It’s been over two decades since Nicole Kidman split from Tom Cruise, but the actress is still being asked about her former husband. When a journalist drew similarities between Kidman’s character in Being the Ricardos, she shut down the question, labelling it “sexist”.
Kidman was doing media rounds to promote the new film, during an interview with The Guardian, Kidman touched on the relationship between her character Lucille Ball and her on screen partner Desi Arnaz’s.
“It’s about a creative and romantic relationship that doesn’t work out. But from it come some extraordinary things. And I love that. I love that it’s not a happy ending,” Kidman shared.
“This film says you can make an extraordinary relationship thrive and leave remnants of it that exist forever. Yeah, that’s really gorgeous,”
“You can’t make people behave how you want them to, and sometimes you’re going to fall in love with someone who isn’t going to be the person you spend the rest of your life with.”
“And I think that’s all very relatable,” she added. “You may have kids with them. You may not, but they were very much in love.”
Kidman’s explanation prompted the journalist to ask whether she was referring to her eleven year marriage to Cruise, from which she shares two kids.
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“Oh, my God, no, no. Absolutely not. No,” Nicole responded. “I mean, that’s, honestly, so long ago that that isn’t in this equation. So no.”
“And I would ask not to be pigeonholed that way, either. It feels to me almost sexist, because I’m not sure anyone would say that to a man. And at some point, you go, ‘Give me my life. In its own right.’”
Kidman recently faced shut down a similarly sexist sentiment that’s been circulating since she was cast as Lucille Ball in Being the Ricardos. Since the news that Kidman was playing the role of Ball was announced, many social medias speculated that she was “too old” for the part.
Much of the biographical movie focusses on the relationship between Ball and Arnaz. Kidman is 54 and Ball was 29 when she met Desi Arnaz.
“There’s a consensus in the industry that as a female actor, at about 40, you’re done,” Kidman told Dujour while promoting the movie.
“I never sat in a chair and heard someone say, ‘You’re past your due date,’” the actress said, “But I’ve had times where you’re turned down and the door is shut on you. It’s definitely changing and moving.”
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Check out the trailer for Being The Ricardos:
