About the Project
By 1955 Marilyn Monroe was one of Hollywood’s biggest stars. Overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds, movies like Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, There’s No Business Like Show Business and The Seven Year Itch made Marilyn the sexiest woman on earth. In a strange twist however, Marilyn turned her back on Hollywood. Determined to be taken seriously as an actor, she moved to New York to study acting at The Actors Studio headed by legendary acting teacher, Lee Strasberg. Strasberg, as it turns out, had overcome his own set of difficult circumstances to become a star acting teacher, but his Method was still unproven and he was burning to direct movies. Thus sets the stage for this Pygmalionesque drama that pits teacher against student. What happened during those nine transformational months spent under Lee’s tutelage? No one really knows. Based on historical records and drawing on the teachings of Stanislavsky, Boleslavsky, Chekov and Strasberg himself, Marilyn and Lee at the Actors Studio invites you to engage your senses and take part in this imaginary what if master class and love letter to the process of acting. Will Lee prove his Method and transform Marilyn into a great actor? Will Marilyn survive the rigors of Lee’s instruction or will she succumb to the madness lurking beneath the surface? Find out in Marilyn and Lee at the Actors Studio.
Production Team
