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WhenAmy Poehlerfirst started working on her newdocumentaryLucy and Desi, she considered herself more of an appreciative fan vs. a die-hard devotee ofLucille Ball.
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The Emmy winner says she admires Ball’s tenacity and that she continued working in Hollywood at a time that was especially unkind to women of a certain age.
“Lucy stayed in the public eye. She stayed as a aging woman in a business that was not kind to aging women,” Poehler notes. “And she continued to play characters. She continued to challenge herself. Again, that’s her. She just would not go quietly into that good night. It’s the stubbornness of her that I just absolutely love.”
Ball and Arnaz’sdaughter Lucie, who appears in the film sharing insight about her famous parents, praised Poehler’s direction and final cut of the film.
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Poehler says she identifies with Ball’s work ethic and mentoring in particular and is proud of how much she’s accomplished in her career thus far.
“I feel really proud that I’ve worked hard in this business and gotten what I have had in this business because of my hard work,” she says. “It’s the thing about Lucy that I really understand. I get a lot of inspiration from the women I work with. And I really related to Lucy’s mentoring because I’ve benefited so much from it. I’m very grateful that I consider Carol [Burnett] one of those people. But I also think that it’s the people I’ve met along the way. So there is this very wonderful feeling of being able to own your stuff and then also take a look at all the people and help and experience you’ve had along the way.”
Poehler continues: “That balancing act I think female creators sometimes understand in a way, because they understand the wholeness of that, the integrated part of that. I feel really excited about the journey ahead and the choices. I feel very lucky to have a lot of choice. Choice in general is a big, important word for me. And hopefully that I keep getting to do stuff like this that really moved me in a personal way.“Lucy and Desiis streaming on Prime Video March 4.
source: people.com
