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First Official Look at Michelle Williams as Marilyn Monroe

By Dustin Rowles | Posted Under Trade News | Comments (20)

Michelle-Williams-Marilyn-Monroe.JPG

Michelle Williams recently started filming on My Week with Marilyn, Simon Curtis’ adaptation of Colin Clark’s diaries; Eddie Redmayne will be playing Clark, who was an assistance to Sir Laurence Olivier, appropriately played by Kenneth Branagh. Word is that Dougray Scott and Julia Ormond (Holy 1998, Batman) will also be joining the cast.

I like Michelle Williams. I like her a lot. I think she’s a fantastic actress, but I’m not so sure she’s right for Marilyn Monroe, if only because she’s a little too cerebral for the part. She doesn’t have that giggly flirtatiousness we associate with Monroe, and I can’t help but to think that any attempt that Williams makes to pull it off will seem affected. There’s only one Marilyn Monroe, folks; everyone else is just an impersonator.

I will admit to a certain curiosity, however, even if this image doesn’t quite look the part.


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Comments

" and I can’t help but to think that any attempt that Williams makes to pull it off will seem affected. There’s only one Marilyn Monroe, folks; everyone else is just an impersonator..."


One of your EXTREMELY rare good calls, Rowles. This type of project should be left to Hallmark or the Lifetime channel. It's just cheesy as all fuck.

Posted by: BarbadoSlim at October 12, 2010 9:57 AM

She looks great if she's supposed to be Marilyn just before her death.

Hard to believe she died nearly 50 years ago. It's probably a good thing she went out young because she'd look like shit today.

Posted by: Kballs at October 12, 2010 9:59 AM

Michelle as Marilyn is one of the most inspired casting ideas, like, ever. Fingers & toes, all crossed, all twenty of them.

Posted by: schmerpes at October 12, 2010 10:02 AM

wow, that photo is.... surreal... i can't decide if i love it or hate it. maybe both. it's like the eyes and nose and even the hair are so right, but then it's michelle williams mouth. beautiful, but not quite right. weird...

Posted by: glittergirl at October 12, 2010 10:21 AM

Nothing on this girl's CV says she has what it takes to elevate this project to a big screen level. Maybe I'll be proved wrong but it just screams basic cable to me. The type of actress you need for this is either no longer around or WAAAAY past their prime. Think: Melanie Griffith, Mira Sorvino or that Bride of Chucky gal, the one with the tits.

Posted by: BarbadoSlim at October 12, 2010 10:42 AM

It's not the giggly girl Michelle has to become. Marilyn put that on and took it off as needs be. What she had, down to her bones, was a sensuality. It was in the way she moved and spoke, even in the way she was still and silent. I've never seen Williams come close to it. It's a rare quality that only a few actresses have. Abbie Cornish has it, but no one would ever get behind her for this. This is a STAR!!! vehicle. Poor Marilyn, still victimized after all this time.

Posted by: Patricia at October 12, 2010 11:10 AM

Huh. Dougray Scott is alive? I thought he was buried under the wreckage of Mission Impossible II.

Posted by: jM at October 12, 2010 11:14 AM

There must be dozens of Marilyn impersonators you've never heard of who could handle this easy as falling off spike heels, some of them men, no doubt. Why not give one of them a real paycheck?

Posted by: , at October 12, 2010 11:40 AM

Marilyn Monroe looked like a tranny. Whenever I see Monroe look alike contests, a man usually wins. Actually, trannies look better than Monroe. Her boobs are down to her waist. Her makeup and hair are overdone. She can't sing or act. If she hadn't died young, no one would remember her now.

Michelle Williams looks like Kim Novak in Vertigo.

Posted by: BWeaves at October 12, 2010 11:43 AM

Her boobs are down to her waist.
---
*watches video again*

Then her waist is just under her armpits.

Posted by: , at October 12, 2010 12:17 PM

Then her waist is just under her armpits.
Posted by: , at October 12, 2010 12:17 PM

You sir, are on fiya.

Posted by: BarbadoSlim at October 12, 2010 12:48 PM

Why even fucking try? Crash and burn incoming.

Posted by: Recondite at October 12, 2010 1:17 PM

She doesn't have to be bubbly; depending on the POV of the movie, she could be surprisingly intelligent and contemplative. The real girl under all that bleach, plastic surgery, and public persona, Norma Jean was an avid reader, including Ulysses by James Joyce, a book I know some of Joyce's contemporaries couldn't get through. If they're going anywhere near that, then the question is, can Williams show us the real Norma Jean(I think she can) and the metaperformance of becoming Marilyn Monroe in other scenes (I think she'll struggle)? The question of how good this movie will be then goes to how much of the film will be with Marilyn, how much will be with Norma?

Posted by: puppetDoug at October 12, 2010 2:21 PM

Who would have thought that Michelle Williams would go on to become the best actor coming out of Dawson's Creek.

Posted by: John W at October 12, 2010 3:04 PM

No sir, not buying it. Not buying it at all.

Posted by: Ignatz at October 12, 2010 3:36 PM

BWeaves

You have issues...

Go look at her Playboy spread and then come back to me. If a man looks like that...I'll go gay.

Posted by: DeistBrawler at October 12, 2010 3:45 PM

Oh, jM, don't be mean to poor Dougray Scott. I had the biggest crush on him after Ever After, and then he just...fizzed out. Poor dude.

Also, I'm definitely curious about this movie. If she can pull it off it could easily be one an incredible performance, if only because it just doesn't seem right. I'll be looking forward to previews.

Posted by: figgy at October 12, 2010 5:24 PM

Not even close.

Posted by: Dingles at October 12, 2010 5:25 PM

I want it on the record here: Michelle Williams will win acclaim (and possibly award noms) for this role. She'll be damn great.

Posted by: Uriah Creep at October 12, 2010 10:05 PM

What Marilyn has that Michelle doesn't: charisma. Loads of it. It took me ages to realize that Michelle is beautiful, she's that easy to overlook (at least to my mind).

I love the stories about how Marilyn was brilliant at turning herself on and off. Apparently, she could walk around NYC unrecognized when she was "off".

Posted by: samantha t at October 14, 2010 11:38 AM