Marilyn Monroe is the only Hollywood icon to maintain her status through the decades. To this day, people are still curious about her life — her tragic death, concealed intelligence, and troubled love affairs. No wonder there's another Netflix biopic on her called Blonde starring Ana De Armas — who was reportedly dubbed over for not sounding like the sex symbol. Then there's Kim Kardashian's controversial Met Gala look — wearing Monroe's scandalous "JFK dress."
With all this buzz on the Something's Got to Give star, De Armas will surely face heavy criticism once her film premieres. However, she might be able to dodge it the way Michelle Williams did in 2011 when she "triumphantly" played Monroe in My Week with Marilyn. She even scored a Golden Globe for it. Here's everything she's said about taking on the big role.
How Was Michelle Williams Cast As Marilyn Monroe?
My Week with Marilyn was a project under Harvey Weinstein's company, The Weinstein Co. When asked about working under the Hollywood pariah back then, Williams said that he had given her "space" to play Monroe well. "Marilyn was a small movie on a small time frame. On my first day, people were rushing around and there was only time for two takes," the Dawson's Creek star told Deadline in 2012. "At end of the day, I called him and said 'Harvey, I work fast. It is what's required of me. I can't do it on Marilyn. I need more time to breathe into her.' Harvey made that space for me."
Williams also raved about Weinstein's work ethic. "You can't play the goddess when you're rushed around, especially on your first day," the actress continued. "So he really heard my needs and listened to me as an adult. He identifies with and fights for every individual's needs on the set to get their job done. He doesn't scrimp." The Brokeback Mountain star certainly took her time transforming into the Seven Year Itch actress. Williams studied Monroe's mannerisms starting from her early career.
"In watching everything she ever did, I saw her experimenting and forming Marilyn Monroe over time. In her early work, her face doesn't have the same kind of agility that it does in her more famous roles," the actress explained. "Early on, she hasn't mastered how she positions her mouth or raises her eyebrows but you see it gestate over time. Her voice is much lower, the sexy husky thing is in a lower register and it became breathier and higher as she developed her persona. So I could actually see it being built and follow her steps. It gave me courage: This didn't come naturally to her, so I didn't have to expect it to come naturally to myself."
What Did Michelle Williams Feel About Playing Marilyn Monroe?
When she landed the role of Monroe, Williams was fresh off her "teen-twentysomething TV show," Dawson's Creek — which is usually a tough image to escape for Hollywood actors. "Keep your head down and put one foot in front of the other (in terms of landing auditions). My character wasn't as pivotal on Dawson's Creek like Dawson, Joey or Pacey, but I remember one day James Van Der Beek turned to me and said 'You're going to be able to move on easier than the rest of us,'" Williams said of her successful transition.
"At the time, I didn't know what he was referring to, but I think it was that," the actress continued. "I always loved the Amish saying, 'Head down to the ground, heart to the sky, Pray but move your feet, work but keep dreaming.' I knew what I wanted to do and it takes one person to give you the chance to try it." However, she admitted to being surprised by all the attention My Week with Marilyn drew to her. "It's the kind of attention I wasn't used to — I was used to work that was private and unseen," she said. "I was having a hard time making decisions. That was the easy part of the job early on, but I lost my way for a bit and then found it again."
Luckily, she was also "excited to be given the opportunity and to have people around me who said 'Yes you can,'" she revealed, adding that "You can borrow on people's faith in yourself when you may be lacking it. You can pocket theirs and see if it can get you through. It's jumping off a cliff and finding your wings on the way down." Well, it earned her a Golden Globe for Best Actress which she dedicated to her then-six-year-old daughter with Heath Ledger, Matilda.
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