Ana de Armas addresses her nude scenes as Marilyn Monroe in Netflix's Blonde and expresses disgust that they'll likely go viral. Based on the book of the same name by author Joyce Carol Oates, Blonde chronicles a fictionalized version of the late starlet's life, with de Armas taking on the title role. The film is written and directed by Andrew Dominik, who is best known for directing The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and Killing Them Softly, with frequent collaborator Brad Pitt on board as a producer. Blonde recently premiered at the Venice Film Festival, earning mixed reviews from critics but a 14-minute standing ovation from the audience.
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The first trailer for Blonde teases a dark and very emotional glimpse into Monroe's life, with de Armas sporting Monroe's signature blonde hairstyle and adopting an American accent. In addition to de Armas, the film features Adrien Brody, Lucy DeVito, Garret Dillahunt, Sara Paxton, Bobby Cannavale, and Julianne Nicholson as supporting cast members, helping to round out various significant individuals in Monroe's life. Blonde officially earned the rare NC-17 rating earlier this year from the MPA for "some sexual content," with Dominik going on record about the film's unflinching portrayal of Monroe's life and the recreation of a graphic rape scene from Oates' book.
In a new interview with Variety, de Armas discusses Blonde's graphic content and reveals that she fully expects her nude scenes to "go viral." The actor expresses disgust that the scenes will be taken out of context but recognizes that it's something that's ultimately out of her control. De Armas goes on to say that, despite the "bad taste" that comes with knowing her nude clips will live online, it didn't cause her any hesitation to take on the role. Check out de Armas' full comment below:
"I know what’s going to go viral, and it’s disgusting. It’s upsetting just to think about it. I can’t control it; you can’t really control what they do and how they take things out of context. I don’t think it gave me second thoughts; it just gave me a bad taste to think about the future of those clips.”
Oates' book doesn't shy away from sexually explicit moments involving Monroe and, given Blonde's NC-17 rating, it's not surprising that those moments have been carried over into the film in graphic detail. There's some debate over whether one particular instance of rape in the book ever actually occurred, with a producer by the name of Mr. Z sexually assaulting the star during an audition, but it's well known that Monroe did suffer sexual violence during her life on multiple occasions. Despite expecting her nude scenes to be shared out of context online, it's clear that the star feels strongly about being faithful to this unfortunate aspect of Monroe's life, even if creative liberties are taken with some details.
While critics may be divided on how successful Blonde is as a whole, de Armas' performance has received almost universal praise. The star has previously wowed audiences with her roles in Knives Out and No Time To Die, but it's clear that Blonde has the potential to be her most raw and impressive performance yet. It's unfortunate that an actor's decision to go nude can come with the negative consequences that de Armas describes, and the star evidently hopes that audiences appreciate her performance for its honesty and vulnerability, instead of fixating on whether she's wearing any clothes.