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Posted on 04/01/2026 12:16:56 PM PDT by nickcarraway
The 93-year-old Vertigo icon is making her feelings about Scandalous! abundantly clear — and casting, apparently, is just the beginning.
Summary
-Kim Novak slammed Sydney Sweeney’s casting in Scandalous!, the upcoming biopic about her 1950s affair with Sammy
-Davis Jr., saying she “would never have approved.”
-Novak’s beef isn’t just personal — she fears the film will reduce her complex romance with Davis to a purely sexual story because Sweeney “looks sexy all the time.”
-Sweeney says she’s “incredibly honored” to play Novak — a sentiment her subject clearly does not share.
Kim Novak would like the record to reflect that she did not sign off on this.
The Hollywood legend sat down with The Times of London on March 28 to share her unfiltered thoughts on Scandalous!, the upcoming biopic directed by Colman Domingo (Euphoria) that chronicles her taboo 1950s affair with Sammy Davis Jr. And when it comes to the casting of Sydney Sweeney in the role of Novak herself? The Vertigo star is decidedly not a fan.
“I would never have approved,” Novak said, adding that the Euphoria actress “sticks out so much above the waist.”
Novak went further, saying Sweeney is “totally wrong” to play her, and adding — perhaps most pointedly — that “she could never play me.” For someone who has generally kept a low profile in recent years, Novak is not exactly pulling punches.
And the casting critique isn’t just about looks. Novak has a larger, more substantive concern baked into it: she’s worried that Scandalous! is going to steamroll the genuine emotional complexity of her relationship with Davis in favor of something far more salacious.
“There’s no way it wouldn’t be a sexual relationship because Sydney Sweeney looks sexy all the time,” Novak told The Times. “She was totally wrong to play me.”
The subtext here is hard to miss. Novak wants the world to know that she and Davis — who met in 1956 as guests on The Steve Allen Show — had “so much in common,” and she fears the film will focus too much on the sexual dynamic between them rather than the depth of what they shared.
Kim Novak attends a cocktail party to announce the release of ‘The Kim Novak Collection’ DVD at The Essex House in Los Angeles, California on July 30, 2010. Photo Credit: INFevents.com
For context, their relationship was a genuine powder keg in 1950s America. Novak and Davis were at the peak of their star power when they met, and as rumors spread, the rampant racism in America threatened to derail both of their careers. The affair was reportedly broken up by Columbia Pictures boss Harry Cohn, who threatened Davis with mob violence over the interracial relationship. That’s a story with actual stakes — and Novak clearly doesn’t want it flattened into a sexed-up awards-bait romp.
Novak, who revealed her bipolar diagnosis in 2013, also offered Sweeney some unsolicited acting advice: “You can’t learn to be vulnerable. It’s a big asset to be a bipolar actor. No one feels joy or pain as much as someone who’s bipolar. The feelings are unstoppable.”
Los Angeles premiere of 'The Housemaid' Sydney Sweeney at the premiere of ‘The Housemaid’ at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles on December 15, 2025. Photo Credit: Dave Starbuck/Future Image/Cover Images
Sweeney, for her part, has been nothing but gracious about the role — perhaps too gracious, given how this is going. She told People in October 2025 that she’s “incredibly honored” to lead the film, adding, “I think her story is still very relevant today in that she dealt with Hollywood and scrutiny with her relationships and her own private life and the control of her image.”
When asked by The Hollywood Reporter if she’d met Novak, Sweeney didn’t answer directly, but noted: “Colman and her have a really beautiful relationship. They’ve been talking. We connected them, so it’s been really cool.”
Cool! Very cool! Definitely not awkward at all!
Domingo, making his feature directorial debut with Scandalous!, has described the film as a “fractured love story.” He previously told Deadline they planned to shoot in summer 2025, adding: “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.”
It’s worth noting this is not the first time Novak has pushed back on the project. As early as 2025, when the film was first announced, she questioned its very title, rejecting the idea that her relationship with Davis could be reduced to something “scandalous.” The woman has been consistent, if nothing else.
Sweeney previously paid tribute to Novak at the 2025 Met Gala, wearing a black Miu Miu dress similar to one Novak wore in 1967’s The Legend of Lylah Clare. A sweet gesture, sure — but apparently not sweet enough to win over the original.
Scandalous! stars David Jonsson (Alien: Romulus) as Sammy Davis Jr. Reps for Sweeney have not commented publicly.
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The Candyman had her kind of chocolate...
I read the comment as she’s pissed Sweeney has a great rack.....
Who cares?...Tits are for babies. Also, Sweeney needs to ditch the “trout pout” lips look.
Sweeney isn’t and will never be in Kim’s league....
Watch Kim sway when dancing with William Holden in “Picnic”...exquisite.
can’t say that
The story goes that Harry Cohn sent a couple of Mob guys to tell Sammy to back off, or else. They told Sammy, who had a glass eye as the result of a bad auto accident, “You already lost one eye, N***er, wanna try for two?”
Are you insane?!!!!
Great- i’ll still go with Sweeney’s rack....
She was bumping uglies with Sammy Davis Jr?
obviously he’s insane- or a homo....as i said- i choose Sweeney’s rack..
Her best role was in a Hitchcock classic, a director known for casting blond actresses because they looked good.
And this project about some scandalous mixed race affair? We're going that far back for movies now? Ho hum.
Weren’t breasts in the first draft of the Bill of Rights?
This sort of nastiness is almost never zotted, even as they zot a light-hearted AI of Melania dancing; so it looks like he CAN say that.
I didn't find her that attractive, but she seemed earnest, intelligent, witty, and was not unpresentable, in any way.
We started dating and the 3-5 day cycle commenced. Great attitude, happy as you can be, all positive, then very normal, seemingly okay, then massive downturn where I am the reason for whatever isn't right, then apologies and agreement I'll try better, and the cycle restarts.
The problem was that almost never was I the problem. She would constantly say that if I really loved and understood her, I would have known she wanted “X” or I should have done “X.” She would maintain I was the cause of her tears and pain. I could not ever get ahead.
One time she threw some heavy stuff at me when I excused myself, saying, I just don't see how I can rationally be responsible for guessing what was going to be on your mind to accommodate it. She came up with stuff like “This is our 200th day together. Why didn't you plan a dinner for that?” I don't even know how she anchored it, because we agreed to start dating on a different day, so it was some day around that that she had on her mind—unless it was all cr-p, anyway.
Friends kept telling me I needed to break it off, but I thought if you loved someone enough, and they were rational, you could fix it. I was wrong, and she wasn't rational—just played “rational,” when she wanted to.
She was psycho.
Thankfully, the next guy she dated she hooked into marrying her. Not my problem!
She got my current email address and emailed me about four years ago, many years after I last saw her (which was at the church I was then attending (and she never did)—she had asked a former roommate about where I attended, I found out).
I did not respond back and deleted the email. It was ostensibly for information on an old friend, but I wanted no contact with her.
Just keep toxic people out of your life.
We’ll see
What a crazy society we live in to make a movie about this.
Novak>Sweeney
Sweeney UU Novak
I really liked “Bell Book and Candle” — thought she was very good.
I’m old fashioned, and my objection is glorifying an inter-racial sexual relationship.
I don’t think this will help SS in her career, either. I’ll think less of her if she goes through with it.
I know a LOT of people here think it’s cool but I don’t. And I have many interracial marriages in our family.
Manson’s IQ was probably 80 points higher than Loen’s. Except in matters of vehicular transport.
I don’t think interracial relationships are ‘cool’ any more than any other human relationship is ‘cool’. They just are.
And I don’t see telling a story that actually happened as a matter of ‘glorifying’ anything. Black/White romantic relationships and marriages in that era were far from ‘glorious’. They were very difficult, and a great credit to the character of those who managed to make them successful despite all of the obstacles.
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