After appearing in almost every blockbuster and independently artistic role imaginable, Ana de Armas is gearing up for the performance of her lifetime in Netflix’s Blonde, a semi-biographical drama by Andrew Dominik that centers around the life of the blonde bombshell herself, Marilyn Monroe.
The movie became a heated topic of debate after gaining an NC-17 rating, an oddity for Netflix, due to its violent and sexually explicit scenes. Now, in a new interview with the French fashion magazine L’Officiel (per The Hollywood Reporter), de Armas has expressed surprise at the mature rating, noting that there are many movies out there with less sexual content.
“I didn’t understand why that happened. I can tell you a number of shows or movies that are way more explicit with a lot more sexual content than ‘Blonde.’ But 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. It needed to be explained. Everyone [in the cast] knew we had to go to uncomfortable places. I wasn’t the only one.”
The No Time to Die alum has become a subject of controversy over the past few months for snagging this role. Among other things, most of the criticism seems to be leveled at the Cuban star’s English accent, which might come off as a bit incongruous when all is said and done, but from what we’ve glimpsed so far, de Armas seems to have literally melted into the role, bringing Marilyn to life with such nuance that’s truly mind-boggling in comparison to the real-life historical footage.
Blonde is premiering in theaters on Sep. 16 for a brief window and then making its way to Netflix on Sep. 28.