How Lucie Arnaz Really Feels About Cate Blanchett Being Cast as Her Mother in Upcoming Movie About Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz
The Lucille Ball biopic is “very much alive” according to Amazon. The film is written by Aaron Sorkin and starring Academy Award winner Cate Blanchett as the iconic I Love Lucy actor. Lucie Arnaz and her brother, Desi Arnaz Jr., are producers.
Here’s what Ball’s daughter has to say about the upcoming film and the casting of Blanchett in the role of her mother.
The Lucille Ball biopic
In an interview with Good Morning America in 2019, Arnaz reflected on the chemistry her parents had both on screen and off.
“When they were in their best together, they were a wonderful compliment to each other’s passions and desires,” she said.
The upcoming film is going to give audiences a closer look at the connection Ball and Arnaz shared.
“[It’s] the good, the bad, the ugly but primarily the good,” said Ball’s daughter.
According to Deadline, the biopic “will center on the marriage of Ball and Desi Arnaz, her co-star on the seminal sitcom I Love Lucy and partner in powerhouse Desilu Studios; they were married for 20 years before divorcing in 1960.”
Cate Blanchett will play Lucille Ball in upcoming biopic
Arnaz told GMA that Blanchett immediately accepted the offer to play the role of Ball.
“The first person they mentioned they wanted to inquire about playing [my mother] said, ‘Oh my God. Yes.’ And that was Cate Blanchett,” she said.
Arnaz thinks Blanchett is perfect for the role because she really understands her mother and her life.
“She totally gets where my mother was coming from, and she’s going to be magnificent in this,” Arnaz said of Blanchett.
When it comes to the portrayal of her parents, Arnaz says she’s looking for “balance and fairness.”
“They were two people that had a tremendous passion for one another,” she said. “There’s good and there’s bad with that. They didn’t have the benefit of therapists and things we have today…people that make us look at ourselves in a different way.”
Arnaz continued: “In those days, if you said, ‘Well, we’re having troubles, we need to get some help.’ [gossip columnists] Louella Parsons and Hedda Hopper would have a field day and it would probably ruin your show. So, they struggled alone … he was Latin and she was hot-tempered and she was jealous and he was jealous. But they were so passionate about each other.”
After watching the film, Arnaz wants audiences to be able to say: “I understand Desi. I understand Lucy I understand why they fell in love. I understand why they couldn’t stay married. And I understand why that show worked the way it did.”
Fortunately, she thinks Sorkin “accomplished that.”
