Ana de Armas inBlonde(2022).Photo: Netflix
Ana de Armasis sharing insight into her portrayal ofMarilyn Monroe.
The 34-year-old Cuban actress covers the fall issue of French fashion magazineL’Officiel, where she explained why she didn’t mimic everything about the screen siren in the upcomingNetflixmovieBlonde.
Though she worked with a dialect coach and studied up on the Hollywood icon before filming began, de Armas said, “my job wasn’t to imitate her.”
“I was interested in her feelings, her journey, her insecurities, and her voice, in the sense that she didn’t really have one,” she said in the interview, out Tuesday.
The fictional film, based on Joyce Carol Oates' 2000 novel of the same name, “boldly reimagines the life of Marilyn Monroe, exploring the split between her public and private selves,” according to an official synopsis from Netflix.
Thomas Whiteside
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Trailers show de Armas' Monroe — who was born Norma Jeane Baker in 1926 — struggling with the dark side of fame at the peak of her stardom, all set to a haunting rendition of her 1953 rendition of the song “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend,” from her filmGentlemen Prefer Blondes.
In the same interview, de Armas toldL’Officielthat she didn’t understand why the film was stamped with amuch-talked-about NC-17 ratingfrom the Motion Picture Association, which the magazine noted is a first for a Netflix original movie.
“I didn’t understand why that happened. I can tell you a number of shows or movies that are way more explicit with a lot more sexual content thanBlonde,” she told the outlet.
“But to tell this story it is important to show all these moments in Marilyn’s life that made her end up the way that she did,” continued de Armas. “It needed to be explained. Everyone [in the cast] knew we had to go to uncomfortable places. I wasn’t the only one.”
The MPA gave the movie an NC-17 rating “for some sexual content.”
In February,Blondedirector Andrew Dominiktold ScreenDailythat he had always wanted his Monroe movie, which was filmed in 2019, to have an NC-17 rating.
“It’s an NC-17 movie about Marilyn Monroe. It’s kind of what you want, right? I want to go and see the NC-17 version of the Marilyn Monroe story,” Dominik said at the time.
“It’s a demanding movie. If the audience doesn’t like it, that’s the f—— audience’s problem,” he added. “It’s not running for public office.”
De Armas spent two to three hours getting hair and makeup done for the film, according toNetflix Queue, and the actress did plenty more research leading up to the film shoot.
Blondehits Netflix Sept. 28.
source: people.com
