Watch: Nicole Kidman Is Lucille Ball in Trailer for Amazon’s Being the Ricardos
Nicole Kidman stomps some grapes as the irrepressible Lucy Ricardo in the first trailer for Amazon Studios’ movie about TV’s iconic I Love Lucy sitcom.
Being the Ricardos, which was written and directed by Aaron Sorkin, takes place over the course of one week of production of I Love Lucy, as stars/producers Lucille Ball (Kidman) and Desi Arnaz (played by Javier Bardem) deal with a crisis that could jeopardize their careers and marriage.
“You know Lucy and Ricky. Now it’s time to meet Lucille and Desi,” reads the tout for the Amazon Studios production, which will stream on Amazon Prime starting Tuesday, Dec. 21 (following a Dec. 10 theatrical release).
Rounding out the sitcom-with-a movie’s cast are J.K. Simmons (of so many great things) as William Frawley/”Fred” and Nina Arianda (Goliath) as Vivian Vance/”Ethel.”
Watch the teaser trailer above, then share your first impressions of the fleeting glimpses and sound bites of Kidman as the queen of physical comedy.
This overall casting is bonkers (and not in a good or entertaining way). Cannot imagine myself having any interest in watching this. Still think Debra Messing would have been the ideal choice to portray the iconic Lucy.
I will only watch this if someone pays me…
Debra Messing would be a good choice to play Lucy Ricardo, the character. Kidman is the better choice to portray Lucille Ball, the actress and businesswoman.
agree! this is about Lucille Ball
I don’t see how they have a Lucy movie without showing any filming from the show. It seems likely that the movie would portray both Lucille Ball and Lucy Ricardo. Nicole doesn’t have the ability to pull of Lucy Ricardo. Debra Messing can pull of Lucy Ricardo in her sleep and still deliver in the dramatic scenes. She’s a talented actress. Nicole is just a bigger name, not necessarily the best for the part.
especially since her fake american accent is TERRIBLE!!!
OMG. I finally watched the trailer and her accent is horrible but even worse is she sounds nothing like Lucille Ball. Lucille had a deep raspy voice and while Nicole seems to be speaking in a whisper she can’t come close to capturing Lucille’s tone. I highly doubt she can pull of the Lucy voice any better. In fact, I expect it to be even more atrocious. Any potential this movie had went out the window when they cast her. Unfortunately it will probably still be an awards contender and even nab her some nominations which would be a travesty since her portrayal is so horrendous. All I heard from that trailer was Nicole Kidman reading lines in a script. There was no inkling of Lucille Ball at all.
Not a Kidman fan but she MIGHT pull this off, but Bardem looks NOTHING like Arnaz and doesn’t even sound like him.
Perfect casting for Desi would have been Nestor Carbonell.
I think Danny Pino would be GREAT as Desi….Cuban, too.
Danny Pino has already played Desi. 2003’s Lucy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy_(2003_film)
Wish they at least cast a latin american actor since Arnaz was cuban
enough with the spanish actors playing latin americans
Good grief, even Mario Lopez would be a better fit, although NK is quite tall.
Lucie Arnaz endorsement on her FB page is good enough for me. She was floored.
Nina Arianda will be great as Vivian Vance. While I was skeptical of Kidman, this still looks promising.
Nina is SO talented and I was thrilled when her name was attached to this.
Boy, they’re really minimizing how much we see of Kidman’s face in the trailer. That being said, I trust Sorkin to turn in a crackerjack script, and the cast is strong, so I’ll probably give it a go when it hits Prime.
Que all the haters. I am in this isnt about Lucy’s performance on screen this is about her as a person. Nicole Kidman is one of the best actresses working for the past 20 years plus. She can do anything, plus Aaron Sorkin telling the story I will be watching!
Completely disagree…Nicole Kidman is too wooden for me.
Worst casting ever. There’s a reason why we barely see Nicole Kidman’s face in the trailer—she and Javier could not possibly seem less like Lucy and Ricky in ILL.
I respect that the intent was to portray Lucille and Desi, not their sitcom characters (and Nicole and Javier are excellent actors in other projects), but both are too old for these roles IMO and have no resemblance either physically or vocally. I would love to see a biopic on these two icons, but this is not it.
Hmmmm, I feel like this was a lackluster trailer.
Nicole Kidman nice actress. But those people in “Hollywierd” know damn well Debra Messing IS the perfect actress to play the Iconic Lucille Ball/Lucy Ricardo!!
Can we please stop with the “Hollyweird” crap? It’s juvenile and stupid.
Yes I will watch this and I hope I enjoy it. As other have said this is about the real people who played these beloved characters. Those expecting a new episode of “I Love Lucy” or a movie where they are acting like the Lucy and Ricky characters throughout will be disappointed. I read where they are taking 3 events (flashpoints)that actually happened during the run of “I Love Lucy” and have them all happen in the same week in the movie.
Lucie Arnaz approval aside – she has an Executive Producer credit, so she’s not gonna say anything bad! – the fact that the picture above is basically all we got of Nicole is telling. I know it’s a teaser but I’m more intrigued to see how unlike Lucille Ball she really is.
Nicole is just warming up for her next block buster redux and is putting on the ears for “Scooby Doo and the Kangaroo Crew” as the crowning gem of the “Copy The Past To Grasp The Cash” Trio
Her accent is atrocious, once again. Why are producers so willing to overlook how limited her American accent is? Nine Perfect Strangers was not aided by her “Russian” accent, all of her recent TV work with her whispering and now she’s playing a loud comedienne and she’s whispering AGAIN?
COME ON. This movie sounds like such a great concept if they had cast it appropriately.
I’m excited for this. No it won’t be a dead accurate portrayal, but no one else could ever be Lucille Ball except Lucille Ball. That’s just a fact. She was too unique. Debra Messing is a wonderful actress, but I saw her portrayal of Lucy on Will & Grace and wasn’t impressed…not really understanding all the hype for her? Cate Blanchett was originally cast for this part and she would’ve been better, but Nicole Kidman doesn’t deserve all the hate she gets. I don’t think this was ever meant to win an Oscar. It’s just a fluffy movie about something everyone knows about anyway. I would be more interested in a film focused on the real life friendship between Lucille Ball and Vivian Vance, but I will happily watch this.
It’s because she has red hair.
Lol!
I wasn’t impressed by this trailer. For me, the draw here would be Aaron Sorkin. Aaron Sorkin-written movies based on true stories can be all over the place with casting actors who look or sound like the people they are portraying (e.g., “The Social Network”, “Moneyball”, “Steve Jobs”, “The Trial of the Chicago 7”). However, they’re usually well-written and well-acted.
I might give it a shot, though I find the casting strange. Wondering which Sorkinism he’s gonna recycle in this script. Maybe “one egg is un oeuf.”
Nicole Kidman gets A LOT of roles, and she is a very good actress. This is NOT a role she in which she should have been cast.
She sounds exactly like her!
Lucy’s daughter gave it a thumbs up. I think it will be good.
Are you being sarcastic? She in no way sounds like Lucille Ball. And Javier sounds as if he didn’t even try to sound like Desi.
This was a hard trailer to get excited about. It was all about the voice over, but all I could picture when I heard it was Nicole Kidman–her voice is extremely recognizable.
Not a good sign that there’s next-to-no footage of Nicole as “Lucy Ricardo.” There’s been a lot of speculation about this casting decision (including right here on TVLine). The best way to shut up the naysayers would have been to show Nicole hitting it out of the park…hmmm. Not feeling good about this one.
Ugh! Wrong on so many levels beginning with casting. Javier Bardem??????? Oh, please! Hard pass.
I Love Lucy from day one and still do. But that trailer was horrible I wouldn’t pay or even watch it for free
Oh, the voice is painfully bad-not Lucy at all- and it is hard to get a sense of anything else from the fleeting glimpses they give us.
I grew up on the show as well as several of her movies, read her story, including all the ups and downs, so I fully get that they need an actress with layers…I just don’t get the feeling this will capture what so many hoped for. I hear their daughter is happy with it, though, so who knows?
Lucille Ball was a comedic genius. Nicole Kidman is a very talented actress. Hopefully, this does Lucille Ball justice.
I still think Debra Messing would have been the best choice to play Lucy. I don’t think Nicole Kidman won’t be as good of a representation of Lucy as Debra Messing would
Honestly I just don’t see it, other than the red hair. *shrug*
Just saw the movie with my wife and we both enjoyed it. If folks don’t like the casting choices don’t go see it, it’s that simple. We felt Nicole Kidman was terrific, and nailed not just Lucy’s look but her voice, too. Along with her cast mates, she provided a top notch characterization. It just baffles me that moviegoing critics expect an exact clone of the people being portrayed but hey, let me tell you it’s not going to happen, ever. Again, if you’re expecting perfect replicas of Lucy and company then don’t see the film and instead find the reruns of the TV show to enjoy the original product.
I just saw it too, and loved it.
I don’t get all the Nicole hate, and never thought Debrah Messing was the right choice, or that Cate Blanchett would have been better. Nicole has the acting chops for being a chameleon, and always does a deep, internal type of inhabiting a character, as she did in this movie. I thought everyone was good in their roles. Suspended belief for me, as they swept me along in what Lucy Arnaz said was the capturing of her parent’s spirits. Their respective “ages” didn’t bother me at all. And Nicole looked pretty young as young Lucy meeting Desi, to me…we all should look that “old” at 54. Good story also, by Sorkin…really swept me up in it and kept me there to the end.