Blonde

On her seventh birthday, Gladys gives Norma a framed picture of a man who claims to be her father. A fire erupts in the Hollywood Hills that night, and Gladys tries to drive Norma toward a fireproof mansion. Police intervene and order them back, and Norma endures Gladys's violent outbursts in the bath. Norma is left in a precarious state that leads to her later placement in care.

Gladys is admitted to a mental hospital, and Norma is sent to an orphanage. The instability of her early life continues to shape her sense of belonging and self through the years. The experience of living in care while her mother is away informs her later longing for authentic connection beneath the Marilyn Monroe persona.

In the 1940s, Norma Jeane becomes Marilyn Monroe, a rising pin-up model featured on magazine covers and calendars. She experiences exploitation when film studio president Mr. Z rapes her, an act she endures within the industry.

In 1951, she auditions for Nell and loses her composure during the take, breaking down in tears, yet the casting director is impressed enough to offer the part. The moment marks a turning point as she blends vulnerability with star potential. The role helps launch her ascent in Hollywood.

As her career grows, Norma meets Charles Cass Chaplin Jr. and Edward G. Eddy Robinson Jr., becoming romantically involved with both. The relationships create emotional complexity and public intrigue, threatening to blur the line between her real self and Marilyn Monroe persona. The dynamic foreshadows the pressures of fame that she will face.

1953 brings the breakout film Niagara, which propels Norma to global stardom. Public appearances with Cass and Eddy intensify scrutiny and lead her agent to urge limits on their joint appearances to protect her image. The event cements her status while exposing the concessions required for public fame.

Norma becomes pregnant by Cass and initially contemplates keeping the child, but chooses abortion out of fear of passing on her mother's illness. Cass supports her, yet she ultimately ends the relationship and withdraws from both men. The turmoil deepens her struggle with identity behind the public Marilyn persona.

Norma meets Joe DiMaggio, a former athlete who empathizes with her wish to pursue serious acting in New York. He proposes after she returns to acting, and she accepts reluctantly, beginning a marriage that fuses glamour with volatility. The relationship marks a shift toward a more private, yet equally turbulent, phase of her life.

Marriage to DiMaggio becomes strained as nude publicity photos spark jealousy and violence; he hits Norma and demands she stop filming The Seven Year Itch. She continues with the iconic white dress scene, defying control while paying a personal cost. The marriage ends in divorce amid public scrutiny and emotional strain.

Norma marries playwright Arthur Miller and moves to Maine, where she experiences a relatively happy time and becomes pregnant again. A beach walk ends in a miscarriage, shattering that brief dream and pushing her back toward acting and fame.

During the filming of Some Like It Hot, Norma grows more troubled by press attention and feels she is becoming a joke in the public eye. Her on set outbursts intensify, particularly toward director Billy Wilder, and she relies more on prescription pills to cope with the strain.

By 1962 Norma is dependent on drugs and alcohol. Secret Service agents take her to a hotel to meet President John F. Kennedy, who rapes her before she is drugged and returned home. Later that year, Cass Chaplin's death is revealed through a package containing the tiger and a letter confessing that he wrote the father letters; Norma is devastated, overdoses on barbiturates, and envisions her father welcoming her to the afterlife.