Ana de Armas arrived at Blonde’s US premiere still buzzing over the excitement around the Marilyn Monroe movie’s debut at the Venice Film Festival. After all, she got a 14-minute standing ovation during that premiere for her portrayal of the platinum-haired Hollywood icon who was born Norma Jeane Baker.
“I wasn’t expecting that. It was truly magical,” she told Tudum on the red carpet in front of Hollywood’s historic TCL Chinese Theatre. “After three years of waiting for the movie to come out, I was so happy for Andrew and the cast.” At that moment, de Armas’ Blonde director, Andrew Dominik, was happily chatting with LA press next to her; her co-star, Oscar-winner Adrien Brody, who plays kindly love interest, The Playwright, was yards away doing the same.
“Showing the movie for the first time, it feels like you’re in a very vulnerable place,” de Armas continued. “People don’t lie. Audiences don’t lie. Especially with this movie.”
That’s why the entire cast and crew was thoughtful at the premiere about how they hope viewers approach Blonde when it arrives in select theaters on Sept. 16 (and streaming on Sept. 28). It’s a movie de Armas was quick to point out isn’t a biopic — nor trying to be. Instead, it’s an adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates’ 2000 novel of the same name that’s much bigger than its attention-grabbing NC-17 rating.
“When [viewers] press play, the rating might be what they are thinking about. But not five minutes in,” Evan Williams, who portrays celebrity son, Eddie G. Robinson, said. “It’s not a shock for shock’s sake movie. It’s not gratuitous. It’s a challenging film, and it’s earned the way that it’s challenging.”
Blonde’s perspective on Monroe is at the heart of its unpredictability. “Of course this is Marilyn in the movie, but it’s more about Norma Jeane,” de Armas said. “It’s more about the woman who’s underneath that character who was created. Her personal self and her public self, that experience in her life with this duality.”
Blonde is peppered with that same duality and ability to change. The film switches back and forth between color and black and white, and incorporates different aspect ratios. Cinematographer Chayse Irvin explained that decision was inspired by the 780 pages of photos Dominik compiled from Monroe’s life. When re-creating those images for Blonde, Dominik and Irvin followed their aesthetic instincts.
“We wanted to create a film that felt a bit like a séance of Marilyn’s life,” Irvin said. “The film is actually a depiction of a person and their emotional state and how that kind of flows. It was actually more intuitive, in certain sequences, whether we would shoot it in color or black and white.”
These choices create something akin to “flipping pages in a book,” Irvin said. Director Dominik hopes viewers trust him enough to go on the journey, which travels through time, fact, fiction and its subject’s psyche.
“The film has its own language,” he said. “You have to pay attention to it and you have to trust that it knows what it’s doing. If you’re looking at it and thinking it should be doing this or it should be doing that, you’re probably going to miss it.”
Xavier Samuel, who plays Cass Chaplin, one of Monroe’s closest paramours and the son of the movie star, says Blonde explores “the crippling effects of stardom” in “an imaginative, nightmarish” way. But Samuel teases that although the film may be bittersweet, his scenes with de Armas are deeply happy.
“It’s special. Cass and Marilyn latch onto each other in the whirlwind. They see something in each other that is kindred,” he said. “The audience needs that levity as well. It was a real joy to work with Ana in those moments.”
Ultimately, the Blonde team wants you to take their movie with you. As 12-year-old Lily Fisher, who plays Young Norma Jeane and counted the evening as her first-ever red carpet moment, said, “I hope that this movie is able to tell the true story of Marilyn. And I hope you enjoy it.”
Blonde debuts in select theaters on Friday, Sept. 16, and will be able to stream worldwide on Netflix on Wednesday, Sept. 28.
