‘Blonde’: Ana De Armas Explains How Her Anxiety About Being Cast As Marilyn Monroe Helped Her Performance

Typically, when a high-profile film is being released, the lead actor (though important) isn’t the sole focus of all the attention and skepticism. But in the case of Netflix’s upcoming “Blonde,” all eyes are on Ana de Armas. It doesn’t matter that Andrew Dominik is directing. It doesn’t matter that there’s a great supporting cast, and its source material is written by a respected author. Nope. All anyone wants to talk about is Ana de Armas, a Colombian actress playing the American Marilyn Monroe. That’s a lot of pressure. And it’s pressure that de Armas has been well aware of since she took the role.

In an interview with Empire, Ana de Armas talked about her anxiety while making “Blonde.” And instead of letting that anxiety ruin her performance, the actress says that it helped fuel her performance and put her more in touch with the real Monroe. 

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“I was insecure about my voice, about the accent, about the choreography, about working with American actors who know her better than me, everything!” de Armas revealed. “All of that was exactly what she would be feeling. So it was incredible. Even though it seems like everything was very sad, and a lot of crying and traumatic things were going on, we had a great time.”

The aforementioned Dominik did all he could to make the production as clear as possible for his cast and crew. To help alleviate any fears about his stylistic choices (changing aspect ratios, going from black and white to color, etc…), the filmmaker gave de Armas and others a “bible” that showed his inspiration for everything he was doing. And he was striving for authenticity.

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“Andrew gave us a bible of 700-and-something pictures,” de Armas said. “The whole movie was in this bible, picture by picture, every scene. That’s the relation between the black-and-white and color; it’s because of the pictures, it’s not random. You want the audience to immediately engage, even in their subconscious, to something that they’ve already seen, and get them into the story.”

Will de Armas admitting to her own anxiety and the assurance that Dominik is approaching “Blonde” with the utmost care and concern be enough for people to fully embrace the new film? Probably not. Many people have seemingly already made their minds up about the drama before even seeing the film. However, if there was any doubt that the people involved weren’t aware of what was happening, that has been thoroughly debunked. 

“Blonde” is set to debut at this year’s Venice Film Festival before hitting Netflix on September 28.