The world thought it would get a fairy tale when the great Laurence Olivier, the big star of British theatre, worked with Marilyn Monroe, the biggest movie star in the world. But making ‘The Prince and the Showgirl‘ turned into a psychological war zone. It got so bad that years later, Olivier could only describe Marilyn using a five-letter word.
The shocking story came out years after the movie was completed. Cinematographer Jack Cardiff asked Olivier for his honest take on Monroe, and he replied flatly, “She was a b—-.”
Olivier’s Brutal Private Verdict on Monroe
The criticism was harsh, coming from a man who didn’t beat around the bush. But in audio tapes found from a 2013 biography, Olivier went even further. He told biographer Philip Ziegler, “My hatred for her was one of the strongest emotions I have ever felt.” So how did the “happiest girl in the world” become someone a knight truly hated?
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It comes down to two different worlds crashing into each other. Olivier was the king of old-school acting. He had classical training and relied on perfect technique, clear speech, and changing himself for a role. Monroe, on the other hand, was the face of method acting. She studied under Lee Strasberg and couldn’t just say a line; she had to live it. She showed up in London desperate to be taken seriously as an artist, not just some blonde bombshell.
The Insult That Defined ‘The Prince and the Showgirl‘
Crew members and biographers say the clash started right away and was a disaster. To Olivier, Monroe was unprofessional. She showed up late, and sometimes vanished for days. She couldn’t remember her lines from one take to the next, and she wouldn’t do anything without talking to her acting coach, Paula Strasberg. Allegedly, Olivier even famously tried to ban Paula from the set.
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Co-star Jean Kent remembered that Monroe never said a line the same way twice and seemed “completely unable to hit her marks.” It got so bad that Kent claimed Monroe caused her co-star Richard Wattis to “take to drink” because of all the endless retakes.
For Olivier, who had played the same role with his wife Vivien Leigh, the chaos drove him crazy. He supposedly said the most insulting thing you could say to an actress: “Just try to be sexy.” That meant she had no skill, just her looks.
How Marilyn Monroe Made a Shakespearean Master Feel “Old and Creaky”
However, here is the irony. Monroe had all the power, and even though Olivier thought she was an amateur, he admitted in his private tapes that her screen presence made his fancy training useless. He confessed, “I was flabbergasted [by] how wonderful Marilyn was,” even while he stayed angry about how she worked.
Kenneth Branagh, who played Olivier in the movie ‘My Week with Marilyn‘, said Monroe’s natural acting made the knight feel “old” and “creaky.” The student of Stanislavski made the master of Shakespeare feel like he didn’t matter anymore.
Marilyn Monroe’s Quiet Triumph
When ‘The Prince and the Showgirl‘ came out, critics praised Monroe and mostly ignored Olivier. She walked away with the whole movie, making it the perfect revenge for being called a “b—-.”
Years later, as the 20th century ended, one thing stayed true. Sir Laurence Olivier, possibly the greatest actor of his time, admitted that his hatred for Marilyn Monroe was one of the strongest emotions of his life. It just goes to show that on that London set, the drama off-screen was way better than the romance in the movie.
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