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Few actors have achieved the level of superstardom as Marilyn Monroe. The American actress—who starred in Gentleman Prefer Blondes, The Prince and the Showgirl, and Some Like it Hot—was an icon on the silver screen, made famous by her humorous and oftentimes “ditzy” characters. When the camera was turned away, however, Marilyn struggled with a difficult personal life and strenuous relationships. Netflix has released the first teaser trailer of the icon’s biopic, Blonde, which will explore the dark side of Marilyn’s fame.
Directed by Australian filmmaker Andrew Dominik, Blonde is based on the content of the fictional Pulitzer-nominated book of the same name by Joyce Carol Oates. Cuban actress Ana de Armas stars as Marilyn, adopting the hallmark blonde hair and feathery soft voice as part of her transformation for the role. De Armas spent nine months working with a dialect coach to refine her speech and meticulously studied the mannerisms of Marilyn in preparation for the role. When audiences finally saw a glimpse of her performance in the one-minute teaser, they were blown away by the resemblance between de Armas and Marilyn.
“You see that famous photo of her and she is smiling in the moment, but that’s just a slice of what she was really going through at the time,” de Armas says about Marilyn. When Jamie Lee Curtis—whose father, Tony Curtis, starred alongside Marilyn in Some Like it Hot—saw footage of Blonde, she said: “I remember when she showed me a video of her screen tests for Blonde…I dropped to the floor. I couldn’t believe it. Ana was completely gone. She was Marilyn.” In the teaser, we see de Armas as Marilyn practicing her smile in front of the mirror after being shown crying moments before.
Blonde was shot in 2019 but has spent over two years in post-production due to delays. “It’s controversial, there’s a bit for them to swallow,” Dominik says. “It’s a demanding movie—it is what it is, it says what it says.” Due to the explicit sexual content of the film, it is rated NC-17, meaning it is only suitable for viewers over the age of 17 in the U.S., which is the first original film by Netflix with this rating.
Blonde will be released on Netflix on September 23, 2022.
Netflix released the first teaser trailer for Blonde, a biopic about Marilyn Monroe.
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It is based on Joyce Carol Oates’ book and features a fictional depiction of the Hollywood starlet’s life.
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Actress Ana de Armas transformed physically and mentally to embody the role of Marilyn Monroe, who had an emotionally tumultuous life.
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De Armas took 9 months of dialect coaching to imitate Marilyn’s distinct voice.
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Blonde will be Netflix’s first original film with an NC-17 rating due to its explicit sexual content.
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Blonde will be released on September 23, 2022.
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