Debra Messing Argues She Should Have Been Cast as Lucille Ball After Nicole Kidman Nabs Role

Along with fans, Debra Messing is feeling some emotions about Nicole Kidman being cast as Lucille Ball in the upcoming Amazon series, Being the Ricardos. The Will & Grace star saw herself in the role and was quite upset to lose out. After it was announced that the Big Little Lies actress would star alongside Javier Bardem, Messing and fans had a few things to say. Several took to Twitter, including Messing, to air their thoughts.

One person wrote, “[Debra Messing] is a better comedian. My opinion…. .” According to Huff Post, that comment sat well with Messing so much, she retweeted it. Others felt that the 52-year-old would “hands down be the better option for Lucy.” Someone else added, “Nicole Kidman is NOT RIGHT FOR THIS PART. Debra Messing was born specifically to play this part. She can play comedy AND drama…NIc cannot. Plus LOOK AT DEBRA.”

Others feel that Kidman already has a lot on her plate saying, “Nicole got enough d— jobs. She on everything HBO has. Let someone else eat. Debra would smash this.” Messing also replied to another person’s tweet that addressed Messing was not unavailable, Messing agreed by writing, “Oh no, I’m available.” In fact, Messing actually played the iconic character in the final season of Will & Grace.

Messing also touched on a topic that was brought up, that at one point in time Messing turned down the idea of potentially playing the character years ago, but Messing responded by saying that she changed her mind. Not only do fans feel she’s perfect for the role, but she also got the stamp of approval by Ball’s daughter, Lucie Arnaz, ahead of the “I Love Lucy” special on Will & Grace.

“I was in the green dress. We were about to shoot the song and dance [number] and she walked in and she just looked at me and didn’t say anything,” Messing recalled. “Then she hugged me and she said, ‘This feels really good. It’s been a long time since I’ve hugged you,’ and everyone started to cry.”

“And then she smiled and she said, ‘I know how long you’ve been wanting to do this, Debra. And I’m so glad we were able to make it happen,’” she continued. “And then I had to go [to the stage]. As I walked away, she said, ‘Break a leg, Mom.’ everybody just flipped out and cried. It was really moving.”