Ana De Armas has revealed the extent to which the cast and crew of the Marilyn Monroe biopic went to in order to recreate the life and times of the Hollywood legend.
The actress plays the star – born Norma Jeane Baker - in Blonde based on a novel about her life by Joyce Carol Oates.
She admitted director Andrew Dominik’s attention to detail – including more than 100 costume changes for de Armas as well as making the crew wear period dress and referring to a 750 page book of photographs of Monroe during filming – gave her “goosebumps”.
The Bond star, who played CIA agent Paloma opposite Daniel Craig in No Time to Die, told AnOther magazine: “Almost every scene starts or ends exactly like an existing photograph”, adding: “It was a full immersion in her world, in LA, in those studios – spooky and beautiful.”
De Armas said the immersion in the role “changed everything about the way I moved and felt”, saying: “Andrew never stopped filming, so he dressed the sound person, the prop guy, my dialect coach, all in period costume too so the camera could follow me anywhere. And anywhere I turned was ready to be filmed because we were shooting in her real houses.”
The 34-year-old Cuban-Spanish actress said the film showed Monroe, who died in 1962 after roles in classic films such as The Seven Year Itch and Some Like It Hot, in “the moments when the cameras aren’t flashing or rolling” and also revealed she visited Monroe’s grave to pay tribute to her on the day she started filming.
She said: “We got this big card and everyone in the crew wrote a message to her.
“Then we went to the cemetery and put it on her grave. We were asking for permission in a way. Everyone felt a huge responsibility, and we were very aware of the side of the story we were going to tell – the story of Norma Jeane, the person behind this character, Marilyn Monroe. Who was she really?”
Blonde is due to be released on September 23. AnOther AW22 issue is on sale from ThursdayRead the interview in full here.
