After many rumors and a lot of controversies, the long-anticipated adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates's Blonde has finally hit Netflix. The movie received a polemic NC-17 rating and has been the target of an energetic festival buzz after its premiere at the Venice Film Festival.
Blonde offers a fictionalized take on the life of Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe, gathering many promising modern movie stars to play fictional versions of real-life figures, with Ana de Armas in the center of everything as the legendary actress.
Caspar Phillipson - Jackie (2016)
Some actors are just too good in their roles, and Caspar Phillipson is a great example of that. Just like Damon Herriman nailed the Charles Manson role in Jackie.
Even though his character is a key figure in the narrative, everything will unfold from Marilyn Monroe's perspective, just like Jackie focuses on the First Lady at a different time.
Xavier Samuel - Elvis (2022)
Xavier Samuel was extremely popular at the end of the 2000s with roles such as Riley Biers in theElvis' recent unconventional biopic.
Even though Blonde is far from being a biopic, Samuel will portray another real-life person just like he did earlier this year in Elvis, playing Charlie "Cass" Chaplin Jr, the eldest son of the cinema legend Charlie Chaplin.
Julianne Nicholson - Mare of Easttown (2021)
Julianne Nicholson takes over one of the most relevant roles in Blonde, which is that of Gladys, the fictional portrayal of Marilyn Monroe's abusive mother. Nicholson was recently brought into the spotlight after her emotionally powerful role in Mare of Easttown, where she played Lori Ross, the best friend of a detective in a case of missing girls, and a mother who harbors a terrible secret.
The role earned her a deserved Primetime Emmy Award, and while Lori is completely different from her jarring role in Blonde, Gladys is also a troubled character with the potential of providing viewers with a strong gut punch through her polarizing emotions and motivations.
Scoot McNairy - A Quiet Place Part II (2021)
Scoot McNairy is always here and there with small roles in big films, so hopefully, he gets a better chance to shine in Blonde. His most recent role didn't even have a name but was a key character in the great alien sequel A Quiet Place Part II, where he played the Marina man who ignited the final conflict of the film.
An active figure in the entertainment industry, McNairy not only is a recurring actor in films and TV but also a movie producer. While most of his roles in cinema are small, he played one of the main characters in acclaimed shows such as Narcos: Mexico.
Lucy DeVito - Little Demon (2022)
Lucy DeVito, just like her father Danny DeVito, is a constant presence in sitcoms and other various comedy projects, so her role in Blonde might be as a surprise to many.
Her most recent project, Little Demon, stars Lucy, her father, and Aubrey Plaza, who are three of the most hilarious figures in the film and TV industry right now. The adult animated show follows a clumsy mother and her Antichrist daughter trying to live a normal life in Delaware, but the Devil eventually gets in the way. Ultraviolent and outrageously funny, the show, unfortunately, hasn't found a lot of success, certainly not because of any lack of effort from the two talented DeVitos.
Sara Paxton - Aquamarine (2002)
Sara Paxton impacted a whole generation of teenagers growing up in the 2000s with the underrated Aquamarine, a modern fairy tale about a mermaid disguised among high-schoolers, counting on two girls to help her prove true love exists.
Paxton's career changed a lot after all these years, and while Aquamarine remains her most iconic role, she matured as an actress and has been part of more sophisticated projects. Paxton taking the role of Miss Flynn in Blonde might indicate she's leaning much more on dramatic roles than comedic ones, especially when taking her recent works into .
Garret Dillahunt - Where the Crawdads Sing (2022)
Garret Dillahunt is an acclaimed actor in the TV industry, having taken part in successful shows such as 12 Years A Slave.
Dillahunt currently is one of the most active actors in the cast of Blonde, being his most recent role Pa in Where the Crawdads Sing, the father of the lead actress' character. Just like Blonde, the film is a book adaptation, and while the story is much lighter than the one written by Joyce Carol Oates, he plays a father just as harshly as his character will probably be in Blonde.
Bobby Cannavale - Vinyl (2016)
Bobby Cannavale plays the legendary baseball player Joe DiMaggio whom Marilyn Monroe got involved with in the early years of her career. Cannavale had recently appeared as a minor character in big movies such as Vinyl series, unfortunately, canceled after a well-acclaimed first season.
Cannavale played the main character in Vinyl, a talented music executive in the '70s trying to save his label in the ever-changing New York music scene. It's a heavily dramatic role set decades earlier in the entertainment industry, showing that he's more than ready to do something similar in Blonde.
Adrien Brody - The French Dispatch (2021)
Adrien Brody is the heaviest name in the cast with a Best Actor Oscar win and incredible modern classics in the bag. The Pianist is considered his best movie yet and put him into the spotlight with unanimous praise around his lead performance.
Currently, Adrien Brody is a constant presence in Wes Anderson movies and played one of the key characters in Anderson's energetic anthology film The French Dispatch last year. Stepping away from Anderson's lighthearted stories, Brody will be an important character in Blonde's dark take on Marilyn Monroe's life, playing a fictional portrayal of the playwright Arthur Miller, who will probably be one of the antagonists of the film.
Ana de Armas - Knives Out (2019)
One of the most promising faces in Hollywood right now, the Cuban-Spanish actress is also becoming one of the muses of the current film industry scenario. Ana de Armas has taken several key roles in major blockbusters such as Knives Out, where she played an anxious young woman caught up in a murder mystery scheme.
De Armas kicked off her international career by taking English-speaking roles in War Dogs, immediately winning over audiences with her charm and noticeable talent. Playing Marilyn Monroe in the Blonde, a movie surrounded by controversies even before its release, de Armas' performance will probably be the target of heated discussions.
