Kim Novak has reservations about her upcoming biopic.
The “Vertigo” actress, 92, recently admitted she’s “concerned” about how her real-life romance with singer and actor Sammy Davis Jr. will be portrayed in the forthcoming movie “Scandalous!”, starring Sydney Sweeney as Novak.
“I don’t think the relationship was scandalous,” Novak told The Guardian in an interview published Saturday.
“He’s somebody I really cared about,” Novak continued about Davis, who died in 1990 at age 64. “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.”
Novak added, “But I’m concerned they’re going to make it all sexual reasons.”
Sweeney, 27, will star in the biopic as Novak, opposite British actor David Jonsson who will play Davis.
In May, the “Anyone But You” actress channeled Novak at the 2025 Met Gala by wearing a black sparkling gown from Miu Miu that resembled an outfit Novak wore before.
The biopic — which is being directed by Sweeney’s “Euphoria” co-star, Colman Domingo, in his directorial debut — will follow Novak and Davis’ real-life “forbidden romance” at the height of Hollywood’s Golden Age in the 1950s.
The former couple fell in love in 1957, but the romance was short-lived after Columbia Pictures boss Harry Cohn ordered that the two should break up.
Cohn then instructed Davis to marry a woman of color within 48 hours and threatened his life if he didn’t end his relationship with Novak, according to a 2017 Smithsonian Magazine report.
Cohn — who allegedly had mob connections — scared the “Ocean’s 11” actor by saying he would have both his legs broken and his eyes cut out if he didn’t find a wife within two days.
Davis then married Loray White in 1958, and they divorced a year later.
Meanwhile, Novak said “I do” to Richard Johnson in 1965, and they split several months later. She wed her second spouse, Robert Malloy in 1976, and they stayed together until his death.
Last year, Novak’s longtime manager, Sue Cameron, spoke out about the plans for the biopic and insisted it’s important the project is accurate.
“Kim and I have been aware of at least four unauthorized and unapproved projects in development about the Kim Novak and Sammy Davis affair,” Cameron told People in Nov. 2024.
“She never wanted to get married back then — to anyone. It was a romance based on love, respect, the things they shared in common,” the manager added.
Cameron also said that Novak fell for Davis because “they were both rebels” and “hoped their relationship could help break down people’s racial bias.”
“Scandalous!” is expected to be released in 2026.
