29, 2021
no tea no shade but I dont think nicole kidman has the facial flexibility to play lucille ball
— Christina Tucker (@xtinatucker) April 29, 2021
Lucille Ball was known for exceptional physical comedy, especially with her faces. I know y’all don’t think Nicole Kidman is about to serve this pic.twitter.com/DNFtyxoYq8
— Joshua Chenault (@joshuachenault1) April 29, 2021
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.
No. No no no. Just no. Stop it.
I gasped. YIKES. And that tweet about her not having the facial flexibility made me lol.
Precisely! How is should going to do the facial gymnastics?
Yes–Lucy had a very mobile face, an elastic quality to her expressions, and IMO that was what MADE her. Kidman is a wonderful actress, but she has none of that–none.
Seriously. Unlike Nicole, there is no Botox in that face.
While I *get* they are not REMAKING “I Love Lucy”, and the pic ABOUT the *people* (Lucy & Desi), not only do they not resemble them, the personalities are SO off. Having met Lucille Ball about 5 times, IRL, I can tell you she was not “cutesy, funny, Lucy Ricardo”. She was a b!tch-on-wheels, rather sharp, chain smoking, foul-mouthed, take no prisoners ball buster. A woman in her position really had to be esp. then.
While I like Kidman as an actress, casting, to play THIS woman, is just SO OFF. When I see Kidman, in any role, there is still a “softness” or “fragility” under every part she takes on.
And remember, too, Lucy was about 5 yrs. OLDER than Desi. Bardem almost looks like Kidman’s father.
I know L & D had a very contentious relationship toward the end; they weren’t even speaking to each other by the time the Lucy shows ended (I think the one with Ernie Kovack and Edie Adams was the very last one they did together) and they spoke *through* others. But the casting of these two will NEVER capture the real dynamic.
I think Lucie and Desi Jr. are dream casting their parents at this point.
I think Jessica Chastain would do the role justice.
I want to hear more about your encounters with her and what she was like!!!
Nicole also did a Grace Kelly movie and it was no bueno. Her face was a stiff as a board and you couldn’t not see Nicole Kidman. This movie may not be about the I Love Lucy show, and therefor Lucy’s physical comedy may not be needed, but I’m sure she was just as expressive in her real life. Actors just don’t become rocks after the director says cut. Nicole can’t even mover her forehead. My goodness.
Chaine, when I was about 14 my best friend’s parents were good friends with people who owned the shop on the Paramount Studio lot that made blueprints for set construction. So these people got us onto the lot during the summer. We used to walk around (a few times a week) and go on various sets to watch and meet the stars. Some sets were “closed”, and you couldn’t get in (though we did hang outside “The Brady Bunch” set and I got to flirt with Barry Williams during his “cute” phase, which was fun lol). We got to know a lot of the crews and some of the stars of shows pretty well. Some were *very* nice (inviting us to grab snacks at Craft Services tables), and giving us director chairs to sit on and watch, scripts to follow, explaining what was happening between takes, and a few weren’t so “nice”. Lucy was one of those.
Her crew was nice enough to let us in to watch (but they told us to keep out of her sight!), and let us come in whenever we were on lot. The first time Lucy spotted us, she just glared, and ignored us. The next time, she yelled, “Who T.F. are these brats? Get ’em outta my sight line!”. A couple of weeks later, when we walked by the studio, we saw her son Desi outside the door, so we went over (he was considered quite the cutie by the teen mags), and a crew member came out and said, “Your mother said to get your GD ass inside and practice your lines. NOW!” (We were shocked and he was *embarrassed*!!). We waited a few min. and then went in, too. The stage hand who knew us motioned us to the side, and told us to be *very* quiet as she was in a foul mood. Sure enough, she came on set, and started cursing EVERYONE out, saying the lighting was wrong, she yelled at the director that the blocking was “sh*t, they weren’t focusing on her angles…” Again…THIS WAS ONE OF MY IDOLS!! LUCY RICARDO!!! I couldn’t believe the cursing! And she’d curse at ANYONE who wasn’t one of the “major” stars on the show (extras always got yelled at for mistakes). Anyway, you get the idea. After a couple more times (hoping to catch Desi again!), we just stopped going in. It just wasn’t a pleasant set.
Love your memories of this legendary woman and those times. Thank you!
@OG that’s a great story about your encounter with Lucy. I do remember stories of Desi Jr. marrying Linda Purl and how Lucy did not approve. They later divorced.
Oh and she was like that to everyone too. She made Joan Crawford cry while filming a guest appearance!
Amy Adams could nail this role. Kidman’s face is so squished to hell with fillers.
This whole movie will be a flat out nightmare.
I’ve also heard the stories about Ball being a very strong woman. She worked for everything.
Thank you so much for sharing!!!
Yikes! Why?
Oh, dear. No, thank you. My goodness.
Not even
I don’t see it. At all.
Why do they keep casting her in roles she is such a bad fit for? It’s bizarre!
because there are no other actresses that age apparently. Once they hit 40 they all buy quant cottages and go off the grid.
Because Reese Witherspoon was busy?
Are they going to have someone play Lucy at a younger age?
Lucy at a younger age was gorgeous! I mean, gorgeous. Debra Messing and Bobby C. would have been good casting or Amy Adams.
@Amy from what I have read the script revolves around one week in their lives in the 50’s. My guess when everything was about to go tits up and she had signed a communist pledge card back in Upstate NY to appease her Grandfather who was a communist this was back in the 30’s and her dealing with Desi’s cheating. This was during the height of the investigations. Desi was able to steer them out of that. She was so huge on TV not even McCarthy could sink her.
A travesty. Not only is she not the spitting image of Lucille Ball, she is not even the spitting image of any of the prior faces of Nicole Kidman at this point,
Seriously. WTAF?
(Channeling Lloyd Bentsen’s Jack Kennedy quote): I grew up with Lucille Ball. I watched Lucille Ball. Lucille Ball was an icon of mine. Nicole, you’re no Lucille Ball
LOL exactly!! Perfect comment.
Hijo de la… aye no. They really f—ked the casting here. Debra Messing (in my humble opinion) or no one at all for Lucy. Bobby Canavale could work as Desi.
Oooh, I like how you think! Great choices!
Ron Howard’s daughter, Dallas, could do Lucy, I’m sure.
Could Bobby do Desi’s Cuban accent? Don’t know.
From the beginning re casting I was disappointed the choice was Nicole. Do not recall her doing physical comedy, tho I might be mistaken…
The movie is about the breakdown of the marriage, not a re-enactment of the show.
YES!!! Debra Messing would be a perfect fit for Lucille Ball. She looks fairly similar, and can definitely pull off the exaggerated expressions Ball used in her comedy.
Yeah, that photo shoot she did (what was it for? I can’t find it now!) actually WAS the spitting image. It should have been her.
Nicole Kidman always looks like Nicole Kidman. Whether you put a fake nose on her or whatever.
Bobby is at least part Cuban. I think Bardem got really lucky that everyone is so up in arms about Nicole playing Lucy that they are forgetting a white man is playing a Cuban. I agree with whoever above said the kids are dream casting their parents (respected, Oscar winner redhead; respected, Oscar winner Hispanic/Spanish speaking). I do believe both of these actors can command drama, which was Lucy and Desi throughout their whole lives but I don’t agree with the casting for these two roles.
My god no! Her face had never looked so much like tightly stretched wax. Lucy deserves better!
Um…no. But I keep remembering how much I hated when Michelle Williams was cast as Marilyn. Then I saw her performance in “My Week With Marilyn”, and I was COMPLETELY bowled over! Did she look like Marilyn? No. But she truly embodied that role, to the point where I forgot I *wasn’t* watching Marilyn. I’ll reserve my opinion on Nicole until I see the movie.
I don’t think I expect an actor to look exactly like the person they’re playing. But I do expect an actor to have facial movement, ESPECIALLY when Lucy was known for her physical comedy. It’s just a bizarre casting choice, and it’s mostly just relying on name recognition for the box office.
Very good point – and I agree with you wholeheartedly about Michelle Williams in My Week with Marilyn! I loved Eddie Redmayne in that film. Nicole is an excellent actress and I would not be surprised if she didn’t pull it off.
When I watched Undoing with Kidman and Hugh Grant, I was appalled over Kidman’s frozen face. It was very jarring to watch. I will take a very hard pads on this movie. It is a grave injustice to Ms. Ball to have masked actor portray her.
I used to think she was one of the most beautiful actresses, but after watching The Undoing, I was like daaamn, she shouldn’t allow herself to be filmed in close-ups anymore, and her eyeballs looked red, irritated in every shot
Your are so right, I had to keep telling myself that her role was a wealthy Manhattan socialite so the frozen face at least was believable for her character in the series.
It was all I could see during that series.
She was so naturally beautiful and expressive in Moulin Rouge which is one of my favorite movies. She’s a caricature of herself now and it’s sad to see how desperately she is trying to cling to her youth. She would still be gorgeous if she had aged naturally instead of starting with the fillers, botox and lip plumping when she was younger and didn’t need it, which has totally messed up her whole face now.
Yes she was stunning in moulin rouge and that movie about witches with Sandra Bullock.
Is it supposed to be- the later years of Lucy? B/c otherwise Kidman is too old to play her.
Nobody gets to be or look 25 forever, no matter what the plastic surgery/botox people tell you.
The movie is set at the time of the divorce when Ball was 49.
“Older Taylor Swift” is definitely what immediately came to mind with those pictures. This might be worse than KStew cosplaying as Diana.
Exactly what I thought.
My first thought was Kirsten Dunst with a bad wig followed by Taylor Swift. All the hells nah on this. Debra Messing seems born to play Lucille Ball. And Bobby Canavale has that smooth old timey look – he’d be a great Desi.
Someone in the Twitter comments suggested Judy Greer, and THAT casting I would’ve loved to see.
YES to Judy Greer!!!! Better than Messing. Love it.
Julieanne Moore would be great too
I have always thought Debra Messing looks a lot like Lucille Ball and would be an excellent choice to play her in a biopic. I’m afraid Nicole Kidman looks nothing at all like Lucille.
If Lucille ball and Taylor Swift had a baby…
She looks like the love child of Taylor Swift and Kitty Forman.
+1!
I’m team Hell No
I will happily join your team!! No, and hell no, absolutely not, are you f#cking kidding us? I can’t see Nicole pulling off Lucy in any manner. Though she was good playing Sylvia Plath but we all have seen Lucy Arnez speak in real life.
No no no. I would totally love Amy Adams or Emma Stone to play her. They are both much more expressive like Lucille was. This makes me sad.
Except for *this* film is covering Lucy’s life in her late 40’s, so casting 32 year old Emma Stone would not be a good look either.
Isn’t it easy for them to “age” an actor?
Love the idea of Amy Adams
Bryce Dallas Howard. She’s 40, has the similar cheekbones and could play brassy (or bitchy based on previous posts) more readily than Kidman who looks and sounds like she could break in half at any minute.
Just because she is a natural redhead doesn’t mean that she can play Lucille Ball. Could they not have looked for someone that isn’t botoxed to extremes and maybe actually looked similar to Ball? Even if the person was a brunette or blonde, they can dye their hair. What a terrible casting.
Especially since Lucy wasn’t a natural redhead. Hair color should have been the last consideration.
Exactly.
I’m a fan of Nicole’s, but…no. This is not good.
I’m not the biggest fan of Debra Messing, but she has always looked a lot like Lucy and has proven she can do it.
This is just strange.
Yes to everything you have mentioned here.
Very odd choice.
Not at all, and I have serious concerns about her accent work after The Undoing.
I don’t think Nicole’s face has moved since 2004.
I think Jessica Chastein would have been perfect in this role although Nicole may be a bit closer in age to Lucy at the time this film is set. Ball was 49 when she divorced Arnaz, which is the story this film is trying to cover. He was an alcoholic with other health problems and he cheated on her and she had had enough but she parlayed the marital breakdown into becoming a powerful business woman and controlling her own destiny and production company in a cutthroat industry. The film is not about simply recreating skits from the TV show, which is what many people, including Debra Messing, seem to think it is. It isn’t a comedy. I found Messing’s behavior, particularly after she didn’t get the part, really off-putting and unprofessional. I also don’t think she has the range to cover what the film is actually about – the breakdown of a marriage and the development of a strong business woman, not who can best mimic old comedy skits. Despite what she has done to her face, I think Nicole can convey that although, again, I think Jessica would be better. Amy Adams would be okay. Emma Stone is decades too young.
LightPurple, thanks for the background info on Debra and the story on what the film will actually cover. I loved watching I Love Lucy reruns as a child. Later on, I heard rumors of cheating and alcohol abuse, but I do not know the whole story. This will be interesting to see. I agree that Debra Messing is in no way near the league of Nicole to convey serious drama – the casting makes perfect sense once you know that this is not a comedy and not about the ability to pull funny faces. Interesting that the kids have signed off on the movie, because it is sure not to be flattering.
Lucy was a MUCH bigger “star” at the time, coming off movies and a successful radio show that “I Love Lucy” was patterned after. LUCY is the one put Desi out there for the role of her husband on the show; the honchos did NOT want him. LUCY wanted him cast to be able to keep him with her, not on the road, touring with his band (and cheating on her).
Lucy prevailed, and the rest (incl. the formation of Desilu Studios and the 3 camera filming of the I Love Lucy show with a live audience) is film history.
Jessica Chastain & Amy Adams are good suggestions. I’d love to see Julianne Moore have a go at it, as well.
Julianne would also have been a great choice.
@ Light — agree on all of your points. I think people just think “oh Lucille Ball” and don’t read past that headline to the point of the actual movie. The questions about Kidman being able to emote are legit though.
**Note that I have no taste, I think KStew looks fine as Diana and loved Tom Cruise as Stacy Jaxx so …
Yeah I really don’t get all the Kidman hate here. I always find her so watchable in any part she’s in. She’s great at subtly and not-so-subtly emoting. I can totally picture her playing a “bitch” too if that’s the take they’re going for. She’ll be nasty but we’ll see what’s going on behind closed curtains making her hurt so much and you’ll end up rooting for her.
This bothers me so much. Of all the actresses out there, they chose Nicole Kidman for this?? Were they all on drugs when they made this choice? I love the idea of Debra Messing and after seeing that bottom photo, Amy Adams would also be a really good choice.
I think Jane Krakowski would have made an amazing Lucy. As for Desi, hire-a-Cuban-actor-challenge! I mean come on. My picks: Oscar Nuñez, Enrique Murciano, Matt Cedeño, Carlos Gomez, or if we’re stretching, Oscar Isaac whose father is Cuban. The current casting is …disappointing on all counts.
My choice would be Andy Garcia but he’s a bit too old for Desi at that point in time.
This is really so sad. Debra Messing was robbed. Nicole Kidman is over-filled and over-Botoxed, and she better have let all that stuff wear off before taking this role. I liked the plot of the HBO limited series but was so obsessed with her lion face, I couldn’t focus. I couldn’t begin to read her emotions because she had one expression – the only expression she could muster with all the shit in her face. Her acting is so impressive, but she is completely wrong for this role.
The only thing worse is Zoe Saldana as Nina Simone.
First Nicole was Jeannie in I Dream of Jeannie – which was actually pretty good. But why for goodness sake this mismatch? One redhead is not like another! (She will be perfect when they do the Gilligan’s Island remake in the role of Ginger, however.)
Nicole was SAMANTHA, in that awful “Bewitched” remake (with Will Farrell).
I was gonna say…they made an ‘I Dream of Jeanie’ remake???
First off – this film is going to bomb. Second – Lucy was known for her very expressive face and as noted Kidman’s face does not move. I also think lesser known actresses are better suited for playing famous people. Think the Crown season 4 with the young Diana played by Emma Corrin.
Ellie Kemper “the Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”—has more comedic range. Plus she’s been marketed as a comedic redhead. Sadly the flexy faced are just younger actresses.
Hollywood has the toughest beauty standards, An actress needs to be both facially flexible & yet eternally unlined? Nature doesn’t work that way….
But this isn’t a comedic role. It’s a biopic about a divorce.
And Javier Bardem is all wrong for Desi! Neither casting choice makes sense. Ugh
I guess they’re hoping for an Oscar in special effects for all the facial work they’re going to have to do?
At first I had no idea who that was . When told it was Kidman as Lucille Ball, was mad again at this awful casting. She looks nothing like Lucy.She doesn’t even have lips.
Or Lucy’s big blue expressive eyes.
Horrible casting for so many reasons. What were they thinking? What was she thinking?
I saw Nicole in Bombshell OMG her face does not move. I hope she stops,i think over time these fillers dissolve, Jada Pinkett Smith seems to be looking normal again.
Fillers do dissolve, but Kidman seems stuck on using them as her face has had this frozen look for years now. I don’t understand it because it is really detracting from her acting ability. We need to some expression on your face.
Reading the responses here and the responses on Twitter to Debra Messing’s unprofessional antics, this film is going to be extremely difficult to market and find an audience because people are wrongly thinking it is some sort of comedic re-enactment of I Love Lucy and the actress will be performing Lucy skits. It is not. It is a bio-pic focusing on the divorce and the actress will portray transitioning from a 50 year old comedienne in a bad marriage to a strong, powerful business woman. It isn’t about who looks the most like someone or who can do comedic farce. If her face could move, Nicole could portray that character it her sleep, Debra Messing, not so much. Jessica Chastain, Julianne Moore, Amy Adams, Bryce Dallas Howard could all do this part. A younger Sigourney Weaver would knock it out of the park. But no, not Debra Messing and not any of the other younger actresses being named here.
I feel like you are very invested in this, lol.
Nicole’s face doesn’t move. She’s gorgeous and she can act, but unfortunately moving your face is a big part of acting and thats going to be a problem here.
As I said: “if her face could move …”
I followed Messing on Twitter for political commentary until she started up about this. She was acting up even before Kidman was announced as having the part, going out of her way to make the world think no other actress could play the part, pretty much torpedoing any actress who got it, all because she did a comedy sketch in a comedy show. Even though people kept pointing out that it’s not a comedy, she kept going on about how only she had the right comic timing. She got worse after Kidman got the part and I stopped following her. .
I so agree with you. I hate speculating on movies and casting. It’s acting! An actor doesn’t need to look like the person/character whether real or described as in a book. An actor only needs to tell the story, and mannerisms aid the actor far more than specific looks. Now saying that I do hate what Nicole, and many actresses (you too Sandra Bullock), have done to their face – it’s a problem because it distracts and takes you out of the story. But I hate all this speculating about a movie that no one has seen. It can still be a very good movie.
Messing has completely embarrassed herself over this issue. I too used to follow her on Twitter but had to unfollow due to second hand embarrassment. Her posts regarding not getting cast in this part were pathetic.
Kidman does NOT do animated. She has the emotional range of a doorknob.
Nicole’s face is really puffed up in that first pic of her. It’s almost like it’s swollen or moon face or something, and it’s such a shame coz she’s so beautiful, I bet if she had some wrinkles and movement in her face she’d be even more beautiful
Can we talk about Javier Bardem (who I love!) as Desi Arnez? NO, NO, NO! Was some casting director like, who has red hair? Oh yeah, Nicole Kidman. Who has a Cuban accent? Javier Bardem, Spanish but who knows the difference…Has Nicole Kidman ever even played a character with agency? Lucille Ball was a formidable power.
she did wrestle some fish and survive being banished to the trench
It’s a shame that Nicole’s early work is forgotten. In To Die For, she played an overly ambitious TV reporter who seduces a teenager and convinces him to kill her husband. In Malice, she is a straight-up con artist. She definitely has the range to pull this role off and I would say that she has played characters “with agency.” That said, I do agree with everyone about her face not moving. It’s a real shame and it’s truly sad that she feels the need to do that.
Isla Fisher. Again. Why does no one listen to me?
Seriously–she’s terrific in general. Why isn’t she in more movies?
I bet she rocks it. She is a really good actress. But who knows.
Wow, that has to be the worst makeup/botox job of all time.
I saw a documentary about Lucy and Desi and their marriage. The breakdown was slow, messy and heartbreaking. Both Lucy and Desi were darker, more complex people than what was portrayed on I Love Lucy. From what I saw, Lucy was not a lighthearted personality in real-life, and since this movie is not about the show I Love Lucy, it’s narrow to think only funny redheads should play her. It’s more about essence. That said, Nicole Kidman does not have that essence.
I would love to watch that documentary…what was it called? I know somewhat about their real lives but enjoy a good doc every now and then.
Nicole DOES NOT look like Lucy. Neither does the guy playing Desi look like him. It’s so insulting.
Nicole did so much to her face her eyes are slits. I vote yes for Messing and Cannavale.
Hell no. Give this movie to Amy Adams and Oscar Isaac.
Co-sign.
Oscar Isaac would be perfect with his music background
This is a big mistake. In the picture shown, Nicole looks more like a youthful Harriet Nelson that Lucille Ball. She will ruin this as she ruined the Grace Kelly flick. She’s talented but I think biopics may not be her thing.
Nicole Kidman doesn’t even look like the spitting image of Nicole Kidman anymore.
I would give her the benefit of doubt and she could capture her “essence” But she couldn’t capture Grace Kelly or Samantha Stevens. So I doubt she can do Lucy either. Lucy’s daughter is exec producing so maybe she will have more input how she is portrayed.
A young Debra Messing would’ve been great as Lucy Ricardo but people forget this role is for Lucille Ball. People keep forgetting that. I don’t think Debra Messing is a great dramatic actress and the childish way she reacted after not getting the part was definitely off putting.
Nicole’s face shape looks really weird in that photo. Did she get cheek fillers or wearing prosthetics? I definitely didn’t recognize her and certainly didn’t think it was Lucille Ball at first. I really hate it when certain actors get all the roles, whether they’re suited for them or not. It seems like this with Kidman, and similar with Meryl Streep, who seems to be the only older woman some casting people seem aware exists🙄.
Nicole’s top lip looks collapsed and like it would just flail along with a gusty wind.
Why did they not use Debra Messing… she would be perfect for Lucy
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I like Nicole Kidman. BUT … Debra Messing, anyone got her number?