Ana de Armas 'Didn't Understand' 'Blonde's NC-17 Rating

The actress plays Marilyn Monroe in the Netflix film.

Ana de Armas doesn’t get the buzz surrounding the NC-17 rating that’s attached to Netflix's upcoming film, Blonde. The actress, who plays Marilyn Monroe in the movie, speaks about the decision in a recent interview with Lofficiel USA

“I didn’t understand why that happened,” she tells the publication. “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.” 

Netflix

Blonde, which is based on the best-selling novel by Joyce Carol Oates, is set to hit Netflix on Sept. 28. The 34-year-old actress admits that the film had to cover all of the uncomfortable and raw aspects of the late movie star’s life. For de Armas, it was more than just imitating Monroe. 

“My job wasn’t to imitate her,” she says. “I was interested in her feelings, her journey, her insecurities, and her voice, in the sense that she didn’t really have one.” 

Although the film has yet to be released, de Armas’ performance is already getting high praise from one of the film’s producers, Brad Pitt.  

"She is phenomenal in it," he told ET earlier this month. "That’s a tough dress to fill."  

"It was 10 years in the making," Pitt said of the project. "It wasn’t until we found Ana that we could get it across the finish line." 

Blonde also stars Adrien Brody, Xavier Samuel, Julianne Nicholson, Lily Fisher, Evan Williams, Toby Huss, David Warshofsky, Caspar Phillipson, Dan Butler, Sara Paxton and Rebecca Wisock. It was directed by Andrew Dominik.  

In July, de Armas dished to ET about what fans can expect from the film. “Definitely not the movie people expect,” the Knives Out star told ET.  

“I don't know what people are expecting but this is definitely gonna be something very surprising and a more intimate take on her life and her journey as Norma Jeane and then the movie star that she became.” 

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