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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But Novak’s statement is worthless, because it’s entirely political.
Complete summary of the content:
Sweeney Is “Totally Wrong” to Play Her in Scandalous!
“She Could Never Play Me”
Sweeney “looks sexy all the time.”
There is not much else in this article.
Well, duh. There’s one obvious difference. Well, actually two.
I had a crazy girlfriend who was this.
You don't marry “crazy.”
And, no, she was not “hot,” either.
What attracted you to her?
Its always a bad idea to develop a movie about someone who still is alive. It usually is boring or slanderous. Kim Novak is no longer really a public figure, so some producer liked the idea of making a virtue-signaling movie about a mixed-race couple from an era when there was a lot of prejudice against mixed-race couples. I like Sydney Sweeney, but they should let Kim Novak alone, at least until she’s dead.
Kim Novak is one of my favorite actresses. So many good roles. I loved her and Jimmy Stewart in Bell, Book and Candle.
It seems Novak made a career of ‘looking sexy all the time’...
““I would never have approved,” Novak said, adding that the Euphoria actress “sticks out so much above the waist.”
Sounds like she’s jealous...
Sydney shouldn’t lower her standards to play this part.
Isn’t horsey face Sarah Jesse Parker available/in need of work?
I’m not sure what you mean?
I DO care that film makers don't have the imagination to make an original, not remake, film.
I thought it was because Trump supported Sweeney.
Are we on Stormfront?
It also sounds like Sweeney isn’t liberal enough for her.
Do an image search on her. She had no problem promoting herself with sexy photos.
She just sounds old, stuck in her own heyday, and jealous of Sydney.
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