Trivia / Being the Ricardos

• Ability over Appearance: Javier Bardem doesn’t look anything like Desi Arnaz and is noticeably much older than he was at the time the movie takes place. However Lucie Arnaz, the couple’s daughter and a Producer of the film, felt he nailed the character perfectly.
• The Cast Showoff: Portraying singer Desi Arnaz, Javier Bardem gets several opportunities to display his vocal talents.
• Darkhorse Casting: While the other three actors portraying I Love Lucy's main cast members are all Household Names, Nina Arianda (Vivian Vance) is not particularly famous.
• Dawson Casting: Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem are each about fifteen years older than Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz were at the time the movie takes place. This is somewhat justified as Lucille Ball was a lifelong smoker and Nicole Kidman looks much younger than her actual age.
• Disowned Adaptation: Zig-zagged. Executive Producer Lucie Arnaz (daughter of Ball and Arnaz) has said she felt Aaron Sorkin made a good film in its own right, and has praised the performances of Kidman and Bardem for capturing the spirit of her parents. However, she also questioned why she was consulted in the first place, and why the rights to two books were purchased, if Sorkin intended on taking such extreme dramatic license, and unsuccessfully requested to have some inauthentic scenes removed. She also took issue with Sorkin’s “arrogant” decision to direct the film himself, which cost the production Cate Blanchett, and was understandably offended when Sorkin stated in an interview that I Love Lucy was a show people wouldn’t find funny today.
• Fake Nationality: Australian actress Nicole Kidman plays the American Lucille Ball and Cuban native Desi Arnaz is played by Spanish actor Javier Bardem.
• Production Posse: This is the second time Nicole Kidman has done a movie written by Aaron Sorkin, as she had previously starred in Malice. Also, Clark Gregg appeared in the original Broadway production of A Few Good Men, and appeared on a couple of episodes of The West Wing.
• Real-Life Relative: In the Latin Spanish dub, the younger Jess Oppenheimer was voiced by Arturo Mercado Jr., while his father Arturo Mercado played his older self.
• Starring a Star as a Star: Nicole Kidman as Lucille Ball, Javier Bardem as Desi Arnaz and J. K. Simmons as William Frawley.
• Those Two Actors: Tony Hale and Alia Shawkat had previously appeared together in Arrested Development.
• What Could Have Been: Cate Blanchett was first slated to portray Ball, but ultimately withdrew. Initial reports claimed scheduling conflicts were the reason, but Lucie Arnaz later confirmed Blanchett backed out after Aaron Sorkin decided to direct the film, not just write it.

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