Marilyn Monroe's estate backs Ana De Armas in Blonde

The estate of Marilyn Monroe supports Ana De Armas in ‘Blonde’.

The company who owns the image and likeness of the Old Hollywood icon - who died in 1962, aged 36, from a drug overdose after starring in hits such as 'Some Like it Hot', 'Bus Stop' and 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes' - defended the ‘Knives Out’ star after she faced backlash for her accent in the Netflix movie’s trailer, which was released last week.

Marc Rosen, the president of Authentic Brands Group told Variety: “Marilyn Monroe is a singular Hollywood and pop culture icon that transcends generations and history. Any actor that steps into that role knows they have big shoes to fill. Based on the trailer alone, it looks like Ana was a great casting choice as she captures Marilyn’s glamour, humanity and vulnerability. We can’t wait to see the film in its entirety!”

Previously, Ana shared that she worked on her accent for more than a year for the adaption of the Joyce Carol Oates’ novelisation of Marilyn - real name Norma Jean Baker - and her life.

She also labelled the director Andrew Dominik as “groundbreaking” for casting a Cuban actress as Marilyn in the film, which also stars Bobby Cannavale, Adrien Brody, Julianne Nicholson, Xavier Samuel and Evan Williams and will be released next month on the streaming service after its debut at the Venice Film Festival.

Ana said: “I only had to audition for Marilyn once and Andrew said ‘It’s you,’ but I had to audition for everyone else. The producers. The money people. I always have people I needed to convince. But I knew I could do it. Playing Marilyn was groundbreaking. A Cuban playing Marilyn Monroe. I wanted it so badly. You see that famous photo of her and she is smiling in the moment, but that’s just a slice of what she was really going through at the time.”