I’m not too proud to admit that sometimes I’m an idiot. I don’t sleep very well so when I get press releases it’s not unheard of for my brain to react to a name before I have a chance to read the actual words inside the email. Most of the press releases I receive are about music, so when I got an email entitled, “My Week With Marilyn”, my brain on auto-pilot went directly to Marilyn Manson and I skipped over it entirely.

Fast forward to a few weeks later and I started seeing previews of this wonderful-looking film starring Michelle Williams taking on the role of Marilyn Monroe and boy do I feel stupid.

Monroe is a Hollywood icon I’ve always admired and felt a great amount of empathy for. When I was much younger, she was one of the first celebrities whose suicides I had been taught about. This was my first realization that money and fame do not always bring you happiness. Hell, even beauty doesn’t always bring you happiness. In fact, after reading “A Beautiful Child”, from Truman Capote’s incredible collection of fiction and non-fiction short stories, Music for Chameleons, my realization of her sadness was almost too much.

It’s weird for me to say I’m “thankful” that Michelle Williams was cast in this role, but I really am. In addition to her incredible ability to transform into Marilyn physically, I also feel as though she can bring a certain level of dignity to the role that many other actresses wouldn’t.

This is one of the few films in a long time that I am truly excited about seeing as soon as it hits theaters.