Naomi Watts as Marilyn Monroe? Yeah I can see that. The Australian beauty is set to play the original Hollywood superstar in Blonde, Andrew Dominik’s adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates’ imaginary biography.
In an interview with ScreenDaily, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford director Dominik outlined his reason for filming a biopic based on the controversial starlet: Why is Marilyn Monroe the great female icon of the 20th Century? For men she is an object of sexual desire that is desperately in need of rescue. For women, she embodies all the injustices visited upon the feminine, a sister, a Cinderella, consigned to live among the ashes.”
He went on to say that: “I want to tell the story of Norma Jean as a central figure in a fairytale; an orphan child lost in the woods of Hollywood, being consumed by that great icon of the twentieth century.” Watts certainly has the acting chops to pull of a portrayal of Marilyn, a normal girl who went on to become the biggest actress in the world and died due to the tragic excesses that fame brought with it.
Of course Marilyn is a intriguing figure for Hollywood, one of their own whose death still remains a mystery, and has featured many times on screen. In fact there’s a competing project currently in production with Shutter Island star Michelle Williams set to feature in My Week With Marilyn. Cat-fight anyone?