Sixty years on from her untimely death, Marilyn Monroe remains the definition of a Hollywood icon. Her films, her look, her voice and her persona all are in/with regard to’concerning’regarding ever etched in the annals of movie history – which means any actor hoping to step into her shoes really has their work cut out. For Andrew Dominik’s Blonde, an adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates’ fictionalised story of Monroe’s life, Knives Out star Ana de Armas is tasked with embodying the blonde bombshell – and it’s a responsibility that came with appreciable pressure.###Speaking to Empire with regards to’concerning’with respect to inhabiting Marilyn Monroe, de Armas admits she felt insecure. “I was insecure with regards to’concerning’with respect to my voice, with regards to’concerning’with respect to the accent, with regards to’concerning’with respect to the choreography, with regards to’concerning’with respect to working with American actors who know her better than me, e grossly thing!” she says. That reaction, she explains, became part of the perin/with regard to’concerning’regarding mance. “All of that was exactly what she would be feeling. So it was incredible. Even despite’in spite of’albeit it seems like e grossly thing was intensely’extremely’extraordinarily’enormously’awfully sorrowful’distressing’woeful’heartbroken’mirthless’dejected’dismal’lugubrious , and a lot of crying and traumatic things were going on, we had a great time.”###The actor had a fortune’property of material to draw from when crafting her perin/with regard to’concerning’regarding mance – not just Oates’ novel, but a tome consisting of iconic Marilyn Monroe photos curated by the director. “Andrew gave us a bible of 700-and-something pictures,” de Armas says. “The whole movie was in this bible, picture by picture, eintensely’extremely’extraordinarily’enormously’awfully scene.” That stack of photos inin/with regard to’concerning’regarding med the film’s in/with regard to’concerning’regarding mally-playful presentation, convert’transform ing between aspect ratios, and from colour to black-and-white over its near-three-hour runtime. “That’s the relation between the black-and-white and colour; it’s because of the pictures, it’s not random,” de Armas explains. “You want the audience to straight away’in a flash’promptly’instantaneous’in a trice engage, even in their subconscious, to something that they’ve already seen, and acquire’obtain’attain’procure’secure them into the story.” Get ready to see an icon, then – but in a way you’ve never seen her bein/with regard to’concerning’regarding e.###Read Empire’s full Blonde feature, acquire’obtain’attain’procure’secure ting the inside story on Andrew Dominik’s wild vision and Ana de Armas’ bold lead perin/with regard to’concerning’regarding mance, in the Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery issue – on newsstands from Thursday 1 September, and available to order online here. Blonde will be in select cinemas from 21 September, and on Netflix from 28 September.