Marketers Leave Nicole Kidman Wondering If They Were “Scared” To Feature Her

Directed by Aaron Sorkin, Amazon Studio’s, Being The Ricardo’s has become the subject of discussion surrounding the decision to cast Nicole Kidman as Lucille Ball and Javier Bardem as Desi Arnaz.

Since the decision, Kidman has weighed in on the continued debate over whether or not this was the right casting decision.

In a profile written by the New York Times on Sunday, the actress addressed the swirling rumors of debate on social media surrounding her role as the iconic comedian Lucille Ball in writer-director Aaron Sorkin’s recently released Amazon Studio’s film, Being The Ricardo’s. Kidman, who stars opposite Javier Bardem’s, Desi Arnaz, replaced Cate Blanchett, previously attached to the role of Lucille Ball.

Kidman is aware of the audience who wanted the role to go to someone who bore a more striking resemblance to Ball, or even someone more known for comedy, including Debra Messing, who lobbied for the part to the public. “I’m not on the internet, and I definitely don’t google myself,” the Oscar winner said. “But things trickle through.”

Kidman herself has admitted that the role of Ball is a point of insecurity for her, according to NYT writer Dave Itzkoff. The journalist shared that Kidman appeared surprised upon discovering that the seventy-five-second trailer released in October only briefly showed glimpses of her face which sparked online discussion at the time.

Since, after being asked to offer her thoughts on the matter, the Oscar winner replied, “I don’t know how to answer that, you know? I don’t handle the promotional part of it. Maybe they were just scared of showing me.”

According to Itzkoff, she noticeably took a breath before adding, “Bummer.”

Despite Blanchett dropping out of the role, Kidman stated that that did not steer her away from taking the role. “I feel like there’s a sacred pact among us all — whoever gets something, that’s where it was meant to land,” she said.

Kidman herself admits that the backlash surrounding her taking the role led both her and her co-star, Javier Bardem, to consider dropping out of the film a month before production began. Their agents attempted to get them both out of the film, but producer Todd Black managed to talk them all into staying put. Kidman and Bardem requested that Sorkin delay production by a year, but Amazon was determined to move the project forward.

Despite her fears, Sorkin explained that the actress made a solid case for herself and that he found he can “really leverage low expectations.”