'I'd be raising chickens': 'Blonde' star Ana de Armas feared END of her career if she didn't nail performance
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Netflix faced a lot of backlashes when it released the first official trailer for ‘Blonde’ featuring Ana de Armas as the iconic Marilyn Monroe. Fans were in distress when they initially heard Armas’ accent in the movie and started bashing the streaming platform for making a Cuban actress play such a legendary character. But it seems the actor felt the same way about the role and felt nervous when the movie came out because she felt her career would “end” if she didn’t nail Monroe.
The Netflix movie received polarizing reviews from critics as well as audiences. ‘Blonde’ is a fictionalized take on the controversial life of Marilyn Monroe and shows how she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s. The film had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival and received a standing ovation of more than 10 minutes, making everyone believe that ‘Blonde’ is undoubtedly going to rule the awards season. However, the reactions were really polarizing. Armas had the big responsibility to play Monroe, aka Norma Jeane, without making her fans angry and she did exactly that. But it seems the actor was really nervous while filming and thought about what would happen if viewers don’t like her performance.
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While speaking in a conversation with Eddie Redmayne for Variety’s Actors on Actors series, the 34-year-old star revealed that she constantly questioned Andrew Dominik’s decision for choosing a ‘Cuban woman’ to portray Monroe. A few moments later, she also admitted that her career would have ended if she wouldn’t have been able to do justice to the role.
“It was not supposed to happen. It is one of these roles that you think about, but that’s not going to be you. Not in the cinema, at least. In theater, sometimes you get to play parts that are very far from who you are. o for me, getting this role was a very personal challenge. It was an opportunity for me to prove to myself what I could do, and what my limitations were. And it was a big risk, because I knew, ‘Oh my gosh, if I don’t get this one right, this is over,’” Armas said during the conversation.
The actor joked that she has already thought about what she would have done if her career had ended after the movie and it was not something that we expected. She added, “I’ll be raising cows and chickens in the countryside. I’ll be doing something else. I will never work again.”
Even though the movie received mixed reviews, the performance given by Armas received universal acclaim. The way she transformed from Norma Jean, a traumatized woman, to the enigmatic Marilyn Monroe by putting aside her pain was ridiculously good. It wasn’t Armas to play a character that has a lot of history and was abused by a lot of men in her life. But she was ready to take the challenge and passed it with flying colors.
What do you think about Ana de Armas’ performance in ‘Blonde’? Tell us your thoughts in the comments section.