Naomi Watts to star as Marilyn Monroe based on controversial book

(HMG) – Naomi Watts, 41, is set to star in a biopic of Marilyn Monroe, based on the book, Blonde, which is a fictionalized account of Monroe’s life by Joyce Carol Oates, a best-selling US author.  Blonde caused a stir on its publication in 2000, not least because it went into salacious detail on the actress’s love affairs and encounters on the casting couch. The 700 page book traced the actress’s life (she died in 1952, at aged 36)  from her humble beginnings as Norma Jeane Baker, a child bride from a dirt poor background, to the creation of the Marilyn “myth”.

The book referred to the men in Monroe’s life only by nicknames — “the Ex-Athlete”, “the Playwright” and “the President” standing in for Joe DiMaggio, Arthur Miller and John F Kennedy.

In one scene, Monroe engaged in a sexual act with the President while he spoke to Fidel Castro on the telephone. Oates said that her Pulitzer Prize-nominated novel was not historically accurate in all detail but had a “poetic truth”.   By the time even non fiction books are turned into movie scripts, they tend to lose their historically accuracy anyway.

Watts will start shooting the film, also called Blonde, in January with Andrew Dominik directing. Details were unveiled at the Cannes Film Festival yesterday, where Naomi’s latest film, Fair Game, is on display.  She plays Valerie Plame, the real-life CIA agent whose cover was blown by the US government after her husband criticised the Bush administration.

Source