The latest actress to take on the mantle of playing silver screen legend Marilyn Monroe is flavour-of-the-year, Cuban star Ana de Armas, 32.
Fresh from her break-up with Ben Affleck, the actress will be playing the original blonde bombshell in the film Blonde, and has spoken about trying to perfect the actress's mannerisms and famously breathless voice. Blonde is due to release on Netflix in 2021.
"I tried," de Armas told The Sunday Times. "It only took me nine months of dialect coaching, and practising, and some ADR sessions.
“It was a big torture, so exhausting. My brain was fried.”
Blonde, which is directed by Andrew Dominik, also stars Bobby Cannavale, Adrien Brody, Sara Paxton and Scoot McNairy, and describes itself as "a fictionalised chronicle of the inner life of Marilyn Monroe".
"I had a lot of thoughts as a woman in the industry, and even in general, about how things from the 1930s, 1940s, 1950s are so relatable to nowadays," the Knives Out actress told The Sunday Times'Style. "And how if you don't have a strong base, with your family and so on, it's really hard to make it through – really hard."
Monroe remains one of the most popular Hollywood actresses of all time, thanks to roles in films such as Some Like It Hot, The Prince and the Showgirl and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, the last featuring her most famous and much-emulated song, Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend.
The actress was rumoured to have had affairs with both Kennedy brothers, President John F Kennedy and the attorney general Robert F Kennedy. Having starred in 33 films throughout her career, she famously noted of Tinseltown: “Hollywood is a place where they'll pay you a thousand dollars for a kiss and 50 cents for your soul.”
Monroe died on August 4, 1962 at the age of 36.
Scroll through the gallery above for 16 actresses who have portrayed Marilyn Monroe on the big and small screen.
