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There are other actresses who are a better fit.
By Jaycee Levin — Written on Jan 12, 2021
Let's get one thing straight: Nicole Kidman is great.
She is a wonderful and stunning Australian actress who has gone above and beyond in many of her roles. Kidman notably won an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, and Golden Globe Award for her role of Virginia Woolf in the 2002 film The Hours.
In fact, she's also won an Academy Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards for her role in the series Big Little Lies, and five Golden Globe Awards. She is incredibly deserving of all of these awards and she has had an amazing career, starring in projects like The Undoing, Eyes Wide Shut, Moulin Rouge!, and The Others.
However, it was recently announced that she may be playing the role of Lucille Ball in an upcoming production, and if I'm being honest, she's not the right choice for the role.
Nicole Kidman is a brilliant actress — but Lucille Ball is a major casting error.
Read on for details about the upcoming project, as well as some actresses who may be a better fit for the iconic role of Lucille Ball.
The film is called Being the Ricardos.
Aaron Sorkin wrote and is set to direct the film Being the Ricardos, which explores the relationship between the stars of the beloved classic sitcom, I Love Lucy.
The film takes place over the span of one week during the production of I Love Lucy. The film begins with a table read that takes place on a Monday and concludes with them filming in front of an audience on a Friday. Throughout the course of the week, the couple goes through many highs and lows when it comes to both the show and their relationship.
Nicole Kidman has reportedly been tapped to play the role of Lucille Ball, and Javier Bardem will play the role of Desi Arnaz.
Aaron Sorkin originally signed on as the screenwriter, but then decided to also direct the film, since he had such a great time directing The Trial of the Chicago 7. Sorkin made his directing debut with the film Molly’s Game and wrote the script for The Social Network, Moneyball, and A Few Good Men.
Nicole Kidman is better at dramatic roles.
First off, Nicole Kidman is best at playing dramatic roles. She simply just doesn’t capture the silliness and comedic timing that Lucille Ball naturally had. Lucille Ball is also famous for her over-the-top facial expressions, and it is difficult to picture Kidman capturing the same expressive demeanor that Ball was famous for.
Even though the film is probably going to be a mix of dramatic and comedic elements, the main actors will need to ebb and flow with the different tones.
Also, Kidman is Australian and Lucille Ball was born in New York. Even though the actor playing Ball doesn’t necessarily have to be from New York, it would be more authentic if she was portrayed by an American actress who could connect to the role in that way.
It would be more exciting to see a natural comedic actress play Lucille Ball, rather than a dramatic actress.
It just seems that Kidman has nothing in common with Lucille Ball — which is totally fine; every actress isn't going to be a perfect fit for every role.
Debra Messing is campaigning for the role.
After discovering that Kidman may play the role of Lucille Ball, Debra Messing is campaigning for it. She already has experience playing Lucille Ball, too, since she portrayed her in an episode of Will & Grace. Messing even already looks very much like Lucille Ball while Nicole Kidman does not.
It became evident that Debra Messing wants the role when she began retweeting comments saying that she would be a great Lucille Ball.
She retweeted a tweet that said, “I like Nicole Kidman, but Debra Messing would definitely, hands down be the better option for Lucy” and another one that read, “Debra Messing totally ROCKS! She would be so perfect in that role. She is one of my favorite actors!”
One Twitter user even said, “Debra should really be the only choice here,” and Debra Messing responded with, “Thank you sweets.”
Isla Fisher would be a great choice for the role of Lucille Ball.
Isla Fisher would be a great choice for the role of Lucille Ball. For starters, she already looks a lot like Lucille Ball with her red hair and big smile.
Fisher is also known for playing a lot of comedic roles like Rebecca Bloomwood in Confessions of a Shopaholic, Gloria Cleary in Wedding Crashers, and Rebel Alley in Arrested Development.
Fisher has truly been great in every role she has been in, and would be a great fit for Being the Ricardos.
Emma Stone is another option.
Emma Stone is another wonderful, talented, and funny actress who would make a great Lucille Ball. She looks a lot like Ball already, and has also had a great career. She won an Academy Award, BAFTA award, Golden Globe Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award for her role in the musical La La Land.
Stone is also known for her comedic roles, like Olive in Easy A, Wichita in Zombieland, and Natalie in The House Bunny.
Emma Stone’s breakthrough role was in the coming-of-age comedy, Superbad, which came out in 2007 and starred Michael Cera and Jonah Hill. She even won a Young Hollywood Award for her role of Jules in Superbad in a category called “Exciting New Face.”
A lot of twitter users are also throwing Stone’s name out. One user even tweeted, “Emma Stone is a much better choice to play Lucille Ball."
Although Nicole Kidman has yet to be officially cast in the upcoming film, one thing's for sure: the people have spoken!
Jaycee Levin is a writer, influencer, and blogger living in New York who loves celebrities, fashion, and reality television. She covers news and entertainment for YourTango. Follow her on Instagram.