Thread by @latimes

“I don’t think I remember the first time I saw her,” Ana de Armas says of Marilyn Monroe.

But she believes she truly engaged with the Hollywood icon’s indelible image only after leaving home at 18, when her world opened up to films previously inaccessible lat.ms/3Q8B7Py

Now, De Armas adds to the Monroe canon as a fictionalized version of the “Some Like It Hot” star — and, more importantly, of the woman born Norma Jeane Mortenson — in director Andrew Dominik’s #Blonde. lat.ms/3Q8B7Py

For De Armas, earning the role of an American icon seemed nearly unfathomable: “On paper I was not supposed to be playing Marilyn Monroe. I’m a Cuban actress. In what world could I have imagined that this was going to happen? Never.” lat.ms/3Q8B7Py

During the audition process, De Armas chose to approach the role of Marilyn Monroe as not a venerated legend but rather a relatable person undergoing extraordinary situations with familiar emotions. lat.ms/3Q8B7Py

“When she read for it, you could feel her — the world revolved around her onscreen,” the #Blonde director recalled via email. “The film didn’t really come to life until Ana appeared.” lat.ms/3Q8B7Py

While tackling 12-hour days on the set of #KnivesOut, De Armas would still find the time and energy to Zoom three hours a day with her #Blonde vocal coach. That unwavering commitment resulted in a detailed examination of Monroe’s speech. lat.ms/3Q8B7Py

Asked if he was apprehensive in casting De Armas given her own inherent accent as someone for whom English is a recently learned second language, Dominik said: “I had concerns, until I saw her act, then I forgot what I was supposed to be concerned about.” lat.ms/3Q8B7Py

The cornerstone of De Armas’ performance, and of the film’s ethos, is the marked separation between Norma Jeane and Marilyn Monroe. De Armas’ job was to take on a character, Norma, who at times plays Monroe. lat.ms/3Q8B7Py

“Ana De Armas seems to have captured the quicksilver commingling of emotions that characterized Marilyn Monroe — an air of childlike expectation and yearning,” Joyce Carol Oates, author of “Blonde,” said via email, offering high praise for her turn. lat.ms/3Q8B7Py

“Whatever happens with the movie, it doesn’t matter,” says De Armas, letting go of the pressure she felt about playing Monroe.

"It matters that we told a story that we believed in... that I challenged myself, that I grew as an actress and as a person.” lat.ms/3Q8B7Py

On the other side of the most demanding feat of her flourishing career, De Armas reflected on how Hollywood represents — or, more consistently, misrepresents — the many groups that comprise the diverse Latino ethnicity. lat.ms/3Q8B7Py

Read @Carlos_Film’s profile of #Blonde star Ana de Armas. lat.ms/3Q8B7Py