Blonde sure is having an interesting rollout. The Marilyn Monroe biopic has sparked plenty of controversy after news that this would be a NC-17-rated feature film about the actress’s tragic life, which is already often misunderstood by Hollywood (and Kim Kardashian). Director Andrew Dominik then said that the movie was meant to “offend everyone.” Then, once the trailer was released, some fans didn’t warm up to Ana de Armas due to her non-Marilyn accent. Now, Casey Affleck is getting involved for some reason.
Affleck was at the Venice Flim Festival promoting his new film, Dreamin’ Wild, when he was asked about Blonde. Affleck worked with Dominik for the 2007 western The Assassination of Jesse James with Brad Pitt, and said he had already seen multiple versions of the upcoming Blonde, which is set to be Netflix’s first NC-17 film.
“I’ve seen Blonde and it’s incredible,” Affleck told the press at the festival via Deadline. “I’ve seen a couple of versions of Blonde and it’s taken him [Dominik] a long time to get it out into the world. But that’s just how he is. He’s so slow with it. And it’s an amazing, beautiful film.”
There is a lot to unpack here. Affleck’s brother Ben famously dated Ana de Armas in what felt like an early pandemic fever dream while promoting Deep Water. Casey Affleck has also had his fair share of controversy, too. On the other hand, Dominik has called the film a mix between Citizen Kane and Raging Bull, so who knows what to expect?
Blonde hits Netflix on September 28.