Can celebrities really manifest their dream roles through style choices?
Born Norma Jeane Mortenson, Marilyn Monroe became a huge film star and Hollywood icon in the 1950s. Between her iconic roles, her tumultuous marriages, her alleged affair with John F. Kennedy, and the tragic circumstances of her death, Monroe emerged as one of the most enduringly famous figures in the word. Indeed, our fascination with her hasn't faded away. This is clear when we see the amount of references of her in pop culture, including in TV and cinema.
Many have portrayed Marilyn since her death, a few more successfully than others. From Michelle Williams to Ana de Armas, let's look back on some of the actresses who filled the starlet’s high heels on screen. Click on for more.
Ana de Armas is the most recent actress to play Marilyn, this time in 'Blonde' (2022). The film is the second adaptation of a 2000 novel by Joyce Carol Oates.
Directed by Andrew Dominik, the controversial film is a fictional take on the icon's life. With tons of mixed reviews, it earned a NC-17 rating.
Nonetheless, de Armas completely transformed into Monroe, which earned her a Best Leading Actress nomination for the 2023 Oscars. She's the first Cuban to be nominated in this category.
Williams transformed into the famous siren for the 2011 film 'My Week with Marilyn.' She won a Golden Globe Award for her portrayal, and earned an Academy Award nomination.
The film focuses on a week in Monroe's life, when she's in London to shoot 'The Prince and the Showgirl' (1957) with Laurence Olivier, played by Kenneth Branagh.
During this time, Marilyn Monroe was experiencing mental health struggles and issues in her marriage to playwright Arthur Miller, played by Dougray Scott. The film also shows how she bonded with production assistant Colin Clark, portrayed by Eddie Redmayne.
In the 1996 HBO original movie, Ashley Judd starred as Marilyn Monroe before she found fame. This was back when she was Norma Jean Baker.
Though Norma isn't as big as her final form, played by Mira Sorvino, the film pushes the importance that Marilyn Monroe was a fantasy, and Norma Jean was her reality.
Judd's performance earned her Golden Globe and Emmy nominations.
After winning an Oscar and Golden Globe for her work in Woody Allen's 'Mighty Aphrodite' (1995), Mira Sorvino went on to portray Marilyn Monroe in 'Norma Jean & Marilyn.'
In the made-for-TV, she channels the famous actress after she turned herself into the Hollywood superstar we all know.
Just like Judd, Sorvino was also nominated for a Golden Globe and an Emmy.
The TV film was based on Norman Mailer's 1973 biography 'Marilyn: A Biography.' It received positive reviews and four Emmy nominations, including one for Catherine Hicks' performance.
The film followed Monroe's tumultuous upbringing and even rockier marriages to baseball star Joe DiMaggio and esteemed playwright Arthur Miller.
In a 2021 interview for TV Store Online, Hicks said: "When I think about her, I'm never thinking that it's an adoration of a great movie star, but that she's my dead older sister. I felt then, and still do, that I have to act as a sort of defense attorney on her behalf so that her story can be told, and that the facts aren't twisted."
Also in 1980, Constance Forslund played Monroe in the NBC TV movie 'This Year's Blonde.' It's based on the Garson Kanin novel 'Moviola' (1979).
In this adaptation, the plot focuses on Monroe's relationship with her first talent agent, Johnny Hyde, who was in love with her and tried to pursue her.
However, in real life, days after Hyde secured her contract with 20th Century Fox, he died of a heart attack.
The first ever biopic about Marilyn Monroe came 14 years after her death. Portrayed by Misty Rowe, the film doesn't go into her film career, instead following her early life through her modeling career.
Claimed to be based on a true story, the film begins with a disclaimer: "Not the legend, nor even the way she told it. This is the way it was."
In an interview in 2020, Rowe shared: "It was a lot of pressure, but I got so much publicity out of it because I was the first actress to ever play Monroe in a feature film."
With the late Ray Liotta as Frank Sinatra, Joe Mantegna as Dean Martin, and Don Cheadle as Sammy Davis Jr., Barbara Niven played Marilyn Monroe in the 1998 film 'The Rat Pack.'
A proper historical crime drama, the film shows Sinatra introducing Kennedy to Monroe. And even if it was a small role, Niven played one of the biggest stars of the 20th century.
After she was Marilyn Monroe, Niven saw a long career making Lifetime and Hallmark films.
In 2015, Kelli Garner played Monroe in the Lifetime miniseries 'The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe.' It was based on the book of the same name by J. Randy Taraborrelli.
However, unlike many of the other portrayals, this miniseries focused on Monroe's relationship with her mother Gladys, played by Susan Sarandon. Sarandon's daughter Eva Amurri played the younger version of Gladys.
Garner told Today that she was "extremely apprehensive" to take on the role, as playing Marilyn Monroe were big shoes to fill.
Susan Griffiths was already making a living as a Monroe look-alike when she got the chance to play the actress in the 1991 TV movie.
While she isn't the biggest name to play the blonde bombshell, she's certainly the biggest doppelgänger, with 12 Monroe credits to her name!
The film is based on the life of the late writer Robert Slatzer, who claimed he secretly married Marilyn Monroe in Mexico in 1952. However, there's no evidence pointing to this. He wrote a book, 'The Life and Curious Death of Marilyn Monroe,' in 1974.
See also: Actors who played roles outside their comfort zone
Marilyn Monroe: who played her better?
All of these stars have portrayed the blonde bombshell
CELEBRITY Acting
Born Norma Jeane Mortenson, Marilyn Monroe became a huge film star and Hollywood icon in the 1950s. Between her iconic roles, her tumultuous marriages, her alleged affair with John F. Kennedy, and the tragic circumstances of her death, Monroe emerged as one of the most enduringly famous figures in the word. Indeed, our fascination with her hasn't faded away. This is clear when we see the amount of references of her in pop culture, including in TV and cinema.
Many have portrayed Marilyn since her death, a few more successfully than others. From Michelle Williams to Ana de Armas, let's look back on some of the actresses who filled the starlet’s high heels on screen. Click on for more.