In conversation with the press ahead of the Blonde premiere at the Venice Film Festival, director Andrew Dominik and star Ana de Armas touched on some otherworldly feelings they experienced during filming. The anticipated film is a fictional account of the public and private lives of Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe, who passed away in 1962 at 36. Filming, coincidentally, began on August 4, the anniversary of Monroe's untimely death.
Dominik compared parts of creating the film to being something "like a séance", saying:
“We were kind of chasing her ghost around… Her dust is everywhere in Los Angeles."
The feeling that there were other forces at hand was echoed by de Armas, who added:
“I truly believe that she (Monroe) was very close to us, she was with us… She was all I thought about, she was all I dreamed about, she was all I could talk about. She was with me and it was beautiful. I think she was happy… Being in the same places that she was, filming in her house, it was a very strong sensation there was something in the air and I think she was approving of what we were doing.”
Blonde is based on the 2000 Joyce Carol Oates fiction novel of the same name and explores the split between Monroe and Norma Jean, two personas of the same woman. While the film is not a biopic, production did rely on significant locations in Monroe's life, including the apartment she inhabited with her mother when she was a child and the house where she passed away.
Blonde features Adrien Brody, Bobby Cannavale, Caspar Phillipson, Evan Williams, Toby Huss, Julianne Nicholson, Lily Fisher, and Sara Paxton, David Warshofsky, Xavier Samuel, Michael Masini, Spencer Garrett, Chris Lemmon, Rebecca Wisocky, Scoot McNairy, Dan Butler, Garret Dillahunt, Lucy Devito and Ned Bellamy. The film is produced by Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Tracey Landon, Scott Robertson. Christina Oh serves as Executive Producer.
Blonde will premiere globally on Netflix on September 23.
Casting Ana de Armas
Blonde has been a long time coming, with initial talks of a film based on the book beginning to circulate in 2010. While it proved to be difficult, mostly due to financial constraints, Dominik was sure it was a project worth pursuing. Twelve years later, the film has been created and highly anticipated.
While casting de Armas as the All-American icon has not been welcomed by all, seemingly due to the Cuban actress' accent, Dominik remains certain that she was the perfect choice for the film. He stated that he knew "it was her" during her audition. That sentiment was shared by Brad Pitt, who serves as a producer on the film under his Plan B Banner, and recently told Entertainment Tonight:
"It was 10 years in the making. It wasn't until we found Ana that we could get it across the finish line. She is phenomenal in it. That's a tough dress to fill."
While the public will have, and undoubtedly share, their opinion on the film and casting choices upon its global premiere, de Armas is proud to have participated in the film:
“I did this movie to push myself and because I thought it was a gift. I didn’t do the movie to make other people change their opinions about me. Whatever happens, it’s the experience I take with me. This movie has changed my life, so it will be what it will be," she said.