New photos from the Marilyn Monroe movie Blonde show Ana de Armas as the star, posing with various contemporaries including her famous husbands Joe DiMaggio and Arthur Miller. The film, which was helmed by The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford director Andrew Dominik, is adapted from the 1999 historical fiction novel of the same name by Joyce Carol Oates. The project, which is dropping on Netflix on September 23, 2022, has piqued the curiosity of many movie fans because it is rated NC-17 for graphic sexual content, making it the first streaming exclusive film of its kind.
Blonde follows Marilyn Monroe during her rise to fame, contrasting her picture-perfect onscreen appearance with her debaucherous private life. Although the account is fictionalized, Monroe's exploits were already larger than life, including an alleged affair with President John F. Kennedy (portrayed in the film by Caspar Phillipson, who played the same role in 2016's Jackie). The film's massive ensemble cast also includes Julianne Nicholson, Toby Huss, Sara Paxton, Rebecca Wisocky, Scoot McNairy, Dan Butler, and Garret Dillahunt. Netflix kicked off the Blonde marketing campaign with a trailer earlier this year, and now there are new photos.
Vanity Fair shared a set of exclusive images from Blonde, showcasing de Armas' miraculous transformation into Monroe, as well as the actors bringing to life the characters who surrounded her. The first two images show a glimpse behind the scenes of Blonde. The first sees de Armas posing opposite Bobby Cannavale as baseball player Joe DiMaggio, Marilyn's second husband, while wearing a cast in a scene likely set during the shooting of River of No Return, when Monroe broke her ankle. The second shows de Armas learning the choreography for "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes with choreographer Denna Thomsen. The other two photos are promotional stills for the film rather than BTS. Check out the new photos below:
The first promotional still is a black-and-white image that depicts a more debaucherous moment of Monroe's life. While carousing, Monroe is draping her arm around Charlie Chaplin Jr. (played by The Twilight Saga: Eclipse's Xavier Samuel), accompanied by another celebrity son, Edward G. Robinson Jr. (played by Versailles star Evan Williams). The fourth and final photo shows Marilyn with her third husband, playwright Arthur Miller, played by Oscar winner Adrien Brody.
The images give viewers a taste of the various time periods of Monroe's life Blonde will cover. It will be interesting to see how Dominik is able to weave the various threads together into a cohesive film, as that will be a barometer for its success. Oates praised Blonde previously, stating Dominik was able to depict the story from Monroe's perspective. That bodes well for the film, as it sounds like Blonde's chronicling of Monroe's whirlwind fame and romances will make for a compelling watch. With its NC-17 rating, Blonde isn't looking to glamorize its subject, making it all the more fascinating.
Blonde is far from the first film to bring the story of Marilyn Monroe to life. However, these photos show off how perfect de Armas' recreations of her iconic looks are going to be, along with the film's dedication to detail in depicting both the period and the people in her life. Considering how many mega-famous people Monroe was married to and interacted with on a daily basis, it's important to get everything right in order for the fictionalized elements to be believable, so these new images will be very reassuring to fans of the iconic actress.
Source: Vanity Fair
