Everything
Overnight, Ana de Armas dropped a little (blonde) bombshell via her Instagram: the first official look at her portrayal of Marilyn Monroe in the Netflix biopic, Blonde. And the resemblance is uncanny…
The Netflix film is an adaptation of the award-winning fictional novel by American author Joyce Carol Oates, who has called the upcoming film ‘startling’. Whilst considered a biopic, Blonde is largely a work of fiction and imagination that delves deep into the life of Marilyn Monroe, rearranging and substituting some details to come to a holistic truth about her tragic life.
Directed by Andrew Dominik (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford; Chopper), the film has received a rare NC-17 rating (R 18+) due to its highly graphic content.
“There’s something in it to offend everyone,” said Dominik via The Guardian. “If the audience doesn’t like it, that’s the f$%# audience’s problem. It’s not running for public office.”
Ana de Armas (Knives Out; No Time To Die) plays the tragic star in what she described as “the most intense work” she has done, undergoing nine months of detailed dialect coaching to perfect Monroe’s American accent.
“I’m not going to let anybody or anything tell me I cannot dream of playing Marilyn Monroe,” de Armas said.
“Andrew’s ambitions were very clear from the start — to present a version of Marilyn Monroe’s life through her lens. He wanted the world to experience what it actually felt like to not only be Marilyn, but also Norma Jeane. I found that to be the most daring, unapologetic, and feminist take on her story that I had ever seen.”
Watch the haunting teaser trailer for the highly-anticipated biopic Blonde below, which is set to be released on Netflix September 23.
In other Marilyn Monroe-related news, the fashion world is reeling over the decision that let Kim Kardashian borrow Marilyn Monroe’s “Happy Birthday Mr. President” dress for this year’s Met Gala. The iconic dress, which was custom made for Monroe in 1962, has evidently been damaged after Kardashian wore it, showing tears along the back closure, and even missing crystals and sequins, some left hanging by a single thread.
The dress is currently being held on display at Ripley’s Believe It or Not! on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, who purchased the dress back in 2016 for $4.8 million (USD).
In May, Ripley’s said via an Instagram post that “great care was taken to preserve this piece of pop culture history,” adding the “garment’s condition was top priority.”
Perhaps this is a case of some things are better left untouched…
