Filmmaker Emma Cooper Explores the Mystery that Was Marilyn Monroe in Netflix Doc

Filmmaker Emma Cooper admitted not knowing much about Marilyn Monroe growing up – her interests were more in silent film comics like Harold Lloyd, she told the website ff2media.com. "I think that I only knew those stock images of her in the white dress from�The Seven Year Itch�in 1955," she said.

It was while working on another Netflix project, "The Disappearance of Madeleine McCann," that Cooper met Summers, who insisted she read his 1982 book "Goddess: The Secret Lives of Marilyn Monroe." They became friends, though she admits not reading the book for awhile. Once she did, she saw a film in the project, even spending two nerve-racking years on it before Netflix stepped in with funding.

"While�'The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes'�won't turn up any new reporting, it is a fascinating listen for true-crime fans or anyone interested in celebrity investigations. The documentary offers an unparalleled glimpse at an investigation of this scale, as well as fragmented recollections about Monroe directly from the people who knew her," wrote Vanity Fair last month.

In what she calls a "journey" through Monroe's career that she hopes to help unravel the enigma behind her star and personality. "I hope we succeeded in giving her a voice. Sure, I've curated it. I've directed it. I've tried to put my own modern female voice in it. But, ultimately, I wanted to be the person who gave Marilyn some purchase back and some voice back, via Tony [Summers'] investigation and via those amazing firsthand voices of people who knew her. But it's all about Marilyn. It's not about me."

EDGE spoke with Cooper about the project, her feelings about Monroe, and her own theories about her death.

EDGE: Almost 60 years after her death, people remain fascinated by Marilyn Monroe. Why do you think that is?

Emma Cooper: I have one word, which I think I discovered while spending the last three years making this film: she is an enigma. And I don't think there's many people in history or in the world who are an enigma. She had this allure and this amazing combination of vulnerability, strength, and knowing her own weaknesses. She tried sorting out of her own weaknesses in a very modern way. I feel like I got to know her personably through making this film. I just feel she's the most extraordinary person ever. I think that we all see parts of ourselves in her and that is why it is so easy to connect with her.

EDGE: What is most alluring to you about Marilyn?

Emma Cooper: I've got a confession that before I started making this film, I wasn't sure what the fuss was about Marilyn. Now I know and I have a tattoo of her on my arm. I honestly think it was probably better for the film that I wasn't a fan. I started reading this book and I started to get to know Tony more. I think it was great learning about her without my own childhood dreams of her or even without having poured myself over all of her films. On one of my first research trips to Hollywood, I met one of her biographers who said, "Strap yourself in because you're going to become obsessed. No one does a project about Marilyn Monroe without becoming obsessed with her."

EDGE: How did you get involved in this project?

Emma Cooper: I had worked with Anthony Summers, the writer of the book "Goddess: The Secret Lives of Marilyn Monroe" before. He was insistent that I read his book about Marilyn Monroe. For a while, I put it at the bottom of my to do list before I ended up reading it. After reading it and speaking with him, He told me he had recordings of all his research. I thought that was extraordinary and that if I wanted to know more than I felt like other people would want to know more.

EDGE: "The true things rarely get into circulation. It's usually the false things," says Marilyn Monroe in the beginning of the film. As a storyteller, when you heard that what are your first thoughts?

Emma Cooper: That is what I led with when making this film. As a journalist and storyteller, I am trying to find the truth, but the truth is often somewhere in the middle, and you see that time and time again during this film. The truth always lays somewhere in the middle of every story. My hope and dream for the film is that Marilyn's voice is heard. Before I started the film, I went to her grave I wanted to tell her who I am and that I'm going to try my best to bring out a truth about her death. I don't know if I have done her legacy justice, but I really tried.

EDGE: How have these tapes gone unheard for so long?

Emma Cooper: It's one of the mysteries of the film, because they were in the academy. Tony had all the recordings and the great thing about Tony's journalism, which has been amazing for me while making this film, is that he doesn't throw away one piece of paper. Everything is stored and archived. When the academy got wind of the fact that he had these recordings they had them digitized. They're actually in the academy library and kept as historical resources. I went to the academy and listened to them and thought "This is extraordinary. I've stepped into history."

EDGE: Out of all the interviews, who would you say is the most credible?

Emma Cooper: The joy of working with Tony is that all those voices/interviews have been cross examined. It's not the first time they spoke to him and much of what they said is referenced and cross-checked again and again. Even though I did check everybody out myself, it was very helpful to know that it happened time and time again before me. For me, it was the Greenson family. They they had a real familiar experience with Marilyn, and we were allowed to see some of the psychiatrist notes about her from Ralph Greenson. It was great to be able to put into context by people who loved her. They were some of the only people that were at her funeral and that moved me greatly because they were so honest about the fact that they didn't want a relationship with her. When they got it, they honored it and they loved her as part of the family.

slug>EDGE: To your knowledge have any of the Kennedys ever spoken out about Marilyn's death?

Emma Cooper: No, not that I know of.

EDGE: Based off the tapes, what do you now think happened that night?

Emma Cooper: I think that the evidence Tony found suggests the narrative that we put forward in the film, in terms of the timeline. I think that there's a lot of evidence to suggest that there was a cover up. The cover up has to do with people who were with her that night. I feel very saddened we were seeing a woman who was beginning to know herself and who was beginning to stand up for herself in both her work and relationships only to have it all cut short.

EDGE: What did you learn about yourself while making this film?

Emma Cooper: I learned so much from her. I learned that it's okay to be a woman. I'm sorry to be so gendered about it. I learned its ok to admit your vulnerabilities and your frailties. To let others see your pain. Even with all of that you can still be an amazing woman. She wasn't allowed to do any of that, but she was trying. I think she's an amazing person, who I sort of feel like I've gotten to know. She's very special to me. As a modern feminist, I want younger women to watch it and feel the same way about her as I do.

EDGE: Any new upcoming projects that you would like to promote?

Emma Cooper: I do have a lot of exciting things happening, but I can't talk about them yet. Hopefully, you'll come back to me when I'm ready, so we can speak about them.

"The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe" is streaming on Netflix.