Lucille Ball's Daughter Lucie Arnaz Claps Back at Critics of Nicole Kidman Biopic Casting
Lucie Arnaz is going to bat for Nicole Kidman.
Last week, E! News learned Kidman has been tapped to play Arnaz's mother, the late actress Lucille Ball, in the official biopic of her life, which Arnaz will executive produce.
Javier Bardem is also in negotiations to star as Ball's husband Desi Arnaz in the movie Being the Ricardos, with The Trial of the Chicago 7's Aaron Sorkin writing and directing the film.
Evidently, Kidman's casting sparked debate online, with some fans thinking Debra Messing or Carole Cook would be better suited to playing the I Love Lucy icon.
On Jan. 17, Lucie Arnaz shared a video message on Facebook to defend The Undoing actress.
She told her followers, "It's a done deal, but the contracts aren't actually signed, which is why I haven't said anything publicly about it. But I felt I should just at least try to calm the waters here."
Arnaz noted there has been "a lot of discussion" about Kidman. "Here's the deal. You should understand we are not doing a remake of I Love Lucy. No one has to impersonate Lucy Ricardo nor do the Vitameatavegamin routine or the chocolate factory routine or any of the silly things," she said. "It's the story of Lucille Ball, my actual mother, not Lucy Ricardo, and her husband, Dezi Arnaz, my dad, not Ricky Ricardo."
The producer continued, "So I hope I can set the record straight here, and just say stop arguing about who should play it, she doesn't look like her, her nose isn't the same, she isn't as funny, blah blah blah."
Arnaz, 69, then gave more insight into what the film will cover, calling it a "slice of life" in her parents' day-to-day. "There will be humor in the film, but it is a story of the two of them and how they met and what went right with finding the show, what went wrong, their relationship, their love affair," she said.
She confirmed the two-hour movie will take place over a week of filming I Love Lucy, including rehearsing and shooting the iconic 1950s show. However, she explained that "very little" of Being the Ricardos "is actually I Love Lucy-type stuff."
She said, "Aaron has done a wonderful job of bringing these characters to life... Just trust us, it's going to be a nice film, and P.S. the voting is over," and ended her message with, "I love all of you."
Ball and Arnaz wed in 1940 and had two children before divorcing in 1960. Their kids Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz Jr. are both executive producing the biopic for Amazon Studios.
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