Ana de Armas’ casting in Blonde was an intriguing danger from the get-go — she even says so herself: “It was in opposition to all odds {that a} Cuban actress was ever going to play Marilyn Monroe.” Add to that the character of writer-director Andrew Dominik’s script — tailored from the Joyce Carol Oates novel, which doesn’t shrink back from hypothesis or the imagined darker, violent elements of Monroe’s life — and the film was all however assured to trigger a stir.
When Blonde premiered on the Venice Worldwide Movie Pageant over the summer season, the NC-17-rated movie garnered a 14-minute standing ovation, although reception to the film since has been decidedly extra polarized. Some critics and audiences have taken situation with the movie’s inventive liberties with Monroe’s story, together with scenes of sexual assault and graphic violence. However de Armas has been hailed as a tour de drive, as evidenced by her Oscar nomination — her first — for the function.
THR caught up with the star, whose breakout Hollywood function was only some years in the past, in Rian Johnson’s Knives Out, for her tackle the expertise of creating Blonde and the stark response to it.
Whenever you first hear about the opportunity of being part of one thing like this, what goes via your head?
Seeing different individuals trusting and believing in you typically offers you the braveness to consider that you are able to do it. That was the case once I met Andrew. He stated he knew we had an issue with my accent, however there was one thing else that someway satisfied him that I used to be the best particular person for it. I believe that was contagious — it’s that little push that all of us want when doubtful. He was so assured about it, after the audition particularly. There’s nothing higher than working with a director [who] actually appears as much as you, actually believes you’re the particular person he was in search of. It made me really feel that I used to be in the best arms. It wasn’t a straightforward sure, however on the similar time, it was like, “I can not let this go. That is my likelihood. That is the half that you simply wait in your total life. And it’s right here.” It was in opposition to all odds {that a} Cuban actress was ever going to play Marilyn Monroe. I used to be like, “I actually have to do that, for myself. It is a reward to me. I’ve to make the most of it. It’ll be what it’ll be — perhaps I’ll by no means work once more. However I’ve to do it. As a result of what are the possibilities that is going to ever occur once more?”
What was the casting course of like?
He reached out to my brokers. I met him, I learn the script. And I requested him for every week to organize for the [audition]. That was an audition for Andrew. Then we had a number of different individuals — producers, studios — everybody that we wanted to persuade as a result of they weren’t very certain. And that was a much bigger manufacturing day — digital camera take a look at and hair, make-up, the entire thing. However it was loopy as a result of I used to be taking pictures Knives Out. And [in] Knives Out, I used to be taking part in a really completely different character. So my mind was attempting to determine it out.
Whenever you learn the script, what was your preliminary takeaway?
It was surprising. I bear in mind telling Andrew after we met after I’d learn the script that it felt like a horror film to me. He agreed with that. I believe one factor that I had that helped me was truly not being American. All this info that folks have of Marilyn, [they] simply have a really particular narrative about her life and who she was. I didn’t have all that. [Blonde] is a surprising means of telling her facet of the story. I believed it was actually attention-grabbing and actual. I’ve watched motion pictures about Marilyn earlier than, and so they’ve at all times felt in the identical tone — repetitive, following the issues that we already know [about] her as a film star. That intimacy, that non-public, deeper facet of her in her psychology, or trauma, which is what Blonde is about, that was lacking for me. After I learn [Blonde,] I used to be like, “Oh, that is it. What I’m studying is smart to me for somebody whose life led to a really tragic means, so quickly.” To have that ending, you could refill the gaps between all the sweetness and the glamour and the famous person story that we all know — there have been items that had been lacking.
How did you shield your self from not being traumatized, as an actor, filming a few of these scenes?
I can inform fairly quickly what the atmosphere on set will likely be like as a result of, to me, all of it comes right down to the director, and the director’s power, and the way a lot you belief one another. With Andrew, fortunately, we had 9 to 10 months of prep. We acquired to know one another very nicely. We now have an actual friendship. There’s a shorthand in the way in which we talk. That made the whole lot very straightforward and clear. These scenes — typically they appear more durable for the viewers than what is definitely taking place on set, as a result of I can let you know: The atmosphere on set was very good. And everybody was having a good time as a result of they’re very inventive environments. Everybody felt like they had been doing their greatest, doing what they love essentially the most. I used to be extra anxious in regards to the psychological a part of it than the bodily. I believe my very first scene on the shoot was assembly [Monroe’s] mom for the primary time within the hospital. I used to be panicking. This was additionally the primary time everybody was going to listen to me speaking. I used to be very self-conscious.
What had been the massive takeaways for accessing Marilyn from all of the prep that you simply did?
I’m horrible at imitating individuals. Should you informed me to impersonate somebody, I can not. Not even my mates. Individuals at all times stated, “Are you able to do Marilyn’s voice?” For me, it was not like that. It’s not a change that I may simply activate and off. It wanted some preparation and considering earlier than it may come out. There weren’t little issues or tips that I may do to make it work. There have been no shortcuts. I needed to be mentally there, in that emotional state, for the entire thing to return collectively. It was like a research of her complete [inner] state, what she was considering [and] feeling always.
There have been some robust reactions to the movie. How do you reply to among the criticism?
After we premiered the film in Venice, or San Sebastián, [the reaction was much warmer than the reception was in the U.S.]. In fact, the response that will get essentially the most consideration is the one within the U.S., however that wasn’t the entire expertise. It’s laborious to listen to these reactions, however you possibly can at all times return to what you skilled, and why you probably did it, and the the explanation why you had been drawn to the mission. That isn’t going to alter. You will have the director, and you’ve got different actors which you can at all times speak to. As laborious as it’s to listen to when individuals don’t like your movie, it’s what it’s. It was not a film that was made to please individuals or to make individuals prefer it. It’s a laborious film to observe.
I don’t suppose the film speaks badly about her a bit. I believe it’s the alternative. I believe it speaks badly in regards to the atmosphere and the business, and that’s a tough capsule to swallow typically for different individuals within the enterprise. I really feel just like the film additionally makes the viewers really feel like individuals. We contributed on the time, and we nonetheless contribute, within the exploitation of actors, individuals within the public eye. We, the viewers, do that. And I really feel prefer it’s attainable that some individuals have felt like [someone] pointed a finger at [them].
Interview edited for size and readability.
This story first appeared within the March 1 situation of The Hollywood Reporter journal. Click here to subscribe.
