Ana De Armas Blasted The Marilyn Monroe Movie's 'Adult' Rating & Says She's Seen Much Worse
There's definitely sexual content in Netflix's upcoming Marilyn Monroe biopic Blonde, but star Ana de Armas says it's no worse than what you might see somewhere else.
The actress recently defended the movie after she was asked about its NC-17 rating, which has been the big headline around this flick ahead of its debut. It's the first-ever movie to get that label from Netflix, although de Armas insists it's not that explicit.
"I didn't understand why that happened," she told France's L'Officiel magazine. "I can tell you a number of shows or movies that are way more explicit with a lot more sexual content than Blonde."
The film is based on the Joyce Carol Oates book about Marilyn Monroe, and while it's not entirely true-to-life, it's still one of the more highly-anticipated movies of late 2022.
Blonde official trailer. Netflix | Youtube.
Monroe herself was an international sex symbol, and Blonde director Andrew Dominik has said he wanted to do a "warts-and-all" version of her story.
"It's a demanding movie," he told Screen Daily early this year. "If the audience doesn't like it, that's the audience's f*cking problem. It's not running for office. It's an NC-17 movie about Marilyn Monroe; it's kind of what you want, right?"
Dominik didn't run through every NSFW scene in the film, but he did confirm to Screen Daily that there is one depiction of rape that was also in Joyce Carol Oates' book.
De Armas says she was also dedicated to telling the story as clearly and honestly as possible.
"To tell this story, it is important to show all these moments in Marilyn's life that made her end up the way that she did," she told L'Officiel. "It needed to be explained. Everyone (in the cast) knew we had to go to uncomfortable places. I wasn't the only one."
Critics haven't seen the film yet so the "adults only" rating will remain a bit of a mystery until later in September.
Blonde will premiere at the Venice Film Festival on September 8, followed by a limited theatrical release on September 16. It'll hit Netflix on September 28.
