My Week With Marilyn is a film, directed by Simon Curtis, based on the diaries by Colin Clark. It tells the story of Clark's job on the film production of The Prince and the Showgirl, where he got to spend a week with Marilyn Monroe. It shows a whole new side of Miss Monroe, that depicts the non-Hollywood version of her -- who has crippling stage fright and mental health issues. It stars Eddie Redmayne, Michelle Williams, Kenneth Branagh, and includes Emma Watson.
The film, in itself, is wonderful not only because of the acting and cinematography, but because its dialogue is deep and true to each character. Here's a list of 35 quotes from My Week With Marilyn that make it worthwhile.
1. “I'm 43, darling. No one will love me for very much longer.” -Vivien Leigh
2. “This poor girl hasn't had your years of experience. She's in a strange country acting a strange part. Now, are you helping or bullying?” -Dame Sybil Thorndike
3. “She needs her people. We're the only family she's ever had.” -Dominic Cooper
4. “Pills to sleep. Pills to wake up. Pills to calm her down. Pills to give her energy. No wonder she's permanently ten feet under water.” -Sir Laurence Olivier
5. “Maybe she's scared.”
--“We're all scared.”
-Colin Clark, Sir Laurence Olivier
6. “They like to keep her doped up. It makes her easier to control.” -Roger Smith
7. “You know you remind us of the young king in the movie? So sweet... and innocent.” -Marilyn Monroe
8. “I can't help her. She wants me to protect her... but I can't. She thought I could smash all her insecurities, that I could make her a new person.” -Arthur Miller
9. “You do... love her, your new bride and all that?”
--“I can't work. I can't think. She's devouring me.”
Arthur Miller, Sir Laurence Olivier
10. “You see, the truth is all that matters to him.” -Vivien Leigh
11. “I didn't think she would be so beautiful... If you could see yourself. The way you look at her. I hope she makes your life hell.” -Vivien Leigh
12. “Remember, boy. When it comes to women you're never too old for humiliation.” -Sir Laurence Olivier
13. “You don't leave Marilyn alone. She can't handle it. She thinks everyone is going to abandon her.” -Dominic Cooper
14. “Every time I walk into the studio, I feel doom come over me.” -Marilyn Monroe
15. “You're the future and that frightens him.” -Colin Clark
16. “He gives me the dirtiest looks, even when he's smiling.” -Marilyn Monroe
17. “You know I thought working with Marilyn would make me feel young again. But I look dead in the rushes. Dead behind these eyes. I wanted to renew myself through her. But all I see reflected in that magnificent face is my own inadequacy. You know I admire Marilyn. I really do, despite her behavior. She's taken everything Hollywood can throw at her and she's triumphed. That takes some bloody guts. An actress has to be pretty tough to get even a tenth as far as she has. But, be careful, boy. She doesn't need to be rescued. Not really.” -Sir Laurence Olivier
18. “She picked me up, she put me down. That's what she does. She breaks hearts. She will break yours.” -Dominic Cooper
19. “She's trying her best.” -Colin Clark
20. “How many pills did she take?”
--“Jesus! Who knows? I wasn't counting.”
-Colin Clark, Dominic Cooper
21. (Referring to her pills) “Please. Please don't take any more.” -Colin Clark
22. “I just want to be loved like a regular girl.” -Marilyn Monroe
23. “Why do the people I love always leave me?”
--“I will never leave you.”
“All people ever see is Marilyn Monroe. As soon as they realize I'm not her, they run.”
-Marilyn Monroe, Colin Clark
24. “You have no idea of your position in the world, Marilyn.” -Paula Strasberg
25. “I love you like a daughter. Oh, my darling girl. I know it's hard now. But you will survive this and go on to better things.” -Paula Strasberg
26. “You think I'm crazy?”
--“I just meant that you could be happy.”
-Marilyn Monroe, Colin Clark
27. “First love is such sweet despair, Colin.” -Dame Sybil Thorndike
28. “It wasn't altogether my fault but I've been ill. I'd like you to remember I tried.” -Marilyn Monroe
29. “Did she break your heart?”
--“A little.”
“Good. It needed breaking.”
-Lucy, Colin Clark
30. “She's quite wonderful. No training, no craft to speak of. No guile, just pure instinct. She's astonishing.”
--“You should tell her that.”
“Oh, I will. But she won't believe me. It's probably what makes her great. It's almost certainly what makes her so profoundly unhappy. I tried my best to change her. But she remains brilliant, despite me.”
-Sir Laurence Olivier, Colin Clark
31. “Glad you ran away to the circus?” -Sir Laurence Olivier
32. “You know what's going to happen. I'm going to fall in love with you. I'm going to fall in love with you because I always, always do.” -Marilyn Monroe (as Elsie)
33. “Don't forget me.”
--“As if I could.”
“Everybody else on the picture wishes they could.”
--“They don't understand you.”
-Marilyn Monroe, Colin Clark
34.“Thanks for being on my side.” -Marilyn Monroe
35. “Here's what I remember most. Her embrace. Her belief in me. And the joy she gave. That was her gift. When I think of her now, I think of that time when a dream came true. And my only talent was not to close my eyes.” -Colin Clark
