Aaron Sorkin got permission from Lucille Ball's daughter to show the darker side of her mother in Being the Ricardos: 'Take the gloves off'

Aaron Sorkin's upcoming movie Being the Ricardos will dive into the relationship between Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, and it won't sugarcoat either legendary actor. 

The Moneyball writer, 60, received permission from the I Love Lucy star's daughter Lucie Arnaz to show her mother as she was. 

'We all had lunch together, and she said to me, "I know my mother wasn't an easy woman,"' Sorkin told The Hollywood Reporter. '"Take the gloves off." In other words, you can go for it.' 

Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem will play Ball and Arnaz in the film that will take audiences behind the scenes of their television show I Love Lucy as the two artists clash. 

While fans raised concerns about some of the casting decisions, Sorkin said it was more about Ball and Arnaz the people than the characters they played on the venerated sitcom. 

'I think that the people thought that we've cast them as Lucy and Ricky Ricardo,' the Molly's Game director told Entertainment Tonight in February. 'The film takes place during a production week of I Love Lucy – a Monday table read to Friday audience taping, with a whole bunch of long flashbacks which are telling the story that got us here – and because there's a table read, there's rehearsals and then there's tape night, we do see moments of them being Lucy and Ricky Ricardo.'  

Sorkin also called out Twitter users for their comments about Kidman's casting during a post-screening Q&A on Wednesday, November 17 in New York, according to Gold Derby. 

'There was this committee — I can’t remember what they were called, not the House on Un-American Activities Committee — but this association for American goodness or something,' Sorkin said. 

'But they were the ones who, if you wanted to hire J.K. Simmons on your show, they’d tell you if that was OK. They’ve checked out J.K. and they haven’t found anything in his past that bothers them, yes, you can hire J.K. Simmons. That group today is Twitter,' he added said.   

Academy Award winner J.K. Simmons, Veep actor Tony Hale and Tony Award winner Nina Arianda will also have starring roles in the film.

Being the Ricardos will open in theaters on December 10 and come out on Amazon Prime Video December 21. 

Ball and Arnaz were married from 1940 to 1960. They co-starred on I Love Lucy for the entirety of its six season run.