Ana de Armas and the Blonde crew went directly to Marilyn Monroe to get “permission” before starting filming. In the latest interview with Another Magazine, the actress revealed that she left a handwritten card on Monroe’s grave in Westwood Village Memorial Park on the first day of production on Blonde.
Ana De Armas added, “We were asking for permission in a way. Everyone felt a huge responsibility, and we were very aware of the side of the story we were going to tell the story of Norma Jeane, the person behind this character, Marilyn Monroe. Who was she really?” The upcoming fictionalized new movie is set to premiere on Netflix this Friday and stars de Armas as Monroe, who died in 1962 at 36.
The provocative NC-17-rated movie, which is an adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates’s 2000 novel of the same name, has been surrounded by controversy for its fictionalized portrayal of Monroe. However, De Armas defended the film saying, director Andrew Dominik was thoughtful from the start. No Time To Die actress teased the movie while gushing that she knew as soon as she met Andrew that he was going to take care of the portrayal.
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Armas added, “So for the film to go places like the point of view of the abortion, a depressed mother and how a child deals with that, the desire of all these men over Marilyn, the way they look at her like meat, like a room-service delivery, and, yes, the way she allows herself to fall in love and be disappointed again, it’s unapologetic and brave and feminist.”
Armas further added, “Andrew shows pain and nudity and vulnerability and he doesn’t sugarcoat it. I’ve been told by people, ‘Oh my gosh this scene is so long!’ And I think, ‘Well, yes, and now you can imagine what she was feeling.'” The actress then said she and the filmmakers attempted to depict Monroe as a “‘real woman going through all these different kinds of abuses and situations.’ We tried to show the fight she had to put up, not just to be successful, but to survive.”