Ana De Armas has been facing online criticism for her accent in the new trailer for the Marilyn Monroe biopic Blonde. While the film itself is not officially authorized by Monroe’s estate, a rep for the company responsible for it defended her acting choices in a statement.
Some people observed that De Armas’ vocal performance wasn’t exactly one-to-one with Monroe’s signature voice. Many fans also complained that Dd Armas’ Cuban accent is still audible in her performance.
The Monroe estate is owned by Authentic Brands Group. Their President Marc Rosen defended de Armas by saying, “Any actor that steps into that role knows they have big shoes to fill. Based on the trailer alone, it looks like Ana was a great casting choice as she captures Marilyn’s glamour, humanity and vulnerability. We can’t wait to see the film in its entirety!”
De Armas said in an interview with Vanity Fair that while the film’s director had confidence in her, She “had to audition for everyone else. The producers. The money people. I always have people I needed to convince. But I knew I could do it. Playing Marilyn was groundbreaking. A Cuban playing Marilyn Monroe. I wanted it so badly.”
She also didn’t just walk onto set without any vocal training. She told the Times of London that she practiced the voice for almost a year. “It took me nine months of dialect coaching, and practicing and some ADR sessions,” she explained. “It was a big torture, so exhausting. My brain was fried.”
At the end of the day, the specific pitch of her voice will not be nitpicked by fans if her performance as a whole is rich and satisfying.
Given the caliber of acting de Armas has delivered in the past, this certainly seems likely. You can see the official trailer for Blonde, which premieres on Netflix on September 23.
