British star Gemma Arterton is transformed into Marilyn Monroe for a one-off telly comedy.
The former Bond girl, 32, donned a platinum blonde wig, pale makeup and shocking red lipstick like the iconic Hollywood actress.
The scenes appear as part of Sky’s new Urban Myths series – which sees legendary stars immortalized on screen.
The show is focused on the persistent urban rumor that the hard-drinking Monroe just couldn’t nail the famous ‘it’s me, sugar’ line in the classic flick Some Like It Hot – although another popular take on the incident was that it was actually a ploy by Monroe to persuade director Billy Wilder to rewrite the movie. It is rumoured Monroe took around 50 takes to perfect the line, which left co-stars Tony Curtis, (played by Alex Pettyfer) and Jack Lemmon (Adam Brody) taking bets on when she would nail it. The show, described as a ‘mischievous, provocative but ultimately affectionate portrait’, also stars James Purefoy as Billy Wilder, Dougray Scott as playwright (and Monroe’s husband) Arthur Miller and Felicity Montagu as Paula Strasberg, both of whom offer advice to Monroe as she struggles with her lines.
Arterton’s turn as Monroe is part of the forthcoming Urban Myths season, which features The Sex Pistols vs Bill Grundy, starring Steve Pemberton, When Bowie Met Bolan, starring Jack Whitehall as Marc Bolan and Luke Treadaway as David Bowie, and The Dali and The Cooper, starring David Suchet, Noel Fielding and Sheila Hancock.
The eight-episode series will debut on Sky Arts from April 12.
