Cover Marilyn Monroe has been portrayed on screen in countless ways. ‘My Week with Marilyn’ is one of many retellings that blend elements of her real life with fictionalised storytelling (Photo: IMDB)
Marilyn Monroe has been portrayed on screen in countless ways. ‘My Week with Marilyn’ is one of many retellings that blend elements of her real life with fictionalised storytelling (Photo: IMDB)
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From Maggie Gyllenhaal’s speculative new short ‘Flesh Impact’ to decades-old TV dramas, here’s how each screen retelling approaches Marilyn Monroe’s story
More than six decades after Marilyn Monroe’s death on August 4, 1962, the actress remains one of cinema’s most persistently reimagined figures. Her life has been reconstructed through biopics, docudramas and speculative films that rarely agree on where the woman ends and the myth begins. Some stay close to biographies, archival records and surviving testimony; others use symbolism, psychology or outright fantasy to fill the gaps.
That tension remains alive with Maggie Gyllenhaal’s upcoming Flesh Impact, which is set to screen at the Venice International Film Festival in September 2026. Here are eight portrayals, beginning with the forthcoming Flesh Impact and moving back through the decades, that show just how differently filmmakers have approached the Monroe myth.
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‘Flesh Impact’ (September 2026)
Above Dakota Johnson and Ellen Burstyn reimagine Marilyn Monroe in ‘Flesh Impact’ (Photo: La Biennale di Venezia)
Dakota Johnson and Ellen Burstyn reimagine Marilyn Monroe in ‘Flesh Impact’ (Photo: La Biennale di Venezia)
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Maggie Gyllenhaal’s 17-minute short, commissioned by Genesis in partnership with Monroe’s estate, does not attempt biography at all. It imagines what her career might have looked like had she lived to 96, with Dakota Johnson (young Monroe) capturing her 1950s screen vitality and Ellen Burstyn (elder Monroe) embodying an imagined later chapter that never happened. Premiering in September 2026 at the Venice International Film Festival, where Gyllenhaal serves as jury president, the film trades factual reconstruction for emotional speculation, using Marilyn Monroe’s legend as raw material rather than a life to be re-enacted.
‘Blonde’ (2022)
Above Ana de Armas plays a fictionalised Marilyn Monroe in 'Blonde'
Adapted from Joyce Carol Oates’s novel of the same name rather than a work of biography, Blonde was always intended as fiction. Ana de Armas (Marilyn Monroe) inhabits a version of the star built from imagined trauma, invented scenes and psychological extrapolation rather than a documented record. Director Andrew Dominik has been open about the film’s fictional premise, but its visceral realism led many viewers to mistake dramatisation for fact—making it the most disputed title on this list.
‘The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe’ (2015)
Above Kelli Garner portrays a young Marilyn Monroe in 'The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe'
This Lifetime miniseries draws directly from J Randy Taraborrelli’s biography of the same name, prioritising documented research over dramatic licence. Kelli Garner (Marilyn Monroe) leads a multi-part account of the star’s turbulent early years, including her mother Gladys’s struggles with mental illness. Its longer runtime allows for more historical breadth than a single feature film typically permits, placing it among the more fact-anchored dramatisations of Monroe’s private life.
‘My Week with Marilyn’ (2011)
Above Michelle Williams plays a vulnerable Marilyn Monroe in 'My Week with Marilyn'
Based on Colin Clark’s own memoirs, this film stays close to documented events from Monroe’s 1956 UK shoot of The Prince and the Showgirl. Michelle Williams, who earned an Oscar nomination for her portrayal of Marilyn Monroe, stars opposite Eddie Redmayne as Colin Clark in an account of Monroe’s brief real-life friendship with the young production assistant. Because it draws on the recollections of a firsthand witness rather than speculation, it remains one of the more credible glimpses into her private vulnerability during that period.
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‘Norma Jean & Marilyn’ (1996)
Above Ashley Judd and Mira Sorvino split Marilyn Monroe’s identity in ‘Norma Jean & Marilyn’ (Photo: IMDB)
Ashley Judd and Mira Sorvino split Marilyn Monroe’s identity in ‘Norma Jean & Marilyn’ (Photo: IMDB)
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Rather than reconstructing a chronological life, this psychological drama visualises Monroe’s internal split. Ashley Judd (young Norma Jean) and Mira Sorvino (Marilyn Monroe) share the role to represent the tension between her private self and her manufactured studio persona. It is less concerned with verifiable events than with dramatising an emotional idea—the notion that Monroe and “Marilyn” were never quite the same person.
‘Marilyn & Bobby: Her Final Affair’ (1993)
Above A dramatised Marilyn Monroe fuels rumour in ‘Marilyn & Bobby: Her Final Affair’ (Photo: IMDB)
A dramatised Marilyn Monroe fuels rumour in ‘Marilyn & Bobby: Her Final Affair’ (Photo: IMDB)
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This TV movie leans fully into unproven conspiracy theories surrounding Monroe’s alleged relationships with the Kennedys. Melody Anderson (Marilyn Monroe) stars in a dramatisation built largely on speculation and tabloid rumour rather than verified record, sitting at the more sensationalised end of the genre, where dramatic licence overtakes documented history almost entirely.
‘Insignificance’ (1985)
Above Theresa Russell plays a fictional Marilyn Monroe in 'Insignificance'
An openly fictional comedy-drama, Insignificance imagines a single night in a New York hotel where Theresa Russell (Marilyn Monroe) crosses paths with figures resembling Albert Einstein, Joe DiMaggio and Joseph McCarthy. None of these events occurred. The film uses Monroe’s persona allegorically, favouring philosophical fantasy over any claim to biographical accuracy—closer in spirit to Flesh Impact than to any of the more literal retellings on this list
‘Marilyn: The Untold Story’ (1980)
Above Catherine Hicks traces Marilyn Monroe's life in 'Marilyn: The Untold Story' (Photo: IMDB)
Catherine Hicks traces Marilyn Monroe's life in 'Marilyn: The Untold Story' (Photo: IMDB)
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Adapted from Norman Mailer’s 1973 book, this TV movie takes the most conventional biographical approach on the list. Catherine Hicks (Marilyn Monroe) portrays the star across a chronological arc, from her early studio years to her death, offering a straightforward, if narratively unadventurous, account of a life that later films would treat with far more creative freedom.
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After more than a decade in lifestyle media, Clifford has mastered the art of writing seriously about things that are fun—and writing fun things about people who take themselves very seriously. At Tatler Asia, he helped steer its flagship lists, Tatler’s Most Influential and Asia’s Most Stylish. And today, he leads T-Labs, Tatler Asia’s content innovation hub, where he continues the noble pursuit of lifestyle storytelling, spinning stories on wealth, entertainment, necessary style, Hallyu, Hollywood, beauty and more for audiences across Asia.
