Ana de Armas Left Letter on Marilyn Monroe's Grave to Ask for 'Permission' Before 'Blonde'

Craig McDean

Ana de Armas and the Blonde crew went directly to the source to get "permission" of sorts from the late Marilyn Monroe.

The fictionalized new movie, streaming on Netflix Wednesday, stars de Armas, 34, as Monroe, who died in 1962 at 36. Speaking with AnOther magazine, the actress said she left a handwritten card on Monroe's grave in Westwood Village Memorial Park the first day of production on Blonde.

"We got this big card and everyone in the crew wrote a message to her. Then we went to the cemetery and put it on her grave," she said. "We were asking for permission in a way. Everyone felt a huge responsibility, and we were very aware of the side of the story we were going to tell — the story of Norma Jeane, the person behind this character, Marilyn Monroe. Who was she really?"

The provocative NC-17-rated movie, which is an adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates's 2000 novel of the same name, has attracted controversy for its fictionalized portrayal of Monroe. De Armas defended the final product, saying director Andrew Dominik was thoughtful from the start.

RELATED: Ana de Armas Says She Watched Marilyn Monroe Films 'Hundreds of Times' for Blonde Performance

Craig McDean

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"I knew as soon as I met Andrew that he was going to take care of her. So for the film to go places like the point of view of the abortion, a depressed mother and how a child deals with that, the desire of all these men over Marilyn, the way they look at her like meat — like a room-service delivery — and, yes, the way she allows herself to fall in love and be disappointed again, it's unapologetic and brave and feminist," said de Armas.

"Andrew shows pain and nudity and vulnerability and he doesn't sugarcoat it. I've been told by people, 'Oh my gosh this scene is so long!' And I think, 'Well, yes, and now you can imagine what she was feeling.' "

RELATED: Marilyn Monroe Estate Defends 'Great Casting' of Ana de Armas in Blonde: 'We Can't Wait to See' It

Jon Kopaloff/Getty Ana de Armas

The actress said she and the filmmakers attempted to depict Monroe as a "real woman going through all these different kinds of abuses and situations."

"We tried to show the fight she had to put up, not just to be successful, but to survive," said de Armas. "What she went through was dark. So dark. When you know that, f---, I love her more. So the whole point is not bringing down the myth; the point is humanizing this icon and making her real, a real woman going through all these different kinds of abuses and situations. And as a woman today I can easily understand how you could find yourself in that situation."

"So, yes, there are scenes that are hard to watch. But I don't think this movie has anything sensational or exploitative or gratuitous in it," she continued. "In many of the scenes people are talking about, you don't actually see anything. You just know what is happening and that it's coming from a place of zero love. I do think the audience will feel uncomfortable — because she is uncomfortable. When she feels dirty, you feel that the scene is dirty. It's all in the way it makes you feel."

Blonde is on Netflix Sept. 28.