Ana De Armas Reveals Painstaking Method Behind Her Marilyn Monroe Portrayal

Ana De Armas was able to painstakingly recreate Marilyn Monroe’s scenes for ‘Blonde’ as the acting icon’s films were being played on set at the same time as her shots.

The actress revealed the secret to getting her performance as Marilyn as accurate as possible on ‘The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon’ on Tuesday (03.01.23), when she was asked if she have to do every take “a thousand times”.

She said about 55-year-old director Andrew Dominik’s process: “A lot of times, yeah. Andrew is an incredible filmmaker and also very detailed and precise and it was really important for him and me and every department to really nail these recreations.

“And, so we had two monitors. Our movie and then Marilyn’s movie and they were playing both at the same time. And, if we didn’t get it right, we had to do it again.

“There was a moment where my hairstylist kept coming back and forth to me and the monitor to fix my hair and she was, poor thing, doing so many trips that I just go with her to the monitors. And I realised that she is looking at Marilyn trying to fix my hair… she wasn’t looking at me.

“So, yeah, it is a testament to, you know the incredible work that the art department and hair and makeup and wardrobe did.”

Ana also said she stunned the cast and crew of ‘Blonde’, which graphically recounted the brutal aspects of Marilyn’s life, by screaming on the set of her upcoming John Wick spin-off ‘Ballerina’ when she was told she had been nominated for a Golden Globe Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama award for her part in ‘Blonde’, released on Netflix in September.

She added: “So I’m on set and they were just like in between takes they’re changing lenses or something and my assistant comes with a phone, like, very straight faced and just gives me something to read and it was this text chain.

“And I start reading, and then I realised what I’m reading, and I scream, but of course it was a stunt scene, so everyone got very worried thinking that something was happening.

“I was like, ‘'No, no, no. It’s okay’.”