Kim Novak Says Sydney Sweeney Is ‘Totally Wrong’ to Play Her in Upcoming Biopic: ‘Sticks Out So Much Above the Waist’

The ‘Vertigo’ star aired several grievances with the casting decision, which she said she “would never have approved”

NEED TO KNOW

• Kim Novak said Sydney Sweeney is “totally wrong” to play her in Scandalous!, an upcoming biopic about Novak’s romance with Sammy Davis Jr.
• “I would never have approved,” Novak said of casting Sweeney, adding that she “sticks out so much above the waist”
• Novak’s new remarks echo previously expressed concerns that the film will overemphasize the sexual aspect of her relationship with Davis

Sydney Sweeney does not have Kim Novak’s seal of approval.

In a new interview with The Times published Friday, March 27, the Vertigo actress, 93, revealed her thoughts about Sweeney, 28, stepping into her shoes for the upcoming biopic Scandalous! — a casting decision that she dubbed “totally wrong."

“I would never have approved,” Novak said of Sweeney's lead role in the film, which will follow the real-life story of the 1950s romance between Novak and Sammy Davis Jr., whom The Times reports will be played by David Jonsson.

Novak added that she thinks the Euphoria star “sticks out so much above the waist.”

The Picnic actress also echoed a previously expressed worry that the film will focus too heavily on the “sexual” component of her relationship with the late musician. In reality, she told The Times, their relationship was based far more in the fact that she and Davis had “so much in common.”

“There’s no way it wouldn’t be a sexual relationship because Sydney Sweeney looks sexy all the time,” Novak told the outlet. “She was totally wrong to play me.”

Reps for Sweeney did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

Sweeney has previously expressed excitement about starring as Novak in Scandalous, which is set to be her Euphoria costar Colman Domingo’s directorial debut.

“I'm incredibly honored to be bringing Kim to life. I mean, she is such an amazing actress,” she told PEOPLE at the premiere of her film Christy in October 2025, months after she nodded to Novak with her Met Gala look.

“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,” Sweeney continued of Novak. “And I think that for me, I relate to it in a lot of different ways.”

At the time, the actress also told PEOPLE that after wrapping season 3 of her hit HBO show, she would step into Novak’s famed shoes — and shared excitement at the prospect of meeting the 93-year-old actress.

“Once I finish Euphoria, I switch into Scandalous! gear and I'm going to turn my brain into Kim,” said Sweeney. “I'm so excited. I'm like, ‘Oh my God. I'm going to meet Kim Novak.’ ”

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Novak, who is currently promoting her revealing new documentary Kim Novak's Vertigo, previously shared her apprehension about Sweeney’s casting, plus some other qualms about Scandalous!, last year.

In an August 2025 interview with The Guardian, Novak said, “I don’t think the relationship was scandalous.”

“He’s somebody I really cared about," she continued of Davis. "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' relationship ended due to external pressure — including from the head of Columbia Pictures, Harry Cohn, who is rumored to have threatened Davis with a mob hit when news of the romance broke in 1957.

Asked about the rumor in her recent chat with The Times, Novak said, “Oh, I know it was true.”

She also denied that she and Davis ever sought a marriage license, telling the outlet, “No, no. I mean, he loved me. I cared for him deeply. But at that time I never wanted to marry anybody.”

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