Ana de Armas isn't playing Marilyn Monroe, per se, in Blonde; she plays a "reimagining" of one of the most famous women who has ever graced the silver screen.
Andrew Dominik, the acclaimed filmmaker behind The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, is the director and writer behind this adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates' novel, which "blurs the lines of fact and fiction" to create a portrait of the blonde bombshell.
The pseudo-biopic, which boasts the rare NC-17 rating, includes fictionalized accounts of what happened behind closed doors alongside reenactments of real-life moments, like the actress' iconic performance of "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. When it came to the latter, the director went to painstaking lengths to recreate history accurately.
"Andrew's ambitions were very clear from the start — to present a version of Marilyn Monroe's life through her lens," de Armas told Netflix Queue. "He wanted the world to experience what it actually felt like to not only be Marilyn, but also Norma Jeane. I found that to be the most daring, unapologetic, and feminist take on her story that I had ever seen."
Blonde co-stars Adrien Brody as a character simply named The Playwright, Bobby Cannavale as The Ex-Athlete, and Julianne Nicholson as Norma Jeane's mother, with Xavier Samuel and Evan Williams.
"How did you get your start?" Cannavale's Ex-Athlete asks in the trailer.
"I guess I was discovered," de Armas' titular blonde responds. "I know you're supposed to get used to it, but I just can't. I've played Marilyn Monroe, Marilyn Monroe, Marilyn Monroe — I can't face doing another scene with Marilyn Monroe. Marilyn doesn't exist."
Blonde debuts on Netflix on Sept. 23. Watch the trailer below.
Below, check out the movie's previously-released teaser and photos of de Armas as Monroe.
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