After years of waiting, the Andrew Dominik adaptation of the Joyce Carol Oates novel about Marilyn Monroe is finally here. Blonde stars Ana de Armas as Marilyn Monroe in this allegedly very sexy and gut-wrenching look at the exciting and tragic life of sex symbol Marilyn Monroe.
Here it is. The trailer for the long-awaited film Blonde:
Ana de Armas seems exquisite in this trailer. She really does look remarkably like her and she has even nailed Marilyn's iconic whispery voice that always sounds like she is seducing you to follow her to the bedroom. I will be honest...I can kind of hear her real accent in the trailer alone. BUT she looks EXACTLY like her in some of these shots which are just recreations of other famous photos and scenes that feature Marilyn.
It is no secret that Ana de Armas is a Cuban actress who was born and raised in Cuba before moving to Spain at nineteen years old to focus on her acting career. After racking up some hot Spanish films, she made her way to Hollywood where her career simply exploded. From comedies to action films to thrillers, Ana has proven herself to be an adept actress and a contender for Marilyn's sex symbol legacy.
In previous roles, Ana has honestly nailed American accents. Fun fact: Ana only spoke Spanish before moving to Hollywood. She learned English to widen the roles that she could play which was a wise idea. Her role in 2015's Knock Knock was her first ever English-speaking role. In general, Marilyn's voice and dialect is hard to nail down - partially because it is SO unique to her. Several people have tried and a lot of them have failed with the exception, perhaps, of Michelle Williams who really wowed critics with her Marilyn in My Week with Marilyn.
Accents aside, Ana looks perhaps the most like Marilyn as any other actress who has dared to play the part - and A LOT of them have which I have written about in the past. Actresses like Barbara Niven, Theresa Russell, Misty Rowe, and Mira Sorvino have all attempted to play the part. None of them seem to have the same effervescent Marilyn vibe that Ana portrays in this trailer alone.
I'm excited about this movie. Can you tell? I am a fan of Marilyn's (I insist that her comedic genius is underrated) and I am a fan of Ana's. So what's not to love about this promising movie?! Plus Andrew Dominik is directing and he is a director that we can trust based on his work in Mindhunter and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. Andrew is a daring director with Blonde and two more feature films to look forward to.
Plus, let's not overlook the fact that this film is based on a book by feminist writer Joyce Carol Oates who, despite all the alleged X-rated scenes in this film, has praised early looks at this adaptation of her work. A renowned writer wrote the backbone of this story (which is actually fictionalized based on true events, so prepare for plenty of discourse about what is and is not true in this film after its release) and she loves the way the film has come out. I think that's incredibly promising!
In the meantime, let's marvel at Marilyn's unreleased nude scene from Something's Got to Give. Apparently, her clothes had to give:
