Hotly-anticipated movie Blonde contains a few explicit scenes that earned it a rare NC-17 rating, though they didn't bother the film star Ana de Armas.
An adaptation of author Joyce Carol Oates' novel of the same name, the fictionalised account of the life of Marilyn Monroe aka Norma Jeane Mortenson has drawn some criticism after it premiered at Venice Film Festival.
de Armas' accent came under fire, while some considered said scenes – ranging from a sexual assault to a forced abortion and a blowjob to President John F Kennedy – exploitative in nature.
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In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the actress discussed Blonde's hardest-to-watch moments, explaining she felt safe on set with director and writer Andrew Dominik.
'It's harder for people to watch [those scenes] than for me to make them, because I understood what I was doing and I felt very protected and safe,' de Armas said.
'I didn't feel exploited because I was in control. I made that decision. I knew what the movie I was doing. I trusted my director. I felt like I was in a safe environment.'
The star also weighed in on the importance of having an intimacy coordinator on set and discussing scenes to know exactly what is going to be shown on camera.
'She was very helpful. But I wouldn't even say these scenes were more difficult than any other scene. It was just a part of a whole story,' she said.
'I knew exactly what the shot was going to be. I knew exactly what was going to be seen, what was not going to be seen, and it felt like it was the right thing to do.'
Blonde is in cinemas now and will be available to stream on Netflix on September 28.
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Stefania is a freelance writer specialising in TV and movies. After graduating from City University, London, she covered LGBTQ+ news and pursued a career in entertainment journalism, with her work appearing in outlets including Little White Lies, The Skinny, Radio Times and Digital Spy.
Her beats are horror films and period dramas, especially if fronted by queer women. She can argue why Scream is the best slasher in four languages (and a half).
