Michelle Williams as Marilyn Monroe. Photo: The Weinstein Company
Marilyn Monroe is setting off a new wave of headlines. The film legend is once again everywhere -- on magazine covers, cited as a style inspiration, and the subject of two upcoming biopics.
This just-released photo of Michelle Williams, in character as the breathtaking blonde, kick-starts the buzz for My Week With Marilyn.
The film, which started shooting this month, imagines Monroe's experience in England while making 1957's The Prince and the Showgirl.
During a short break, the star escaped the spotlight and explored Britain with a young assistant - sounds a bit like Roman Holiday!
With her platinum curls, perfectly painted pout, and darkly penciled brows, Williams slips into Monroe's signature look.
The pale yellow, 1950s-style jumper recalls candid photos of the bombshell at play.
Naomi Watts is surely sussing out the exact placement of Monroe's famous beauty mark on her own cheek, as she prepares for the title role in Blonde, a drama based on Joyce Carol Oates's Monroe-centred novel.
Meanwhile, Vanity Fair magazine's November issue reels readers in with irresistible bait: world-exclusive excerpts from Monroe's diaries, culled from the upcoming book Fragments: Poems, Intimate Notes, Letters by Marilyn Monroe, due out October 12.
Monroe's emotional outpourings cover the roller-coaster years between 1951, when she was a fledgling actress, and 1962, the year she died.
The writings trace Monroe's anxieties, hopes, loves, and breaking points, ranging from a tender poem about her third husband, Arthur Miller, to raw expressions of isolation and shame.
Contributing editor Sam Kashner writes, "The archive is a sensational discovery.... Now at last we have an unfiltered look inside her mind." All this could help Williams and Watts as they channel the actress.
Vanity Fair's juicy cover photo shows the classic Hollywood Monroe, all bleached curls, winged eyeliner, and glossy red mouth, wrapped in a snowy white fur. It was taken in 1955, the year The Seven Year Itch premiered and made Monroe (and her swooping skirt) an icon.
That defining style has been influencing everything from Paris Hilton's perfume to Anna Paquin's wedding dress. Lindsay Lohan even named her clothing line after Monroe's birth date.
Will we see more of Monroe's influence on the runways and at the beauty counter? It's certainly a possibility: designer Doo.ri paid tribute this autumn with her variation on the white halter-neck dress.