Updated

Updated · Fox News · Jul 28

Dakota Johnson Becomes Marilyn Monroe in 17-Minute Venice Short for Her 100th Birthday

Updated

Updated · Fox News · Jul 28

Dakota Johnson Becomes Marilyn Monroe in 17-Minute Venice Short for Her 100th Birthday

Q: Why did Maggie Gyllenhaal stop worrying that Dakota Johnson didn’t look enough like Marilyn Monroe?

Maggie Gyllenhaal stopped worrying because she decided an exact physical match to Marilyn Monroe was not the point of *Flesh Impact*. She said Monroe has been so heavily commodified, mythologized and turned into an icon that even the idea of what Monroe “really” looked like has become blurred. In Gyllenhaal’s view, chasing strict resemblance was less important than capturing Monroe’s presence, emotional truth and complexity as an actress and public figure. Gyllenhaal told *Vanity Fair* that after initially thinking Dakota Johnson did not look enough like Monroe, she dismissed the concern as “ridiculous,” saying, “Who cares?” She added that Monroe is “very blurry” in her mind because her image has been so transformed by culture and commerce over time. That thinking also fits the film itself. *Flesh Impact* is not a conventional biopic but a short, imaginative reworking of Monroe’s identity and legacy. Gyllenhaal has described it as a blend of reality and fantasy, meaning Johnson’s performance mattered more than a perfect visual copy.

3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Jul 28

First-look images show Dakota Johnson transformed into Marilyn Monroe in “Flesh Impact,” Maggie Gyllenhaal’s 17-minute short film set to premiere at the Venice Film Festival in September.
Johnson plays Monroe at 36—the age she died in 1962—while Ellen Burstyn portrays a fictionalized older Monroe, underscoring the film’s blend of reality and imagination.
Gyllenhaal said she moved past concerns that Johnson did not closely resemble Monroe, arguing the star’s image has been so mythologized and commodified that no fixed likeness matters.
The project was commissioned as a centennial tribute to Monroe and aims to examine her identity, legacy and the experience of being an actress rather than deliver a traditional biopic.