Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe’s tragic death is still a source of conspiracies and rumors leading all the way to the White House. Netflix‘s latest documentary, The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes, pieces together her final weeks, days and hours through previously unheard recordings of those who knew her best. Directed by Emma Cooper, this feature illuminates more of Monroe’s glamorous, complicated life, and offers a new perspective on the fateful night of August 4, 1962.
We were joined on the Popternative show by Emma Cooper to discuss the film and what it was like taking on a project like this. “It took me three years, and it was an experience. I wanted to do her proud. But I kind of came to the project without much knowledge about Marilyn herself, so I was coming to it pretty fresh which I think was really helpful in terms of kind of like getting to know her and representing her well, I hope,” Emma tells us.
We also discuss the editing process of the film, working with archives and working with journalist Anthony Summers, whose book Goddess: The Secret Lives of Marilyn Monroe is what the documentary is based on.
“I learned so much from him, we became great friends through the process. And I learned so much about journalism. This is a man that doesn’t throw anything away, even a piece of paper that he’ll scribble something on, he archives every single thing, which we are so not used to doing. […] He keeps everything, logs everything and cross references everything. So all the evidence with the ambulance drivers, the fact that he had gone around and spoken to as many people as he had, it’s a documentary filmmaker’s dream to work with somebody as professional as Tony,” Emma explains.
Watch our interview with Emma Cooper below.
The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes is now streaming on Netflix.
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