Lucille Ball’s Daughter Talks the “Wonderful” and “Positive” Biopic About Her Mom’s Life

The long-planned film about Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz hasn’t begun shooting, but the iconic star’s daughter, Lucie Arnaz, is opening up about it for the first time.

Her fellow executive producers, including screenwriter Aaron Sorkin — who previously worked on The West Wing — “presented it in such a wonderful, positive, optimistic way,” she revealed. “They said, ‘Look, this is a complicated story. There were lots of problems. But we believe this was one of the [greatest] love stories ever.”

Lucy, Desi, and their two children.

Lucie, 66, was also reassured after meeting with two-time Oscar winner Cate Blanchett, who will play her mother. “She said, ‘It must have been holy hell to try to keep a marriage together and a family and have the kind of success she had.’ I said, ‘Thank you very much,’ and ‘We’re done.’ That’s all I needed to hear.”

During a previous exclusive interview with Closer Weekly, a close friend of Cate’s revealed that the star’s four children cannot wait for their mom to portray Lucy in the upcoming biopic about her life. “The whole family has been watching I Love Lucy for years. Cate says the kids would never forgive her if she didn’t take this on. They love the idea of their mom playing this lady they love on TV,” the insider revealed, referring to Cate’s sons Dashiell, 16, Roman, 14, and Ignatius, 10, and daughter Edith, 3, with husband Andrew Upton.

Cate (left) and Lucy (right).

“Cate is a chameleon who can really sink her teeth into a role,” Michael Stern, author of I Had a Ball: My Friendship With Lucille Ball, also told Closer. “Lucy would be honored to have someone of Cate’s caliber playing her.”

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