Andrew Dominik has found his leading lady for Blonde, his upcoming biopic of Marilyn Monroe based on the novel by Joyce Carol Oates. The Wrap reported that multiple sources close to the project have confirmed Jessica Chastain has joined the film, replacing Naomi Watts in the role.
I am a gigantic fan of Dominik’s work, with The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford ranking among my favorite films of all time. With that film and his debut Chopper, Dominik was able to convey a very introspective and isolated presentation of the celebrity status of his iconic characters and I would expect the same unique perspective for Blonde. The shortest time between projects for him has been 5 years between The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and Killing Them Softly but looks to be thankfully shortening his time between releases as Blonde has set a production start date in August this year. Repeating collaborator Brad Pitt, who both starred in and produced Dominik’s last two films, will return but only as a producer through his Plan B production company.
This has been a film I’ve been looking forward to for quite some time, and I am overjoyed to see it finally moving forward with the immensely talented Jessica Chastain. She has been a consistent force since The Tree of Life and hasn’t slowed down her quality of performance one bit. I have no doubt she will surpass the challenges that this role brings. I am very excited to hear more about the casting of the rest of this film as the August start date gets closer, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if it gets a Oscar season release in 2015.
Source: The Wrap
