‘Being the Ricardos’ True Story: How Accurate is the Lucille Ball Biopic?

Being the Ricardos is now available to stream worldwide on Amazon Prime, meaning you can spend your Christmas with the couple who revolutionized the sitcom. Written and directed by Aaron Sorkin, this biographical drama tells the story of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, the on-and-off-screen married couple behind the wildly popular ’50s sitcom, I Love Lucy.

While critics were initially skeptical, Being the Ricardos has gotten decent reviews, including praise for Nicole Kidman’s performance as Lucille Ball, who was initially a controversial casting choice. For those who don’t know much about Ball and Arnaz’s life behind-the-scenes of I Love Lucy, many of the plot points may come as a surprise.

But just how accurate is Being the Ricardos to the true story of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz? Read on to find out.

IS BEING THE RICARDOS BASED ON A TRUE STORY?

Yes. Being the Ricardos tells the true story of I Love Lucy star and producer Lucille Ball, who was accused of being a communist in the 1950s during America’s “Red Scare.”

ARE THE INTERVIEWS IN BEING THE RICARDOS REAL?

No. Those talking head interviews throughout the movie are performed by actors reading scripted lines written by Aaron Sorkin, which would explain why they sound so Sorkin-y. John Rubinstein plays an older Jess Oppenheimer (the younger version is played by Tony Hale), Linda Lavin plays an older Madelyn Pugh (the younger version is played by Alia Shawkat), and Ronny Cox plays an older Bob Carroll Jr. (the younger version is played by Jake Lacy).

HOW ACCURATE IS BEING THE RICARDOS?

Like most movies based on true stories, Being the Ricardos makes some changes to the truth in order to tell a more cinematic story. Perhaps the biggest change is that Sorkin condensed the timeline of Ball and Arnaz’s life to tell a dramatic, succinct story. While most of the major events of Being the Ricardos are true—Ball’s second pregnancy, Ball testifying to the House Un-American Activities Committee that she was not a communist, and a story in Confidential magazine about Arnaz’s infidelity—they did not happen over the course of one week, as we see in the movie. In fact, they happened years apart.

The other big change that, as far as I can tell, is not a true story is the film’s climactic moment where Desi Arnaz gets FBI J. Edgar Hoover to clear Ball’s name in front of the live studio audience before a taping of I Love Lucy. In fact, according to a 1989 Washington Post article Hoover “continued to collect evidence about Ball, even though the FBI claims that it never officially investigated her,” even after Ball’s name was cleared. That said, Hoover was reportedly a fan of the show, so it is possible.

Beyond that, although the timeline was condensed, many of the details in the movie are true. Ball did refuse to hide her pregnancy—to the distress of CBS and was one of the few prominent actors at the time to have her pregnancy written into the show, according to Slate. Ball really was forced to testify in front of Joseph McCarthy’s House Un-American Activities Committee both in April 1952 and in September 1953, because she checked “communist” on a 1936 voter registration form. She gave the committee the same reason she gives in the movie: it was an homage to her grandfather. A biography of Vivian Vance, Ball’s coworker who is played by Nina Arianda in the movie, asserted that Ball did want to have Vance be made to look less attractive than she was in real life, because “the old school that said you never have prettier people on the set.” And yes, Arnaz was cheating on Ball—according to a 1991 People oral history, Arnaz frequently went out with sex workers, but, as he says in the movie, felt that “didn’t count.”

A Hollywood movie will always take liberties, but Being the Ricardos does a good job capturing this time in Ball’s life in a way that feels honest. If you’re looking for total accuracy, you might want to try a documentary!

Watch Being The Ricardos on Amazon Prime