To rework brunette actress Ana de Armas into flaxen vixen Marilyn Monroe for “Blonde,” the movie’s glam workforce needed to rigorously examine “The Bible.”
It was a 800-page anthology of pictures, journal clippings and film stills of the late Monroe, née Norma Jeane Mortenson, collated by the movie’s director Andrew Dominik. He’d spent the previous decade gathering the reference photographs for his fictionalized tackle the unglamorous life of popular culture’s most archetypal glamor lady.
Now, after 10 years of improvement, Dominik’s cinematic brainchild, based mostly on the 2000 finest vendor of the identical title by Joyce Carol Oates, is being rolled out on large and small screens by Brad Pitt’s manufacturing firm Plan B.
“Blonde,” rated NC-17, will stream globally by way of Netflix on Sept. 28.
The screenwriter’s image binder was given its hallowed nickname by the workforce charged with making over de Armas — hair stylist Jaime Leigh McIntosh, make-up artist Tina Roesler Kerwin and costume designer Jennifer Johnson — whereas capturing in Los Angeles in 2019.
“[The Bible] was extremely large, however useful as a result of it narrowed down the appears he needed us to re-create,” McIntosh informed The Publish. “The extra I checked out these photographs of Marilyn, the extra I spotted I wanted just a few totally different shades of blonde to [re-create her hair].”
McIntosh dyed every of de Armas' human-hair, custom-made wigs totally different shades of blonde in effort to recreate Monroe's totally different appears at various phases of her life.
Monroe posed on the set of characteristic movie "Gents Want Blondes," in 1953.
Monroe explored varied shades of blonde all through her brief life, sporting a platinum hue within the years main as much as her tragic passing.
For the trio of specialists, turning the Cuba-born de Armas, 34 — star of 2019’s “Knives Out” and 2021 James Bond flick “No Time to Die,” each reverse Daniel Craig — into the Nineteen Fifties bombshell was a day by day, three-hour job. (De Armas’ casting initially sparked backlash owing to her ethnicity and accent; nevertheless, Monroe’s property publicly defended her portrayal.)
However McIntosh seemed to the “good guide” for steering as she styled the 5 custom-made, human-hair wigs used to duplicate Monroe’s lush locks. Two darker blonde wigs had been used to painting a younger Marilyn, whereas three “true blonde wigs” had been used to painting the starlet in her heyday till her dying from a barbiturate overdose on Aug. 4, 1962, at age 36.
The models, every constructed with a lace base and costing round $9,000 apiece, had been all particularly structured to resemble Monroe’s widow’s peaked-hairline and to correctly match de Armas’ head. McIntosh dyed the hairpieces to amplify their tones and add depth on the roots for a extra genuine look.
McIntosh and Roesler Kerwin labored in tandem to disguise de Armas's brunette mane.
Monroe's honey-colored hair stays a trademark of her legacy.
Nonetheless, hiding de Armas’ naturally chocolate tresses was no small feat.
“Each morning I’d begin by pulling all of her hair again and including a [protective] therapy to it to maintain it nourished all through the day,” stated McIntosh. “Then, I’d put a wig cap over her head earlier than passing her alongside to Tina.”
That’s when Roesler Kerwin would regulate de Armas’ pure hairline through the use of three silicone prosthetics to copy a flesh-like scalp that coated the vast majority of her head.
“The prosthetics mainly created a bald cap in order that when the wigs went on, they’d seemed like they had been happening prime of pores and skin,” defined Roesler Kerwin. “As soon as they had been in place, we’d airbrush the entire thing [to match the color of her foundation].”
De Armas’ darkish, curved eyebrows had been bleached and reshaped to copycat Monroe’s fair-colored and pointed arches.
The hazel-eyed lead additionally wore blue contact lenses, whereas false lashes had been individually utilized to the outer corners of her eyes to assist alter their form. The time-consuming course of allowed Roesler Kerwin to manage the glitz in several scenes — amping them up “to create Monroe’s full glamour appears,” she stated.
To clone Monroe’s heart-shaped pout, the make-up artist used lip pencil to redraw de Armas’ lips into “extra of a rounder form.” Then got here lipstick, and a small dot of brown liquid eyeliner simply above the top-left peak of her higher lip to resemble Monroe’s signature magnificence mark.
And when it got here to re-creating Monroe’s most legendary silhouettes, Johnson spared no expense.
Johnson hand-stitched 1000's of gems to de Armas' gown to recreate the robe Monroe wore whereas singing "I Wanna Be Beloved by You."
De Armas spent over three hours a day in hair, make-up and wardrobe so as to grow to be Monroe.
Within the movie. Monroe grapples with emotional and psychological trauma whereas filming "Some Like It Scorching."
“The attire had been actually costly,” stated the costume designer with amusing. “The most costly one was most likely [the beaded] gown she wore in ‘Some Prefer it Scorching’ when she’s singing [‘I Wanna Be Loved by You’] with the band.”
The unique robe donned by Monroe within the 1959 rom-com earned designer Orry Kerry an Academy Award that yr.
To reimagine the sheer, jewel-embellished ensemble for de Armas, Johnson hand-sewed 1000's of beads and Swarovski crystals onto hip-hugging finery. In complete, the costume value a whopping $15,000 to design.
De Armas carried out Monroe's notable "Diamonds Are a Lady's Finest Pal" quantity in "Gents Want Blondes."
Monroe starred in "Gents Want Blondes" reverse Jane Russell in 1953.
She additionally recrafted the “beautiful” fuchsia quantity the bombshell famously wore in 1953’s “Gents Want Blondes,” initially made by costumer William Travilla.
However probably the most labor-intensive — albeit satisfying — garment to breed was Monroe’s iconic, billowing halter gown additionally designed by Travilla for 1955’s “The Seven 12 months Itch.”
When she couldn’t supply the unique cloth that had been custom-made in Italy, Johnson substituted it with a bolt of polyester jersey.
To realize flawless folds within the skirt, it was positioned right into a mould and pressed beneath warmth.
Johnson then hand-sewed the pleated piece onto the bodice earlier than dying it ecru. The emulation value over $11,000.
However Johnson says it was value each penny.
“When [de Armas] walked on set within the gown and the followers turned on, the skirt simply flowed [so beautifully],” she gushed.
“At one level within the film, the digicam’s simply luxuriating on it, and you may actually recognize the development.”
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