Last week was the first screening/premiere for Being the Ricardos, Aaron Sorkin’s take on the real Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. Apparently, the “real story” is that Desi and Lucy looked nothing like that in real life! These are photos from last night’s LA premiere, which seemed a lot bigger than the NYC premiere. Bigger and yet… more sparsely attended? It’s almost as if no one wants to see this movie, weird.
Nicole decided to go for a princess gown – this is Armani Prive, in an icy, pale blue. This partly reminds me of those years when Nicole was legitimately a fashionista, and someone who liked to make big, dramatic red carpet appearances. Somewhere along the line, she just didn’t care as much though. It’s nice to see that she’ll still pull out some big look every now and then. My big issue here is that I think the makeup is wrong? That red lip is bad for the rest of the look.
I’ve called this film cursed several times and people have yelled at me because apparently people attending early screenings have enjoyed the film, and Nicole is still on a lot of people’s Oscar short-lists for the Best Actress Oscar. Both things can be true: Nicole might get an Oscar nomination, and the film looks like a f–king messy, cheap joke. One doesn’t preclude the other.
Javier Bardem recently spoke to the Today Show about his reaction to seeing Nicole in her Lucy drag for the first time: “I was doing my test with wardrobe, the hair, the makeup, and then she came in … and there was a silence. They really nailed the look of Lucy Ricardo, no? And I felt, ‘Well, here is my wife. Hi. This is your husband. Whether you like it or not, this is your husband.’” LOL, I wonder if the silence was because SHE LOOKS NOTHING LIKE LUCY.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
I know nothing about fashion, but I really like this. It could fit a tad better, but I think it’s a fun gown for the winter.
The work he’s had done is soooooo much better than the work she’s had done!
Also, this colour really washes Nicole out – she could do with something in a rich blue, green or gold.
I think she looks good in the gown, it compliments her pale skin, and it’s a lovely dress, but the makeup is WAY too harsh for the gown (those brows! those lips!). I love that she’s gone back to a red tone (for this promo tour at least), SO much better than the brassy blonde she’s been sporting in the years before. I realize red hair (natural or not) is SO hard to keep up, esp. as the grays come in, but her hair is a frizzed mess! You’d think with all her money and access she’d get a great hair mask/conditioning regime, or some damned good wigs!
To JB looks like Jeffrey Dean Morgan in the frontal pics. He has ZERO resemblance to Desi in any way.
Interestingly, and I do not know this from personal experience as I am a brunette, but I’ve read that red hair does not go gray or white, but rather just becomes a paler and paler shade of red. Interesting, no?
@ MissKitten: I am a redhead, and nearly every redhead I’ve known their hair gradually faded to a dingy yellowish-gray–like the red color slowly just…leaked out. I’ve had a lifelong love-hate relationship with my (extremely bright) red hair, so I have been increasingly terrified of my hair fading into icky melted snow drab. But, I’m now 42yrs old, and I have a handful of white sprinkled along my hairline, but other than those few dozen white hairs my red is as vibrant as ever. So, who knows? My red is much brighter/more saturated than most redheads I’d known/met (more Julianne Moore than Nicole Kidman) so maybe it’s typically the lighter shades that fade?
@MissKitten: I am a redhead, and my experience is that some redheads, like me, just go pure white; others go a greyish-dirty colour like Scarlet Vixen says; it depends on the sort of red hair you have. I remember Nicole before she was famous internationally, and her hair is the type that will go that greyish-dirty colour. Not that you’d ever know: she’s died it since she was in her teens.
Oooooo…pretty. They both look great.
This def feels like a vintage Kidman look. It looks like she’s had some work done on her jaw.
Poor thing trying to fight off aging with all her might.
Did she or is it just weight loss? I can’t tell, but something seems different.
Man they are selling the heck out of this movie, to the point that I could wonder if the producers are paying for good reviews. It’s very jarring to listen to the podcast The Plot Thickens currently bringing Lucy and Desi vividly to life and then see stuff about this movie. Also, that dress doesn’t look blue, it looks like what I like to call dryer lint gray.
That podcast is so good!
@ Monica, I know they are really going strong on selling this movie and I saw the interview with the cast over the weekend, but it is miscast terribly! Nicole doesn’t copy Lucilles speech tones or pitches, I don’t expect her to sound like Lucy, but I would like her to get Lucy’s speech tone and facial expressions as well. This could have been a great movie, but alas, it’s not going to be.
https://youtu.be/TicuxCiEy9A
Though I do love JK Simons and I wouldn’t mind having to share a bed with Javier!!
I’m loving this gown, and I’m a fan of Nicole, but I have zero interest in this movie… oh, well! But keep bringing the pretty gowns, please
I….think she looks great? I think this is the best she has looked in a long time at an event like this. Love the dress, it feels like a vintage Kidman red carpet gown.
I do too. I think she looks pretty, and the gown is nice.
Oh, yes, love that dress! And Javier Bardem — I know he’s miscast, but so gorgeous!
I love the dress, her whole look here. And once again wish somewhere, somehow, someday I get to wear a big, beautiful couture gown…..
This I like! To me this is Hollywood glamour as opposed to some of the other stuff folks keep dragging out. Go Nicole! She probably could have gone with a softer lip though but maybe she was going for an old school vibe.
I think she looks beautiful. That dress is lovely and glamorous.
I enjoyed Spencer even though Kristen Stewart looks nothing like Diana.
I mean … I like it? I think Kidman does really well with the ice princess look, and that’s not a look that’s easy to pull off and not one I usually like. But she’s good with it, her skin is amazing. I’m even okay with the red lip.
I’m not a big movie-watcher, so I doubt I’ll see this. But I like her in general and like this look for her. But zero chemistry between her and Bardem in the pics. I hope it’s better on-screen?
Everyone coming down hard on how Nicole & Javiar do not look anything like their characters. As someone up above said, Kristen Stewart looks nothing like Diana in both looks and mannerisms but everyone on here thinks she’s the best ever. Why so hard on Nicole? Nicole is a far better actress than Kristen and can give the character life whether she’s the spitting image of Lucy or not. When did we get so critical? I say give it a chance before you knock the movie.
“Being the Ricardos” is such a dumb name
He’s so freaking hot he could toast a bagel just by looking at it.
I think the dissonance is created because Kidman actually does look a lot like Lucille Ball, except that her eyes are completely wrong. And the “so close but still so far” feeling is extremely disturbing. Ball’s eyes were large and wide-set; Kidman’s are comparatively small and much closer together. I keep looking at the trailer and imagining some kind of digital trick where they simply enlarge her eyes and widen the space between them. With Deep Fake techniques available, I’m surprised they didn’t try something like that.