Ana de Armas And The “Blonde” Crew Visited Marilyn Monroe’s Grave To Ask Permission To Film The Movie
Is Oscar season in September? Because Ana de Armas seems to be really buckling the fuck in and has chosen the ghost narrative pretty hard. She previously spoke about how she felt Marilyn Monroe‘s spirit was with her during the filming of her new film Blonde out in select theatres now and out next week on Netflix. But now Ana says that she also visited Marilyn’s grave to ask for permission. For someone who claims to hate attention, Ana is saying some questionable things.
Blonde is a fictional biopic based on the controversial Joyce Carol Oates book of the same name that is rated NC-17 and includes a talking fetus. But despite all the weirdness, Ana is sure that the spirit of Marilyn is not rolling in its grave because she checked. JK, she didn’t dig up a casket but she does claim that she went to the grave and left a note for Marilyn with her crew. She spoke with AnOther magazine, saying:
“We got this big card and everyone in the crew wrote a message to her… Then we went to the cemetery and put it on her grave. We were asking for permission in a way… Everyone felt a huge responsibility, and we were very aware of the side of the story we were going to tell–the story of Norma Jeane, the person behind this character, Marilyn Monroe… The weight of it stayed with me for sure.”
While talking to Variety, Ana said that “there were moments where I thought maybe this movie would never come out,” and how emotional the movie was that she just kept going back to the grave site (let Marilyn rest already!). Ana added that she filmed the Bond movie No Time To Die right after wrapping Blonde and so her Bond girl character, Paloma, was also haunted by the spirit of Marilyn.
“I couldn’t say goodbye,” she says. “I couldn’t shake it off. I couldn’t let her go. I went to visit her at her cemetery a few times–I would have liked to go one more time.” Walking away from Monroe demanded emotional processing that de Armas wasn’t given the time to do; the surprising benefit may have been that all the best of Monroe found an additional outlet. “If you think about Paloma now,” she says, “I am sure that there is some Marilyn in there. There is! Her energy and her charm and this thing where she was lit from the inside–Paloma stole a little bit of her.”
I wonder what was in the note to Marilyn? In addition to that note from the crew, I’m sure there was also a second note from just Ana that read: “Get me that Oscar, or I’ll keep coming back to bother your ass.”
Here’s Ana on the covers of AnOTher and Variety:
Pic: Xavier Collin/ABACA/INSTARimages.com/Cover Images