To remodel brunette actress Ana de Armas into flaxen vixen Marilyn Monroe for “Blonde,” the movie’s glam group needed to fastidiously research “The Bible.”
It was a 800-page anthology of images, 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 accumulating the reference photos 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 greatest vendor of the identical title by Joyce Carol Oates, is being rolled out on massive 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 group 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 huge, however useful as a result of it narrowed down the appears to be like he wished us to re-create,” McIntosh informed The Submit. “The extra I checked out these photos of Marilyn, the extra I spotted I wanted just a few completely different shades of blonde to [re-create her hair].”
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 Fifties bombshell was a every day, three-hour activity. (De Armas’ casting initially sparked backlash owing to her ethnicity and accent; nevertheless, Monroe’s property publicly defended her portrayal.)
However McIntosh appeared to the “good e book” for steering as she styled the 5 personalized, human-hair wigs used to duplicate Monroe’s lush locks. Two darker blonde wigs have been used to painting a younger Marilyn, whereas three “true blonde wigs” have been used to painting the starlet in her heyday till her loss of life 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, have 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.
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] remedy 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 alter de Armas’ pure hairline through the use of three silicone prosthetics to duplicate a flesh-like scalp that coated nearly all of her head.
“The prosthetics mainly created a bald cap in order that when the wigs went on, they’d appeared like they have been occurring prime of pores and skin,” defined Roesler Kerwin. “As soon as they have been in place, we’d airbrush the entire thing [to match the color of her foundation].”
De Armas’ darkish, curved eyebrows have 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 have 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 to be like,” 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.
“The attire have been actually costly,” stated the costume designer with fun. “The costliest one was most likely [the beaded] costume 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 12 months.
To reimagine the sheer, jewel-embellished ensemble for de Armas, Johnson hand-sewed hundreds of beads and Swarovski crystals onto hip-hugging finery. In complete, the costume value a whopping $15,000 to design.
She additionally recrafted the “attractive” fuchsia quantity the bombshell famously wore in 1953’s “Gents Favor Blondes,” initially made by costumer William Travilla.
However essentially the most labor-intensive — albeit satisfying — garment to breed was Monroe’s iconic, billowing halter costume additionally designed by Travilla for 1955’s “The Seven Yr Itch.”
When she couldn’t supply the unique material that had been custom-made in Italy, Johnson substituted it with a bolt of polyester jersey.
To attain 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 costume and the followers turned on, the skirt simply flowed [so beautifully],” she gushed.
“At one level within the film, the digital camera’s simply luxuriating on it, and you’ll actually admire the development.”
