Portraying Marilyn Monroe was not without its challenges for Ana de Armas, who says she had to dig deep down to learn who the late Hollywood legend really was beyond her famous persona. Known behind the scenes as Norma Jeane, Monroe’s story inspired the Netflix movie Blonde from director Andrew Dominik. Though the film had initially generated controversy for casting a Cuban actress in the lead role, de Armas wound up garnering great acclaim for her performance as Marilyn Monroe, aka Norma Jeane Mortenson.
On Saturday, de Armas and co-star Adrien Brody were on hand at Deadline’s The Contenders Film: Los Angeles. They spoke about Blonde with de Armas touching on what it took for her to best bring Marilyn/Norma Jeane to life. She explained how important it was to look beyond the public persona, which is what most everybody saw, and instead focus on what really made Norma Jeane tick when she didn’t have the whole world watching. As the actress puts it:
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In the film, Adrien Brody also stars as The Playwright, a character inspired by Monroe’s husband, Arthur Miller. He also spoke about how impressed he was with watching de Armas perform, feeling that the actress perfectly captured what it was that she was trying to convey with portraying Norma Jeane.
The film also stars Bobby Cannavale, Xavier Samuel, and Julianne Nicholson. Andrew Dominik penned the screenplay in addition to directing, though Blonde is based on the original book of the same name by Joyce Carol Oates. With an NC-17 rating, the movie doesn’t hold back on telling the story of Marilyn Monroe, from her rise to fame culminating wth her tragic demise.
Blonde can be found streaming on Netflix.
