At Venice, Ellen Burstyn reflects on playing Marilyn Monroe and a lifetime in movies

Global Culture Wed, 09 Sep 2026 11:47:09 GMT Moderate confidence — 73/100

Of all the roles Ellen Burstyn might have been offered in her 90s, that of Marilyn Monroe, who died at 36, seemed fairly unlikely.
But then one day Maggie Gyllenhaal came to her apartment to talk about a wild idea: What if she played Monroe at 100?
“It sounded like a good idea to me,” Burstyn told The Associated Press.

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Of all the roles Ellen Burstyn might have been offered in her 90s, that of Marilyn Monroe, who died at 36, seemed fairly unlikely.
But then one day Maggie Gyllenhaal came to her apartment to talk about a wild idea: What if she played Monroe at 100?
“It sounded like a good idea to me,” Burstyn told The Associated Press.

Sources: The Independent