Marilyn Monroe still knows no peace. The latest case of disturbing the late bombshell actress is, of course, the upcoming film Blonde starring Knives Out breakout Ana de Armas as Norma Jeane in a fictionalized account of her life based on the Joyce Carol Oates novel of the same name. But apparently, Monroe’s spirit was present on set, hurling notes. “I think she was happy,†Armas recounted to reporters at the Venice Film Festival on September 8, per a dispatch from Reuters. “She would also throw things off the wall sometimes and get mad if she didn’t like something.†Blonde director Andrew Dominik corroborated Armas’s account, saying the set “definitely took on elements of being like a séance.â€
Isn’t a film set a workplace, not a means to call forth spirits of the dead? Especially spirits whose memory (and even personal items) continue to be pilfered to this day by both the biopic-industrial complex and reality-show stars? Well, it gets weirder. According to Reuters, scenes of the movie were shot in the same apartment where the exploited actor lived with her mentally ill mother. Not only was Monroe’s death scene shot in the same room where she died, production for the film even began on the anniversary of the screen legend’s death.
“I truly believe that she was very close to us,†Armas said. “She was with us.†Of course she was. Blonde did everything short of a Ouija board to get her in the room. “She was all I thought about, she was all I dreamt about, she was all I could talk about,†Armas went on. “She was with me, and it was beautiful.†Stop and think, people … that means Monroe’s poor spirit is stuck on this dusty plane with the rest of us. Let’s let the woman rest!