JK Simmons & Nina Arianda in talks for Sorkins Being the Ricardos
Just a month after starting talks with Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem about his central roles, Aaron Sorkin’s upcoming biographical drama Be the Ricardos builds his ensemble cast as JK Simmons (Whiplash) and Nina Arianda (Goliath) have entered negotiations to star in the film, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
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The film, written by Sorkin, is set on the legendary 1950s sitcom during a week of production I love lucy, which started with table readings on Mondays and ended with filming for the audience on Fridays, and will focus on the real relationship between stars Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, one crisis that could end their careers and another that could end their marriage could finish. Sources previously reported that Sorkin originally intended not to lead the project, just write it, after having directed the historical drama acquired by Netflix, which took over the chairmanship of the director last summer.
Simmons is currently under inspection to portray William Frawley, the actor who appeared on the iconic sitcom as Fred Mertz during the Stan & Ollie The actress is in talks to star as Emmy winner Vivian Vance, who appeared as Ethel Mertz and later hit the ball in her ’60s sitcom The Lucy Show.
Sources also report that Kidman and Bardem became interested in the project after it was released, although not all deals have been closed The Chicago Trial 7 and that a production start date has not yet been set as the pandemic continues to be a problem for productions across the country. The project was previously in development, and Cate Blanchett was supposed to star, though it’s unclear why the two-time Oscar-winner dropped out.
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The film is slated to be produced by Escape Artists’ Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal and Steve Tisch, with Escape’s Jenna Block and David Bloomfield, Stuart Besser, Lucie Arnaz, Desi Arnaz Jr. and Lauren Lohman serving as executive producers on the project.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
