Ana de Armasdoesn’t remember a time in her life whenMarilyn Monroewasn’t present.
As a girl growing up in Cuba, de Armas saw Monroe’s films on television.
But de Armas is adamant that the only way out was through.
Netflix
“I didn’t feel exploited because I was in control.
I made that decision.
I knew what the movie I was doing.
‘Blonde’ charts Marilyn Monroe’s life as a violent fever dream.Matt Kennedy / Netflix
I trusted my director.
I felt like I was in a safe environment.
We had hundreds of conversations about these scenes.
Ana de Armas as Marilyn Monroe in ‘Blonde’.Netflix
Everyone felt a deep respect for the movie we were making.
And in that sense, I had no fear.
I didn’t feel uncomfortable at all, even though they were really hard scenes.”
Ana de Armas as Marilyn Monroe in ‘Blonde’.Netflix
“We actually did two takes of that scene only,” she recalls.
“We had an intimacy coordinator with us all the time, and she was very helpful.
But I wouldn’t even say these scenes were more difficult than any other scene.
It was just a part of a whole story.
I knew exactly what the shot was going to be.
One thingBlondedoesn’t dwell on is how much Monroe utilized that fabricated image herself to gain advantage.
Instead, the movie foregrounds an actor trapped in a vise of her own making.
“People have been ignoring the woman that was underneath the character,” reflects de Armas.
“This character was created, and Norma Jeane was completely trapped inside her.”
A particular director’s note from Dominik helped de Armas find her way through the gauntlet.
“The rest of the movie I wasn’t allowed to use that.
She couldn’t afford that that was not in my survival kit.
She had been the unwanted child and unloved for so long, she just couldn’t do that.”
“Her voice changes a lot throughout the years,” de Armas notes.
“She used to stammer and felt insecure.
She wanted to sound more elevated and well-studied and smart.
I listened to a lot of audio where she doesn’t talk like that at all.
She has a more raspy voice she laughs in a different way.”
“She was more relaxed because she wasn’t being Marilyn,” de Armas says.
“I really wanted to honor that.
I prefer to move people and do something real, rather than just imitate something.”
The actor says it was more just a sense of feeling Monroe’s presence.
“We went to her spaces,” she says.
It’s impossible not to feel something bigger with you [in those moments].”
De Armas says she was determined to give every ounce of herself to herBlondeperformance in striving for something true.
“That openness goes to everything,” she says.
“You’re open not just to give, but to receive and be perceptive.”
It’s very tough to change that narrative."
