Michelle Wiliams as Marilyn Monroe

In which we have the nerve to give makeup tips to Marilyn Monroe.

We mentioned this casting a while back because we thought it made pretty good sense on a lot of levels: Michelle Williams as Marilyn Monroe in My Week with Marilyn, which takes place during the filming of the 1957 film, The Prince and the Showgirl. She can play both smart and vulnerable very well, which means we think Michelle can bring something to the role. In addition, we think with a biopic about such an iconic figure, it makes sense to cast someone who can not only act the role, but reasonably work the look. It's too distracting when the physicality is wrong, as it is, in our opinion, with the casting of Naomi Watts in another planned Marilyn biopic.

When the above picture came out last month, we thought she looked pretty good. Being the opinionated types, we had some critiques of the makeup, though. The lips should be red, the brows should be almost black and arched almost to a point, and she's not wearing enough eye-liner on her upper lid. Plus the hair could be a little fuller. Do all that and you've nailed the look. Look, we've established that we're nerdy about things like costuming and art direction. Sue us.

But then this picture came out this week:

And wow. That's pretty close. Sure, you can't see the makeup, but she's definitely got the face for it. We don't think actors absolutely must resemble the people they're playing in biopics or historical dramas. But with someone like Marilyn, whose face is so well known, and who's been played by dozens of other actresses (in a lot of TV movies, especially), you need to get the right-looking actress. You just can't slap a blonde wig on anyone and call it Marilyn. That's a Halloween costume. Agree/Disagree?


[Photo Credit: dailymail.co.uk, comingsoon.net]

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