Actress Ellen Burstyn – who plays Marilyn Monroe in a new film launched in Venice this week – believes the reason we are still in love with her 64 years after her death is the persona she created for herself.
“It was deep and innocent and sexy and all those things at the same time,” Burstyn said.
But that’s not the only theory. An executive at the company that controls and profits from Monroe’s image believes Marilyn’s continued appeal to a whole new generation of fans is due to her being the “anti-nepo baby.”
And in this day and age, where the nepo crowd is so evident — from Dakota Johnson to Brooklyn Beckham and the offspring of the Gallagher brothers — it makes sense.
I met Dana Carpenter, of the Authentic Brands Group, at the Venice Film Festival, where a 17-minute short film about Marilyn called Flesh Impact, directed by festival jury chair Maggie Gyllenhaal, is screening.
“Marilyn really had an incredibly rough upbringing,” Ms. Carpenter said. ‘If you look at her appeal to a new generation, many people draw inspiration from that; that she came out of nowhere – or worse than nothing.
‘She was a great comedic and dramatic actress, but always strove to gain more control over her career and her life.’
Dakota Johnson as the younger Marilyn Monroe in Maggie Gyllenhaal’s new film Flesh Impact
Ellen Burstyn recalled encountering the real Monroe only once, at a nightclub. ‘I thought, “I just got recognized by Marilyn Monroe.” I carried that in my heart’
Marilyn’s estate was sold to Authentic in 2011. This year, to mark what would have been Monroe’s centenary, it has authorized a number of commercial initiatives, including clothing (in collaboration with Lee jeans) and a Marilyn Barbie doll from Mattel (its seventh).
There are ongoing ad campaigns showing her wearing Chanel perfume, Tiffany and Blancpain watches.
Ms Carpenter agreed that AI image generation has done its job of protecting Marilyn’s image and legacy at times like a ‘whack-a-mole’, weeding out the fakes.
Whether Authentic will ever approve a film starring an AI Marilyn is not out of the question. “We’ll see how things evolve,” she said.
“It’s not part of what we’re doing for her 100th birthday, when we’re trying to create a new family of fans.”
However, Gyllenhaal revealed that an AI Marilyn almost appeared in Flesh Impact – the conceit of this is that Marilyn didn’t die.
Instead, she walks into an audition room at the age of 100 (played by 93-year-old Burstyn).
“I tried to work with AI on this project,” Gyllenhaal said.
“I have a 100-year-old Marilyn Monroe; and then I also have flashbacks to Marilyn in her thirties. I have Dakota Johnson play her, who I think is an incredible performer.
‘The clients for this project asked me to use AI, and that’s what I went for. I was like, ‘Okay, I’m curious. Don’t know. Let’s see.’ And that fundamentally didn’t work.’
Gyllenhaal explained that she had tried to use AI to place Monroe’s likeness and face over Johnson.
“We worked very hard on it and in the end we threw it away because what Dakota played with Marilyn Monroe was so much more moving, more human and more alive.”
Burstyn recalled this week that she had only encountered the real Monroe once, at a nightclub.
“She was such a magical being… And then she looked at me and nodded… I was very early in my career and I thought, ‘I just got recognized by Marilyn Monroe.’ I carried that in my heart.’
Burstyn was also close to Monroe’s masseur and confidante Ralph Roberts, who said Marilyn told him that “her whole personality was a construct; she wasn’t like that at all’.
A STAR is born. A star with hairy legs!
Singer Phoebe Bridgers ruled the red carpet in Venice this week, wearing the sheer McQueen
Singer Phoebe Bridgers ruled the red carpet in Venice this week, wearing the see-through McQueen.
She stars in the film Primetime, in which Robert Pattinson (in excellent form) plays Chris Hansen, the host of the American TV show To Catch A Predator.
Before her very polished appearance on the red carpet in this gray dream of a dress, Bridgers rocked the press conference in a severe Gucci suit, which revealed bare, shamelessly unshaved legs – and a tattoo.
The 32-year-old from California admitted she felt intimidated by the filmmaking process (she has no acting training or experience).
“I thought, ‘No way!’ I just can’t get over being natural with something I already know is happening.
“But it turns out that working with these great people makes it much easier.” I thought I was going to wither away, but it was so fun and free.”
Pattinson, for his part, had nothing but praise for his four-time Grammy-winning co-star. ‘She is always so relaxed and so good at improvising. She didn’t seem nervous at all.’
The British star darted in and out of Venice as he is now filming The Batman: Part 2 in London, and was not seen at the post-premiere party, held on a superyacht.
Meanwhile, the real-life host of To Catch A Predator, Hansen, is on the warpath over the portrayal of his work in the film, which aired on NBC from 2004-2007.
He calls it “an insult to the thousands of men and women who work hard every day to protect children from predators.”
Scott is the new Oscars hot tip with Hamlet
Andrew Scott pictured in Hamlet in 2017
Andrew Scott’s stellar performance in the film Elsinore – which starred actor Ian Charleson, who starred in Hamlet on stage while, unbeknownst to everyone, dying of AIDS – set the Telluride Film Festival in Colorado on fire this week.
The critics’ raves there were so powerful and universal that the shockwaves were felt here, in Venice.
News quickly spread that the Irish actor, who many believe was unlucky to miss out on an Oscar nod for his 2023 film All Of Us Strangers, appears to have the Best Actor category sewn up.
In one of those cruel fates of show business, Italy’s cognoscenti had only just finished anointing veteran actor John Malkovich as this year’s Oscar frontrunner, thanks to his incredible performance as a CIA agent (who is also dying) in the stunning film Wild Horse Nine.
When it premiered in Venice last week, Malkovich was even asked at the press conference if he was preparing his acceptance speech at the Oscars — a speech he graciously dismissed.
The race for that golden statue next March looks to be the tightest in years, with some still rooting for Matt Damon in The Odyssey and Ryan Gosling in Project Hail Mary – both huge commercial hits.
There’s a contingent who think this is Tom Cruise’s year, in the comedy Digger, which premieres at the end of this month.
After seeing the trailers and the attempts to keep the film out of critical scrutiny, I’m not so sure.
Elsinore will be the opening film of the BFI London Film Festival on October 7, kicking off the event in a powerful way.
Scott wowed London theatergoers with his own Hamlet in 2017, but this film tells the story of one of history’s greatest Hamlets, when Ian Charleson took over from Daniel Day-Lewis at the National Theater in 1989.
The actor – best known for his role as Eric Liddell in Chariots Of Fire – knew he was dying of AIDS and succumbed two months after the curtain fell, aged just 40.
Scott said: “When you talk about ‘to be or not to be’ – ‘do I live or die’ – that’s not almost what Ian is talking about. It was inevitable at that stage that he would die.
‘The idea that Ian did this when he was so ill still baffles me. And his decision to do it was just incredibly courageous.”
He added: “As a gay actor, I still find it so moving that I get the opportunity to play a role that Ian and his contemporaries would not have gotten when they were actors.
‘I wanted people to understand that he was trying to live – it’s not about fetishising his death.
“He was so full of life and fun, and he did something extraordinary.”
Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem have an Eyes Wide Shut moment with their new film Bunker (pictured at Tuesday’s premiere)
Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem experience an Eyes Wide Shut moment with their new film Bunker.
It stars the happily married couple, whose troubled union is further strained when the architect husband takes a job building a survival bunker for a tech billionaire.
The film was written and directed by Florian Zeller, who cites Stanley Kubrick’s picture – starring the then-married Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman (and widely panned upon its release) – as his inspiration.
“I loved Eyes Wide Shut,” Zeller said. ‘This ambivalent proposition is presented to the audience, where you are not entirely sure what you are being invited to do. Is it fiction? Is it another version of fiction? Where is the line between reality and fiction?
‘That permeability, between reality and fiction, seemed like a truly fascinating project to me.’
Bardem, of course, was asked if he and Cruz ever argued about work. “No, no, never,” he replied.
Sitting next to him, Cruz laughed and teased, “I’ve known you for over 30 years! Imagine if we never had an argument.’
