Fans have been treated to their first look of Nicole Kidman as Lucille Ball in the upcoming movie Being the Ricardos, which also stars Spanish actor Javier Bardem as her husband Desi Arnaz.
The pair were snapped filming a scene in Los Angeles last week for the new movie — and the two certainly bear a striking resemblance to the late icons! In the photos, which have since been shared widely on social media, Nicole, 53, can be seen wearing a retro 1950s ensemble that included yellow slacks, a checkered coat and a headscarf. The Big Little Lies star is pictured leaning on a vintage green car. Meanwhile, Javier, 52, looked a little more dressed up in a tuxedo with a green jacket.
The movie will follow the relationship between the I Love Lucy stars as they navigate their working and personal lives side-by-side. While fans of I Love Lucy are thrilled at the prospect of seeing the romance and troubles between Lucille and Desi play out on the big screen, many are confused as to why Nicole was cast in the main role.
Since news broke earlier this year that the famous Aussie could land the part, social media has blown up with comments from people around the world, who are calling for Will & Grace actress Debra Messing to take on the role of Lucille instead. Debra bears a striking resemblance to Lucille and even dressed up as the star in an episode of Will & Grace that aired in 2020.
And it seems as though most fans are sticking by their earlier stance. Commentating on the new photos, Twitter user @Bismark0Kris wrote, “Nicole as Lucy was a bad decision. She doesn’t resemble her at all. She is a great actress, just will not be believable in this part. They need to do a remake with Debra Messing, who is a dead ringer for Lucille Ball.”
And @julz94708 said, “While I would love to see this biopic, the casting is just UGH.”
The new pics come just a few months after Lucille and Desi’s daughter Lucie Arnaz defended the movie’s casting. Lucie said although Lucille’s most-iconic role as Lucy Ricardo in I Love Lucy would be appearing throughout the film, it wouldn’t be the focus.
“Here’s the deal,” she said. “You should understand. We are not doing a remake of I Love Lucy. No one has to impersonate Lucy Ricardo or do the Vitameatavegamin routine, or the chocolate factory routine, or any of the silly things. It’s the story of Lucille Ball, my actual mother, not Lucy Ricardo, and her husband, Dezi Arnaz, my dad, not Ricky Ricardo.
“There will be humour 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. Now, of course, it’s going to have I Love Lucy in it — as a matter of fact, Aaron Sorkin [the director] has set it on the stage of filming one week of rehearsal, rehearsing and filming the show — but all this other stuff takes place during that time. Very little of the show is actually I Love Lucy-type stuff. I don’t think you will be disappointed with that, however.”