The film follows Marilyn Monroe / Norma Jeane Mortenson (Ana de Armas) as she rises from a traumatic childhood to global stardom. It also portrays her relationships with Arthur Miller (Adrien Brody) and Joe DiMaggio (Bobby Cannavale), as well as her complex bond with her mother Gladys Pearl Baker (Julianne Nicholson). Blending reality and imagination, the film explores the emotional cost of fame, exploitation, and identity loss, depicting Norma Jeane’s search for love, safety, and control in a world that consumes her image.

otsoNY Comments: Blonde was filmed in 25 locations in and around Los Angeles, including Raleigh Studios in Los Angeles, California, famous restaurant Musso & Frank and the gorgeous beaches of Malibu.

otsoNY Comments: The classic shot of Marilyn Monroe's dress blowing up around her legs as she stands over a subway grating was originally shot on Manhattan's Lexington Avenue at 52nd Street on Sept. 15, 1954 at 1 AM. There were so many onlookers whistling and cheering through the takes as Marilyn repeatedly missed her lines that the original footage shot on that night in New York never made it to the screen. The noise of the crowd had made it unusable. Billy Wilder re-staged the scene on the 20th Century Fox lot, on a set replicating Lexington Avenue, and got a more satisfactory result.

otsoNY Comments: In this scene from Blonde, Marilyn Monroe is seen at the Actors Studio located on West 44th Street in Hell's Kitchen in New York City. The The studio is best known for its work refining and teaching method acting. It was founded in 1947 by Elia Kazan, Cheryl Crawford, and Robert Lewis, and later directed by Lee Strasberg, all former members of the Group Theatre, an early pioneer of the acting techniques of Constantin Stanislavsky that would become known as method acting. Besides Monroe attending classes, other notable actors and playwrights who have shared their work at the studio include Marlon Brando, Lorraine Hansberry, and James Baldwin.

otsoNY Comments: In 1955, the iconic Times Square billboard for The Seven Year Itch featured a giant image of Marilyn Monroe, especially promoting the famous subway grate scene.

otsoNY Comments: This scene was likely inspired by photographs taken by Ed Feingersh of Marilyn Monroe dining at Costello’s Restaurant in New York City in 1955.

Raleigh Studios, 5300 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California.