Former American actress Kim Novak said she would never have approved of Scandalous, the upcoming film starring Sydney Sweeney and David Jonsson, which is based on her past relationship with singer-actor Sammy Davis Jr.
In a recent interview with The Times of London, Novak expressed strong reservations about the casting, stating that she did not consider Sweeney the right choice to portray her.
“I would never have approved,” Novak said, adding that Sweeney “sticks out so much above the waist”.
The 93-year-old actress worried the film would focus too much on the sexual side of the relationship whereas the attraction was actually based on them having “so much in common”. “There’s no way it wouldn’t be a sexual relationship because Sydney Sweeney looks sexy all the time. She was totally wrong to play me,” Novak said.
Novak and Davis had a brief, secret interracial romance in 1957, which was not welcomed by studio heads and the mob. The couple met at The Steve Allen Show.
Their relationship came to an end due to intense pressure from Hollywood studio heads, particularly Columbia Pictures boss Harry Cohn, who feared interracial backlash. Under pressure, Davis was forced into a hasty marriage with Loray White in 1958. The couple divorced a year later.
Novak was married to Richard Johnson between 1965 and 1966. She later married Robert Malloy, who died in 2020.
Directed by Colman Domingo, Scandalous is produced by Tani Cohen, Bobby Rock, and Sweeney. The release date of the film is yet to be announced by the makers.
Novak’s last feature film was Liebestraum, a 1991 American mystery film written and directed by Mike Figgis.