Kim Novak, the actress synonymous with the Golden Age of Hollywood, particularly for her dual roles in Alfred Hitchcock’s formative Vertigo, said she is “concerned” about the forthcoming biopic dramatizing her relationship with multi-hyphenate Rat Pack member Sammy Davis Jr.
In a new interview with The Guardian, the Pal Joey star said she takes issue with the film’s title: Scandalous!
“I don’t think the relationship was scandalous,” she told the publication. “He’s somebody I really cared about. We had so much in common, including that need to be accepted for who we are and what we do, rather than how we look. But I’m concerned they’re going to make it all sexual reasons.”
Novak and Davis Jr. first met in 1956, when they both appeared as guests on The Steve Allen Show. Afterward, the two began a secret relationship, given the time period’s constraints: the taboo nature of interracial relationships and nationwide anti-miscegenation laws, which segregated relationships and intimate relationships based on race. When Harry Cohn, co-founder of Columbia Pictures (to which Novak was signed), found out about the affair, he threatened Davis Jr. with a mob hit and insisted that Novak dating a Black man would hurt box office sales. The two separated shortly thereafter.
The dramatization from Miramax, which will mark Domingo’s directorial debut, follows the duo’s clandestine love affair in 1957, with David Jonsson (Industry) portraying Davis Jr.
Last year, Domingo told Deadline he hopes to commence production on the project after he and Sweeney wrap the long-gestating Euphoria Season 3, in the third quarter of 2025. He said of the film: “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. And I think it’s something that Sydney and I both know very well. We’re trying to advocate for your humanity again in your life.”
Novak is currently at the Venice Film Festival, where she is being honored with the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement. The festival, which runs through Sept. 6, will also see the world premiere of documentary Kim Novak’s Vertigo by Alexandre Philippe, made in collaboration with the legendary actress.
The post Kim Novak Says She’s “Concerned” Sydney Sweeney-Led Biopic Will Scandalize Her Relationship With Sammy Davis Jr. appeared first on Deadline.
