Ana de Armas’ Platinum Hair Transformation Into Marilyn Monroe for ‘Blonde’ Was a “Massive Undertaking
Ana de Armas just released a initial seem at her very anticipated movie Blonde—and her transformation into Mariyln Monroe is a minimal uncanny. But altering her hair from darkish brown to the legendary platinum tone Marilyn experienced in the ’60s took incredibly thorough organizing, a handful of wigs and bald caps, and some specialist hairline camouflage.
“As you can picture, it was a significant undertaking,” hairstylist Jaime Leigh McIntosh solely tells Marie Claire. “Not only were being we creating so quite a few looks for the tale arch of the script, but we also had to match numerous, iconic pictures of Marilyn and Norma Jeane.” Presented that the movie follows Marilyn’s lifestyle from childhood to stardom, the crew settled upon 30 diverse looks—all of which had to be established on a price range.
To get the occupation completed, McIntosh teamed up with Rob Pickens from Wig Maker Associates. They ended up making two wigs for de Armas to put on as a younger Norma Jeane (a.k.a. Marilyn Monroe’s serious title), and a few wigs for her Marilyn period. “We only experienced two creamy blondes at different lengths and a person platinum. We all know how lots of various models, shades of blonde, and lengths Marilyn had all over her lifetime, so that proved to be amazingly tough,” McIntosh shared. But with cautious changes and great mohair detailing close to the hairline, the duo had been equipped to make around-ideal matches across the board.
Prepped as the could, Armas’ transformation into Marilyn nonetheless had to be accomplished on a time crunch—two hrs to be actual. “I would prep Ana’s hair underneath a flesh-toned wig cap, then Tina [Roesler Kerwin], the make-up artist, would implement customized-manufactured silicone flesh toned items to cover Ana’s personal hairline at the front so her hairline wasn’t obvious,” McIntosh points out. “Then I additional slice-out parts of bald cap by the major to assistance mix and make certain you observed skin, not stocking cap or Ana’s possess hair, where by the Marilyn wigs parted.”
When it arrived to the true hair styling products used on established, McIntosh took a considerably less is more method. “Whenever you use far too a great deal products in a wig, the everyday living and movement stops and they turn out to be boring, so I steer clear of making use of far too a lot of everything,” she describes. She did even so use the L’Oréal Tecni Pli Setting Lotion to set the wigs in rollers, as nicely as the TRESemme Tres Two Unscented Hairspray and René Furterer Glow Mist for extra glossiness. As for hair treatment? “I would alternate conditioning remedies [under her wig] with Masque à l’Orchidée by Leonor Greyl and No.3 Olaplaex Hair Perfector,” suggests McIntosh.