Ellen Burstyn, 93, reflects on her lifetime in movies and plays Marilyn Monroe at 100 in a new short film "Flesh Impact" premiering at the Venice Film Festival. The film was conceived by Maggie Gyllenhaal as a tribute to what would have been Monroe's 100th birthday in June, with Burstyn being the first choice for the role after they discovered their shared approach to acting. The film explores the vulnerability of auditioning alone on stage, and features 17 minutes of footage from the hypothetical audition. At the festival, Burstyn is also receiving a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-07,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Of all the roles Ellen Burstyn might have been offered in her 90s, that of Marilyn Monroe, who died at 36, seemed fairly unlikely.
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who → offer → 36
But then one day Maggie Gyllenhaal came to her apartment to talk about a wild idea: What if she played Monroe at 100?
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she → come → 100
“It sounded like a good idea to me,” Burstyn told The Associated Press.
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Burstyn → sound → Press
Their 17-minute short film, “Flesh Impact,” is having its world premiere Monday at the Venice Film Festival, where Burstyn, 93, is receiving a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement.
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Burstyn → have → Achievement
Though Burstyn never met Monroe, there was overlap.
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Burstyn → meet → Monroe
They shared a massage therapist, who would tell stories about his late friend.
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who → share → friend
He even told Burstyn that she was actually quite like Monroe, and lent her one of Monroe's old books called “The Thinking Body,” which had some treasures like old receipts, inside.
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which → tell → receipts
“I knew that she was not what she presented as her persona and that actually that’s a persona that she created,” Burstyn said.
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Burstyn → know → that
“She created the whole concept of Marilyn Monroe and played it.”
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She → create → it
Once, she saw her in a nightclub and Monroe nodded at her.
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Monroe → see → her
“She was so startlingly beautiful and she caught my eye and … I felt that she recognized me,”
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she → catch → me
Burstyn said.
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Burstyn → say → ?
And the fact that she recognized me, I just felt so honored and pleased.”
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I → recognize → me
The Monroe short came about in somewhat unconventional fashion, through the luxury car company Genesis, whose chief marketing officer Amy Marentic approached Gyllenhaal about doing something around what would have been Monroe’s 100th birthday in June.
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what → come → June
Gyllenhaal asked for a weekend to think about it, and landed on Marilyn, at 100, “doing basically the most vulnerable, one of the most vulnerable things I think an actor can do, which is audition, alone on a stage.
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which → ask → stage
”
Burstyn was the first actor she thought of.
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she → think → ?
“I just had this feeling maybe this is an opportunity for her to think about things in a new way,” Gyllenhaal said.
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Gyllenhaal → have → way
The two found that they shared a similar language and approach to the work.
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they → find → work
“We are interested in the depth of what’s being revealed.
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what → reveal → depth
And we both want to go there,” Burstyn said.
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Burstyn → want → ?
“If we’re going to be doing anything, we’re gonna be doing it from there.
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we → go → it
Though nothing has really changed very much in how Burstyn chooses roles over the years — she just wants to be moved or challenged — having a set populated largely by women was a far cry from how things were when she was starting out.
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she → change → women
“When I first started working, which was 150 years ago, there were no women on the set.
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which → start → set
If a woman was on set, that meant that she was an actress,” Burstyn said in a news conference Monday.
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Burstyn → mean → conference
“Then, slowly, thanks to blessed Gloria Steinem who just died, the consciousness started to change.”
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consciousness → bless → Steinem
Burstyn is also in a feature film, Kornél Mundruczó’s, “Place to Be” alongside Taika Waititi that’s playing at the festival.
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that → play → festival
And, she said, she’s feeling “slightly overwhelmed” by the whole thing.
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she → say → thing
“I have been asking myself, why do I deserve this?
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I → ask → this
What have I done?
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I → do → What
It’s a long career,” she said.
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she → ’ → ?
“And I finally came to it today that I wouldn’t have had this career without my training.”
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I → come → training
Celebrating a long career
Perhaps that is a bit modest for someone who has won an Oscar, for “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore,” a Tony and two Emmys for her acting.
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Alice → celebrate → acting
In her over 50 years in the business, she’s appeared in around 150 films, and is currently serving as a co-president of The Actors Studio.
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she → appear → Studio
Burstyn even teaches acting classes occasionally, continuing the legacy of her mentor and acting coach Lee Strasberg.
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Burstyn → teach → mentor
“Her artistry, which could illuminate pain and everyday resilience with dignity, irony and courage, remains an absolute model of authenticity in performance and civic engagement within the craft of acting,” festival director Alberto Barbera said in a statement.
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Barbera → illuminate → statement
Sitting alongside Gyllenhaal the day before the big award, she described her outfit, a gown, and wondered if it was too much.
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it → sit → outfit
Her director assured her it wasn’t: This was her day.
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This → assure → her
“I’m just really very happy to be here and very grateful to receive this award and grateful to this lady who put me in this interesting and deep and funny and wonderful movie,” Burstyn said.
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Burstyn → receive → movie
