Michelle Williams portrays Marilyn Monroe, the legendary and perhaps most iconic face in Cinema history in the new pages of Vogue magazines October 2011 cover edition.
On not being as guarded during interviews... “I feel like something has changed for me, but it’s a new change, so it’s going to be hard for me to describe. Maybe it has something to do with turning 30. I don’t feel as shy or nervous or self-conscious. I have more confidence that I can handle what life brings me. I don’t feel scared to have an idea and express it. I feel giddy about it because it’s a complete transformation. It’s like I’ve found my voice.”
Michelle cites a story that Monroe used to tell about walking down the beach in a bikini as a teenager and suddenly feeling the whole world open up to her... “Any messages that I got as a child about what it is to have a woman’s body or to be sexual were all negative—that people wouldn’t take you seriously or that they would take advantage of you. So I couldn’t relate to that at all. The expectation to be beautiful always makes me feel ugly because I feel like I can’t live up to it. But I do remember one moment of being all suited up as Marilyn and walking from my dressing room onto the soundstage practicing my wiggle. There were three or four men gathered around a truck, and I remember seeing that they were watching me come and feeling that they were watching me go—and for the very first time I glimpsed some idea of the pleasure I could take in that kind of attention; not their pleasure but my pleasure. And I thought, Oh, maybe Marilyn felt that when she walked down the beach.”
On how daunting playing such an iconic figure was... “As soon as I finished the script [for My Week with Marilyn], I knew that I wanted to do it, and then I spent six months trying to talk myself out of it. But I always knew that I never really had a choice. I’ve started to believe that you get the piece of material that you were ready for.”
On gaining weight to approximate Marilyn’s curves... “Unfortunately, it went right to my face (puffs up cheeks to illustrate). So at some point it became a question of, Do I want my face to look like Marilyn Monroe’s or my hips?” (She opted for the former and filled out the latter with foam padding.)
For the rest of the article, scoot over to Vogue.com!
Michelle on portraying Marilyn.
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