‘Blade Runner 2049’ Hologram Ana De Armas Is Going ‘Blonde’ As Marilyn Monroe
DirectorAndrew Dominik(Killing Them Softly, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford) has been trying to get theMarilyn MonroebiopicBlondeoff the ground for nearly a decade. Now that the project is set up at Netflix, it sounds like it’s finally going to happen, and the woman who will bring the blonde starlet to life has finally been chosen (again).
Blondecurrently hasBlade Runner 2049starAna de Armasin early talks to play Marilyn Monroe, the wildly popular actress of the 1950s and 1960s who unfortunately left us far too young at age 36 when she suddenly died after a substance overdose in 1962.Colliderhas the news aboutBlondetrying to secure Ana de Armas playing Marilyn Monroe, the actress who starred in such classics asSome Like It Hot, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, andThe Seven Year Itch. However, it’s important to reiterate that these are early talks, and a deal hasn’t been finalized yet. Plus, Netflix hasn’t officially greenlit the movie, even though the hope is to start production as early as this summer.
Ana de Armas isn’t a household name, but you might have seen her pop up here and there. She most recently played Ryan Gosling’s holographic girlfriend inBlade Runner 2049, and she’ll next be seen in Danny Boyle’sYesterdayand Rian Johnson’sKnives Out. Otherwise, she’s appeared inWar Dogs, Hands of Stone, andKnock Knock.Interestingly enough, de Armas is a Cuban actress, and she hasn’t taken on a role in Hollywood movies where her accent wasn’t noticeable, so I’m interested to see how she does portraying the screen icon, especially since Monroe had a very specific voice.
Dominik has been trying to get this movie up and running for a long time. Back in 2010, Naomi Watts was attached to play Marilyn Monroe, andthere was even a promotional imagefeaturing the actress made up to look like her. But as the years went on, Watts aged out of the role. More recently, Jessica Chastain was mentioned as a possible option, but now it appears the younger de Armas may step into the part. And if she doesn’t work out, then maybeKatharine McPhee or Megan Hilty can take the role.
A Long Time Coming
This is a project that Dominik is fiercely passionate about, so much that he once toldCollider, “I think thatBlondewill be one of the ten best movies ever made. That’s why I want to do it.” And it sounds like this will explore Monroe’s life in a much more significant way thanMy Week with Marilyndid with Michelle Williams in the lead role. Dominik elaborated:
“It’s a film about the human condition. It tells the story of how a childhood trauma shapes an adult who’s split between a public and a private self. It’s basically the story of every human being, but it’s using a certain sense of association that we have with something very familiar, just through media exposure. It takes all of those things and turns the meanings of them inside out, according to how she feels, which is basically how we live. It’s how we all operate in the world. It just seems to me to be very resonant. I think the project has got a lot of really exciting possibilities, in terms of what can be done, cinematically.”
Because Marilyn Monroe is so famous, this is a tricky project to pull off. But if Dominik has been working this hard to make it happen, hopefully it’ll be worth the wait. He also wrote the script and will be producing along withBrad PittandDede Gardnerthrough their Plan B production banner. Stay tuned for more soon.
