Overview
- Novak, in a Times of London interview published Saturday, said she “would never have approved” the casting and remarked that Sweeney “sticks out so much above the waist.”
- She warned the film could fixate on sex because Sweeney “looks sexy all the time” and said portraying her bipolar vulnerability is not something an actor can “learn.”
- The Miramax-backed project lists Colman Domingo as director in his feature debut with David Jonsson as Sammy Davis Jr., yet production has not started and recent coverage says the timeline is unclear.
- Sweeney serves as a producer, previously called the role an honor, and has not issued a new response as outlets report representatives did not comment on Novak’s remarks.
- The story revisits Novak’s 1957 relationship with Davis, which drew racist pressure in Hollywood, and Novak has said Columbia chief Harry Cohn threatened Davis to end it.