Actress Debra Messing has expressed her interest in playing comedy icon Lucille Ball in the upcoming movie Being the Ricardos. The biopic is being both written and directed by Aaron Sorkin, best known for his razor-sharp dialogue writing skills which are on full display in fan-favorite TV drama The West Wing and movies like The Trial of the Chicago Seven and The Social Network. Being the Ricardos is expected to shed new light on the relationship between Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, dramatizing a week in their lives. The married couple created one of the most famous and trailblazing sitcoms in television history, I Love Lucy, in the early 50s, but divorced just ten years later, a few years after the show went off the air.
No actors are currently officially attached to the Amazon Studios project, although there are rumors about Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem currently being eyed to play the classic television icons. Without official confirmation on who will play Lucille Ball in Being the Ricardos just yet, Will & Grace’s Debra Messing has keenly thrown her hat into the ring. Replying to a fan on Twitter discussing the casting rumors, Messing seemed eager to express her availability to star in the film. Check out the full tweet below:
Messing may not have quite the star power of Nicole Kidman, but many fans agree the Emmy award-winning actress is the spitting image of Ball and was born to play the role. Messing even dressed up as Lucy in a special tribute to I Love Lucy during Will & Grace's final season, and the resemblance is uncanny. It will be no easy feat to do such a classic television icon justice, so whoever gets the role in Being the Ricardos - no matter how much they look like Ball - will have some big shoes to fill.
Source: Debra Messing/Twitter