Blonde, the movie about Hollywood legend Marilyn Monroe aired on Netflix on September 28 with critics praising the film, in particular the acting chops of Cuban actress Ana de Armas. 

Based on the novel of the same name, the film is a fictionalized take on the life and career of Monroe who rose to prominence for her role as the blonde bombshell in Hollywood. The actress’ life and legacy is the stuff of legends, through her humble beginnings to her rise to fame and her sad, untimely death. 

The Netflix movie borrows heavily from the book but despite that, some of the depictions in the film are not quite the same as Monroe’s real life.

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Here’s a look at fact versus fiction in the 2022 Netflix movie, Blonde.

An absent father

Marilyn Monroe was born Norma Jeane Mortenson and did not know the identity of her father, a fact that is represented in Blonde. A Variety article pointed out that through DNA testing in 2022, her father was revealed to be Charles Stanley Gifford, a man who worked with Monroe’s mother, Gladys Pearl Baker. 

Marilyn Monroe’s name

Mortenson was given a screen test by 20th Century Fox executive Ben Lyon which led to her being signed by the film production studio in 1946 for a six-month acting contract. The stage name Marilyn Monroe was born out of her discussions with Lyon. Her first name Marilyn was based on Broadway actor Marilyn Miller while her last name Monroe was for her mother’s maiden name. 

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Abusive marriage to Joe DiMaggio

Through the film, Marilyn Monroe’s marriage to Joe DiMaggio, the retired baseball star is troubled much like it was in real life. The movie star’s marriage to DiMaggio was rife with emotional and physical abuse. The two married in January 1954 after Monroe refused to film a movie. 

As a publicity stunt, Monroe shot a skirt-blowing scene for the film The Seven Year Itch. Immediately after, it was reported that she and DiMaggio got into a screaming match in the lobby of the Trans-Lux 52nd Street Theater in Manhattan, New York. The chivalrous man she had married had turned into a jealous, controlling husband. After just nine months of marriage, Monroe divorced DiMaggio in October that year.