Nicole Kidman And Javier Bardem To Play Lucille Ball And Desi Arnaz In Upcoming Movie

Published on January 14, 2021.

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Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem are reportedly in talks to star as Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz in an upcoming film.

According to Deadline, the film is being directed by Aaron Sorkin and will be titled Being the Ricardos. The film will follow the story of the iconic Hollywood couple as they face a crisis that could end their careers and marriage while filming I Love Lucy. 

Sorkin, best known for the series The West Wing, has already written the screenplay and is set to direct the film. It’s unclear when production will begin amid the current global health crisis.

I Love Lucy aired on CBS for six seasons from 1951 to 1957. Hollywood legends Ball and Arnaz starred as the central couple Lucy and Ricky Ricardo. The storyline follows Lucy as she attempts numerous plots to be a part of showbusiness through Ricky’s nightclub.

Ball and Arnaz married in 1940 and had two children together. In 1950, Ball was starring on a radio show. My Favourite Husband, with actor Richard Denning. When the network launched the show for the new medium of television, Ball insisted that Arnaz be cast as her spouse.

The show was a major success but eventually took a toll on their relationship which ultimately ended in divorce in 1960. Both Ball and Arnaz did eventually remarry with Ball marrying comedian Gary Morton and Arnaz marrying his neighbor Edith Hirsch.

“I think she always loved him. And there’s no question that he loved her always,” I Love Lucy director William Asher told PEOPLE in 1991. “Later, he married her double. Edie [Mack Hirsch] was a marvelous girl in her own right, but she sure as hell looked like Lucy.”