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Chris Rock reveals he 'fired people because they couldn’t listen to a woman'

By Megan Armstrong | Last updated 6/11/21

Nicole Kidman and Chris Rock participated in the latest installment of Variety's "Actors on Actors" series, and a conversation about Kidman portraying Lucille Ball in Being the Ricardos allowed Rock to show his feminist colors.

"Let's not downplay the fact how hard it must've been to be a woman at that time going through, you know, just like, 'I’m the boss. Not him. I’m the boss,'" Rock said.

"It is still tricky," Kidman leveled.

"It is still," Rock agreed. "I've fired people because they couldn't listen to a woman."

Kidman then asked why Rock believes he is able to listen to a woman, and Rock pointed toward his relationship with his mother as well as comediennes Joy Behar and Susie Essman taking him under their wing when he was starting out in stand-up comedy. "I just always was around these powerful women," he reasoned. "I mean, even in comedy, the clubs were run by women."

The four-time Primetime Emmy winner added: "Everybody talks about how stand-up is a boys’ club, but stand-up’s been run by a lot of women for a lot of years. Even right now, it’s Estee [Adoram] at the Comedy Cellar in New York. Lots of powerful women that called the shots."

Nicole Kidman reveals what to expect from Aaron Sorkin’s upcoming movie about Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz: “Everyone thinks we’re remaking the #ILoveLucy show, and it’s so not that.”

Watch her full #ActorsOnActors conversation with Chris Rock: https://t.co/LZmSTDpnKO pic.twitter.com/i6EsC46u3L
— Variety (@Variety) June 10, 2021

Kidman and Javier Bardem were first attached to Being the Ricardos in January, with Bardem playing Ball's real-life husband and I Love Lucy co-star Desi Arnaz. The screenplay was written by Aaron Sorkin, who will also direct the Amazon Studios film.

Arnaz passed away at 69 years old from lung cancer in 1986, and Ball died at 77 years old in 1989 after suffering a ruptured abdominal aorta post-heart surgery. The couple had become icons as Lucy Ricardo and Ricky Ricardo in I Love Lucy from 1951-57.

The Oscar-winning actress opened up to Rock about how challenging the project is:

"I am way out of my comfort zone right now, Chris. I’m free-falling. ... Lucille Ball is hopefully funny. The strange thing about Lucille Ball is that everyone thinks we’re remaking the I Love Lucy show, and it’s so not that. It’s about Lucy and Desi and their relationship and their marriage. It’s very deep, actually.

"She was a trailblazer. She formed her production company. Desi was Cuban, and she had to fight to get him on the show. They had just so many things in their marriage that are so relevant today, and what she was also dealing with in terms of everything that artists deal with, where you’re up against big corporations. And you’re like, 'No, this is art.'"

Kidman can rest assured that at least one person will love it:

Nicole Kidman super-fan Chris Rock tells the Oscar winner why he’s seen every single one of her movies: “They’re always good. You don’t do junk, ever.” | Variety Actors on Actors presented by @AppleTV https://t.co/LZmSTDGYCm pic.twitter.com/ufDomxLBTX
— Variety (@Variety) June 10, 2021