Brad Pitt defends Ana de Armas' casting as Marilyn Monroe in Blonde

Brad Pitt has praised Ana de Armas’ performance as Marilyn Monroe in Blonde, the upcoming film he co-produced.

Cuban-Spanish actress Ana received backlash from Marilyn fans following the release of the movie's trailer in July, with some devotees claiming Ana’s accent didn’t capture the Hollywood icon’s tone, Variety reports.

Ana reportedly spent nine months working on Marilyn’s unique speech patterns.

As a producer on the film, which has been made by his Plan B Entertainment production company, Brad offered his testimonial of Ana’s performance, telling Entertainment Tonight: “She is phenomenal in it.”

Calling the role “a tough dress to fill”, Brad added that Blonde took 10 years to make.

“It wasn’t until we found Ana that we could get it across the finish line," he enthused.

The film, based on the novel of the same name by Joyce Carol Oates, is a dramatic reimagining of Marilyn’s life from her childhood as Norma Jeane to her rise to fame.

It's scheduled to be released on 28 September by Netflix.