See Ana de Armas disappear into her Marilyn Monroe role in first footage from Blonde

Sorry, Ana de Armas isn’t here right now. This is Marilyn Monroe.

The No Time to Die and Knives Out actress has completely transformed into the iconic “blonde bombshell” of the 1950s and ’60s, as shown in the first official photos and footage of Netflix’s upcoming film Blonde.

“Please come. Don’t abandon me,” Armas’ Monroe pleads through tears before a vanity mirror in one scene.

We then hear in the teaser, “She’s coming. She’s almost here.” By the end, Monroe has arrived. Armas looks into the mirror and gives the kind of smile and laugh that could easily be mistaken for the real thing.

The teaser trailer, released Thursday morning, is set to a gloomy rendition of “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend,” the jazzy tune Monroe famously sings in the 1953 movie Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. We also get glimpses of other iconic Monroe moments, including the image of her holding down her dress as air from a street vent lifts it.

“Andrew’s ambitions were very clear from the start — to present a version of Marilyn Monroe’s life through her lens,” Armas says of her director Andrew Dominik in a story for Netflix’s Queue. “He wanted the world to experience what it actually felt like to not only be Marilyn, but also Norma Jeane. I found that to be the most daring, unapologetic, and feminist take on her story that I had ever seen.”

Blonde. Ana de Armas as Marilyn Monroe

Netflix Ana de Armas transforms into Marilyn Monroe in Netflix’s ‘Blonde.’

Blonde. Ana de Armas as Marilyn Monroe

Netflix Ana de Armas says her Marilyn Monroe film ‘Blonde’ seeks to be ‘the most daring, unapologetic, and feminist take on her story.’

Blonde is based on the book of the same name by Joyce Carol Oates. The film tracks the life of Monroe from her early days as Norma Jeane Mortenson to her rise to stardom, all the while using cinematic techniques to blur the line between fact and fiction.

The cast is stacked with names like Adrien Brody, Bobby Cannavale, Caspar Phillipson, Evan Williams, Toby Huss, and Julianne Nicholson, among others.

Blonde. Ana de Armas as Marilyn Monroe

Netflix Ana de Armas recreates Marilyn Monroe’s ‘Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend’ scene from the 1953 movie ‘Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.’

Story continues

Blonde. Ana de Armas as Marilyn Monroe

Netflix Ana de Armas’ Marilyn Monroe fights through crowds in a scene from Netflix’s ‘Blonde.’

Much has been made of the movie’s NC-17 rating, but Dominik felt it was necessary.

“The film is sincere. It’s made with love. It’s made with good intentions. But it’s full of rage at the same time,” he said. “I seem to get myself in these situations where people regard me as provocative, but it’s never what I’m trying to do. I’m just trying to say it as clearly as I can. My ambition is to make you fall in love with Marilyn.”

Blonde premieres Sept. 23 on Netflix. Watch the new footage from it above.

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