Retired actress Kim Novak isn’t feeling so euphoric about Sydney Sweeney portraying her in the upcoming film Scandalous!
The star of Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo recently spoke to The Times of London about the film that’ll chart her relationship with Sammy Davis Jr. in 1957. In the interview, the two-time Golden Globe-winning actress, who defined Hollywood’s Golden Age, expressed that she “would never have approved” of Sweeney playing her.
Novak noted that the Euphoria actress “sticks out so much above the waist,” explaining that her criticism of the film is rooted in concerns it will emphasize the sexual aspect of her relationship with Davis Jr. instead of how they had “so much in common.”
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“There’s no way it wouldn’t be a sexual relationship because Sydney Sweeney looks sexy all the time,” Novak added. “She was totally wrong to play me.”
Scandalous! will be helmed by Colman Domingo in his feature directorial debut. Previously describing the film as a “fractured love story,” Domingo revealed that the plan was to shoot it after Sweeney — who stars alongside David Jonsson — wrapped production on Euphoria’s third season.
“And then hopefully we’ll make a beautiful, sweet film that’s really about the possibility of love, but under many eyes, trying to have privacy, trying to have love, trying to have a life,” said Domingo. “And I think it’s something that Sydney and I both know very well. We’re trying to advocate for your humanity again in your life.”
Both Novak and Davis were stars at the top of their game when they met as guests on The Steve Allen Show in 1956. They were romantically involved in 1957 before their relationship ended when Columbia Pictures boss Henry Cohn, under whom Novak was contracted, feared that their interracial romance would negatively impact his business.
Last August, Novak voiced her initial concerns with Scandalous! in an interview with The Guardian. “I don’t think the relationship was scandalous. He’s somebody I really cared about,” she said. “We had so much in common, including the 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.”
