Cuban and Spanish actor Ana de Armas has opened up about taking on the iconic role of Marilyn Monroe in the upcoming film Blonde.
Sixty years after Monroe's passing, her story is being brought to life once again the Netflix film directed by Andrew Dominik, which is based on the bestselling book by Joyce Carol Oates.
The film promises to 'boldly reimagine the life of one of Hollywood’s most enduring icons', with de Armas portraying the icon through her rise to stardom and 'romantic entanglements'.
The release of Blonde has been a long time coming after its premise was first conceived in 2010, at which time Naomi Watts was in the lead role. After Latina actor de Armas took on the character of Monroe, who was American, the actor noted it was a sign of a shift in Hollywood when it comes to casting.
Speaking to Elle, she said: "It’s definitely changing; it’s getting better. But it’s hard to know now, being in my position, because I know it’s not the same for everybody. And I feel like it’s coming from filmmakers, that diversity has become a must. You have to do the right thing. Thank God.”
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De Armas, who is now 34, grew up in a beach town in Cuba before moving to Havana when she was nine years old. She admitted that she sometimes does not feel 'part of the Cuban artist community', but stressed she wants to find a balance when it comes to taking on roles where ethnicity is a defining characteristic.
“I do want to play Latina. But I don’t want to put a basket of fruit on my head every single time,” de Armas explained.
She continued: “So that’s my hope, that I can show that we can do anything if we’re given the time to prepare, and if we’re given just the chance, just the chance. You can do any film—Blonde—you can do anything. The problem is that sometimes you don’t even get to the room with the director to sit down and prove yourself.”
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Taking on the role of a well-known icon such as Monroe is a big task, and de Armas has decided to avoid looking herself up online to help deal with the scrutiny surrounding her performance.
"I deleted Twitter years ago,” she explained, adding: “I have barely been on Instagram for almost a year.”
De Armas has previously described director Dominik's take on the film to be 'the most daring, unapologetic, and feminist take on her story that [she] had ever seen', telling Netflix Queue that the creators had worked on it 'every single day for almost a year'.
Blonde is set to be released on 23 September, 2022.
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Topics: Netflix, Film and TV, Entertainment, Celebrity
Emily Brown