Twitter Is Mad That Debra Messing Wasn't Cast As Lucille Ball, But Aaron Sorkin Has A Response
Twitter has been abuzz today about Nicole Kidman being cast as the one and only Lucille Ball in the upcoming biopic about her life, Being The Ricardos. Specifically, the buzz has been about the fact that they DIDN'T cast actress Debra Messing, known best as Grace from the 90s sitcom Will & Grace.
We'd explain why they're fixated on this particular casting choice, but a picture is worth a thousand words, and two pictures...well, we don't know the exact worth of two pictures side-by-side in real dollar amounts, but it makes their point quite clear:
One of these women is Lucille Ball.
— Esther Ciammachilli (Radio Barbie) (@EstherCinDC) November 11, 2021
The other is Debra Messing.
Neither are playing Lucy in the new Amazon biopic Being the Ricardos. pic.twitter.com/UECHwnF0xZ
Writer and director Aaron Sorkin was prepared for this backlash, though. As he told The Hollywood Reporter:
"As far as audience anticipation, that's something I'm just not worried about. I'm certain that when people see the movie, they'll leave feeling that Nicole has made a very solid case for herself."
As it turns out, this seemingly incongruous casting choice was made on purpose. Sorkin told THR that he was looking to show a different side of Lucille, one that I Love Lucy audiences didn't normally get to see:
"Lucille Ball was nothing like Lucy Ricardo, and she looked nothing like Lucy Ricardo....when most people think of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, they're thinking of Lucy and Ricky. But Lucille Ball was more of a Rita Hayworth, Jessica Rabbit-looking actress."
Sorkin also explained that simply being an actor who looks like the person they're portraying isn't enough to be cast in the role, especially when it comes to a figure as large and beloved as Lucille Ball, who many people have watched for so many years that they think of the characters on her show almost as friends. The people who are upset or defensive now are likely to be the same people who would be destroyed if the actress they chose gave anything less than a stellar performance.
"When Nicole, as Lucille Ball, plays Lucy Ricardo, I think she does an incredible job of mimicking Lucy....But there is, in total, less than three minutes of I Love Lucy in this film.... So, finding an actress who looked like Lucille Ball wasn't important to me, especially because I was excited by the idea that Lucille Ball doesn't look like Lucille Ball...What I needed was someone who absolutely owns it....This isn't for beginners, as Lucy says."
Plus, a biopic is, more than anything, an opportunity to tell a story that has never been told. The version of this universally adored actress that we know today isn't the real one - the very plot of the movie, partially based on her being accused of communism in 1952, bears that out. Sorkin says he wanted to remain true to that, and tell the story behind the story - to show Lucille Ricardo as the woman she was, and not as the public persona she had to curate for herself.
"Let her be what she's not allowed to be on TV in 1952 on CBS. Let her be a woman. Let her be sexy. You weren't allowed to be sexy on TV."
Being The Ricardos premieres on December 10, 2021, and lands on Amazon Prime Vidoe on December 21. You can read the full Hollywood Reporter interview with Aaron Sorkin here.
