Sydney Sweeney Is ‘So Excited’ to Meet Kim Novak Ahead of ‘Scandalous!’ Biopic
What To Know
- Sydney Sweeney expressed excitement and honor about portraying Kim Novak in the upcoming biopic Scandalous!, which will focus on Novak’s life and her controversial interracial relationship with Sammy Davis Jr. in the 1950s.
- The film, directed by Colman Domingo in his directorial debut, will explore themes of Hollywood scrutiny, personal relationships, and image control, which Sweeney says she relates to personally.
- Kim Novak has voiced concerns about the biopic’s portrayal of her romance with Davis, emphasizing that their relationship was not scandalous and hoping the film does not sensationalize it; no release date has been announced yet.
Sydney Sweeney said she is “so excited” to meet Kim Novak ahead of portraying the iconic actress in the biopic Scandalous!
In the ’50s, and ’60s, Novak became best known for her roles in films like Vertigo, Picnic, Kiss Me, Stupid, Bell Book and Candle, and many others. She also notably dated musician Sammy Davis Jr. in 1957 — however, they ended the relationship soon after the news broke due to intense backlash over their interracial romance.
During an interview with People published on October 26, the Euphoria star, 28, opened up about portraying the iconic actress, 92, in the upcoming film directed by Colman Domingo.
“I’m incredibly honored to be bringing Kim to life. I mean, she is such an amazing actress,” Sweeney told the publication. “I think her story is still very relevant today in that she dealt with Hollywood and scrutiny with her relationships and her own private life and the control of her image. And I think that for me, I relate to it in a lot of different ways.”
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For the biopic, the Everything Sucks! star will portray Novak during her interracial relationship with Davis (David Jonsson) in the ’50s. The film marks Domingo’s directorial debut.
Sweeney says she plans to wrap up Season 3 of Euphoria before fully diving into her Scandalous! role.
“Once I finish Euphoria, I switch into Scandalous! gear and I’m going to turn my brain into Kim,” she explained. “I’m so excited. I’m like, ‘Oh my God. I’m going to meet Kim Novak.”
In August, Novak spoke with The Guardian about the biopic, expressing concern about the portrayal of her romance with Davis.
“I don’t think the relationship was scandalous,” she told the publication of the musician, who died at 64 in 1990. “He’s somebody I really cared about.”
Novak continued, “We had so much in common, including that need to be accepted for who we are and what we do, rather than how we look. But I’m concerned they’re going to make it all sexual reasons.”
As of writing, a premiere date for Scandalous! has not been announced.