every day and keep our fingers crossed. And it was so well-written. The story is so compelling – when you have that as a basis, you’re like, ‘Ok, now we go play.’ Right? And it’s very layered and, for me, it’s just a really compelling story. And I hope people want to see it because these people are really, really fascinating. And Mr Sorkin has done a fantastic job.
How important was it that Lucille and Desi’s daughter gave her blessing to the film? Having her support and as a blessing for me to do it was really important to me. So I wanted to build my relationship with her. Because I’m playing her mama. You know? I have daughters and I would want them to bless a film if there was ever a film of me. So I needed her.
What roles of yours do your kids love? Mine? I don’t know, you’ll have to ask them when they’re older. They’ve put me on a thing where I’ve talked about them too much, I think they are like now, ‘Would you please stop it mama.’ at 13 it’s like, ‘Ok that’s enough now.’ but they are unbelievably supportive. Whenever I can I say thank you to them publicly and privately because they are just really, really special people.
18
Firstly, how are you feeling about the Oscar buzz swirling around your performance in ‘Being the Ricardos’? Do you ever get used to that feeling? It’s like any crumb you can get you’re like, ‘Thank you!’ [laughs] I’m still so into what I do and I love what I do. At the same time, you don’t want to let a whole group of people down. So it’s more like you’re in it together and you’re hoping for the best but a lot of it is up to the film gods now right? At some point, you work so hard and you hope and then you go, ‘Ok, well now I’ve got to let this go and see where it lands.’
It must have been nerve-wracking to take on such an iconic role but you nailed it – how does that feel? Grateful, thankful. Aaron Sorkin pushed us off the cliff and went, ‘Go for it.’ and every time we would say, ‘Oh this isn’t working’ or ‘Are you sure?’ he would be completely unwavering in his decisiveness – and I love that. That’s a director – right? That’s what you want in a director.
What went into your transformation to become Lucille Ball? It was a lot of watching her, absorbing her, talking to her daughter, watching documentaries, interviews, listening. And then throwing that all away and going, ‘Just go for it.
The classic grape-stomping scene - how much did you practise for that? Yes! So fun. Like months and months and did it over and over. And I loved doing it! I highly recommend giving it a try. It’s really fun.
What was the key to stepping into Lucille Ball’s shoes for this film day-in day-out? I think it’s just commitment to what you do. I think everyone would say it. We all just wanted to do our best and we would show up
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Lucille and Desi’s daughter has been raving about your performance? How does that make you feel? That is a huge relief. It’s something that both Javier [Bardem] and I want to honour, we wanted to honour her parents. But at the same time, you want it to be a true depiction of who they are so that people watching it go, ‘Oh ok.’ and it’s not some rose-coloured glasses. I think Aaron [Sorkin] has really gone in there, he’s done them proud but at the same time, he’s been very true to their spirits. And they are compelling, fascinating, ground-breaking people. At the same time, they are very human.
How did Lucille and Desi’s daughter help with the process of the film? She gave me and Javier some things that changed the performance.
CE L EBRIT Y INTERVI EW NICOL E K IDMAN
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