Nicole Kidman was not the original actress cast as Lucille Ball in “Being the Ricardos”.
That distinction belongs to Cate Blanchett, who departed from the project before Kidman was cast in her place. In an interview on Sunday, Kidman discussed her casting as well as the initial online backlash.
READ MORE: Nicole Kidman Says She And Keith Urban Aren’t A ‘Role-Model Couple’
“I feel like there’s a sacred pact among us all — whoever gets something, that’s where it was meant to land,” Kidman told the New York Times. “I’m not on the internet and I definitely don’t Google myself. But things trickle through.”
Lucy Arnaz, daughter of the legendary “I Love Lucy” star, told the Times she was sad to see Blanchett go, but felt the production then struck gold with Kidman.
“It just took too long and we lost her. I was devastated,” Arnaz said of Blanchett being forced to exit the movie.
When looking at other actresses to play her mother, who died in 1989 at age 77, Arnaz admitted that producers looked at a lot of people. “None of them made me happy,” she said. “It was always like, who’s the flavour of the month? Who’s got the hot movie of the minute? I thought that’s good — we should only be looking at Australian actresses for this!”
READ MORE: Javier Bardem & Nicole Kidman Talk Casting Criticism And Almost Backing Out Of ‘Being The Ricardos’
“Being the Ricardos” premiered on Dec. 10 and earned Kidman pending Best Actress nominations at the Golden Globe Awards, Critics’ Choice Movie Awards, Hollywood Critics Association Awards and others.
