The first full-length trailer for Being the Ricardos, Aaron Sorkin‘s new drama starring Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem, dropped on Wednesday, giving movie fans a better look at Kidman’s take on Lucille Ball. The upcoming film is a twist on the traditional biopic and “takes place over the course of a week” during the production of the couple’s classic sitcom, I Love Lucy. It focuses on Ball and Arnaz encountering multiple crises “that could jeopardize their careers and marriage,” including an investigation into Ball by the House of Un-American Activities Committee for alleged ties to communism.
The couple also had to navigate through a controversial cover story on Arnaz, titled “Desi’s Wild Night Out,” which was featured in the tabloid magazine Confidential. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Being the Ricards writer-director Aaron Sorkin said of the film, “The only thing better than a story people don’t know is a story that people think they know but they’re wrong.”
Videos by PopCulture.com
There has been a lot of discussion as to whether or not Kidman was the right choice to play Ball, and in a June interview for Variety‘s Actors on Actors, the Oscar winner opened up to Chris Rock about the difficulties that have come with the role. “I’ve had to put in an enormous amount of time on Lucille Ball right now, because she has a very particular way of speaking,” Kidman explained. Rock agreed, saying that Ball was “just one of the most talented people to ever roam the earth.” Kidman admits that taking on the role hasn’t been the easiest to take on. “I am way out of my comfort zone right now, Chris! I’m free-falling,” said Kidman. “I’d like to be funny. I’m never cast funny.” However, Ball’s daughter, Lucie Arnaz, spoke with The Palm Springs Life magazine and gave the movie her stamp of approval, calling Kidman’s performance “astounding.”
“Nicole did a spectacular job,” Arnaz said. “The two days that I watched, though, were both little flashbacks — so she was playing Lucy in the late ’30s and mid-’40s. She wasn’t Lucy of Lucy Ricardo fame yet, so it was a trifle different. And I know she meant it to be, so it could feel different.” Bardem also stars as Arnaz’s father, Desi Arnaz. “But boy, what she did was astounding,” Arnaz added of Kidman. “She’s got such poise and class.”
When the interviewer noted that it seems like the film will be “a real performance, not mimicry,” Lucie agreed. “There are no look-alikes,” she said. “I mean, nobody was cast because they look exactly like somebody. They were cast because they’re spectacular performers, actors, and they can capture the basic essence of what has been written in this script. And [director] Aaron [Sorkin] was adamant about that and thank God. I’m looking forward to seeing the finished product.” Being the Ricardos opens in theaters on Dec. 10. It will make its Amazon Prime debut just 11 days later, on Dec. 21.
