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Concerned over the potential for a biopic to sexualize her relationship with Sammy Davis Jr., Hollywood legend Kim Novak has voiced her apprehension over actress Sydney Sweeney's casting.
Novak's fears echo Sweeney's own frustrations with being reduced to her on-screen image, overshadowing her talent.
Why is Kim Novak Concerned About Sydney Sweeney's Involvement in the Biopic?
Vertigo star Kim Novak, whose real-life 1950s romance with Sammy Davis Jr. will be portrayed in Scandalous!, believes that Sydney Sweeney may not have been the right choice for the biopic. Apart from Novak's disapproval of the chosen title, she wanted a more honest portrayal of their story.
"I don't think the relationship was scandalous," Novak told The Guardian in a new interview published Saturday, August 30. "He's somebody I really cared about. 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."
Novak's longtime manager, Sue Cameron, previously confirmed that their secret romance had long gained interest from unapproved projects in the past, thus highlighting the importance that this story gets done right.
"Kim and I have been aware of at least four unauthorized and unapproved projects in development," Cameron told PEOPLE in 2024, "She never wanted to get married back then — to anyone. It was a romance based on love, respect, and the things they shared in common."
According to Cameron, Kim and Sammy knew what they were: rebels and outsiders who wanted to defy people's racial bias. Their relationship, after all, had only ended due to external pressure, with the head of Columbia Pictures, Harry Cohn, threatening Davis with a mob hit.
"Hopefully, we'll make a beautiful, sweet film that's really about the possibility of love, but under many eyes," Colman Domingo, who is set to direct Scandalous!, told Deadline last year.
This isn't the first time that Sweeney was given remarks about being 'too sexual' on TV. If anything, what was once considered her signature asset has now discriminated against her in the world of Hollywood.
What Has the Scandalous! Director Said About Sydney Sweeney?
Sweeney's latest ad projects haven't been spot-on when it comes to advocating the actress's goal of veering away from being typecast in Hollywood, and this Scandalous! project counts.
Considering how American Eagle, her bathwater soap incident, and her exclusive perks have been, fans find it difficult to believe she's still on the right path.
The Scandalous! helmer, however, begged to differ when he claimed Sydney would know how to navigate Kim Novak in the upcoming biopic, "Trying to have privacy, trying to have love, trying to have a life. 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."
Scandalous! has yet to pin down a release date. Stay tuned.
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