Nicole Kidman Raves About Playing Lucille Ball After Casting Controversy

Nicole Kidman is ready to step in Lucille Ball's shoes. While the actress' casting as the comedy icon caused controversy earlier this month, she couldn't be more excited to take on the role in Aaron Sorkin's upcoming film.

"I was like, 'Yeah, I would love to give it a go,'" Kidman said in an interview with Variety published on Wednesday. "With Aaron's words and his direction and Javier [Bardem playing Desi Arnaz]… that's kind of a wonderful prospect to, you know. But yikes, off we go. Give it a go. Try my best -- see if I can do it."

News broke earlier this month that Kidman and Bardem were being eyed to play Ball and Arnaz in Being the Ricardos, which was written and will be directed by Sorkin. The film will be set during rehearsals for I Love Lucy, which Kidman said she's been watching a lot of.

"I love Lucille, having looked now and delved into her," she said.

"She's an amazing woman," Kidman added. "I'm very excited for people to see what Aaron found out about her and the way he's interpreted Desi and Lucy and the way that it's so rich. I didn't know any of this."

Kidman's excitement over the role comes after Lucie Arnaz, the daughter of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, spoke out in a message on Facebook attempting to calm fans worked up about the casting of the film. Fans had taken to social media to suggest other actresses to portray Ball, while Debra Messing, who previously played Ball's I Love Lucy character during an episode of Will & Grace, even campaigned for the part.

"Nobody has to impersonate Lucy Ricardo nor do the Vitameatavegamin 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," Lucie explained.

"Aaron has done a wonderful job of bringing these characters to life, and it's just a little ... slice of life in their journey," she shared. "It's not the whole story. It's not a biopic from cradle to grave. It is a two-hour feature film about these two people and some of the remarkable things they lived through. So I hope I can set the record straight here, and just say, stop arguing about who should play her, 'She doesn't look like her, her nose isn't the same, she isn't as funny...'"

"Just trust us, it's going to be a nice film, and p.s. the voting is over," Lucie added. "I love all of you."

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