"There was a lot of infamy": Elizabeth Taylor fought scandal and slut-shaming throughout her career

Elizabeth Taylor’s life, romances, and films have generated considerable media attention even after her death in 2011. Now, HBO's revealing documentary “Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes” features a series of interviews journalist Richard Meryman conducted with the two-time Oscar winner, eight-time married actress, activist and celebrity back in 1964.

Directed by Nanette Burstein, the film traces Taylor’s career from her early childhood performances in “Lassie Come Home” and “National Velvet,” to her adult roles including “A Place in the Sun," “Giant,” “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” and “Suddenly, Last Summer,” leading up to her groundbreaking $1 million payday for the epic “Cleopatra.”

“Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes” also chronicles the actress’ personal life, starting with her short-lived marriages to Conrad “Nicky” Hilton and Michael Wilding before she met the love of her life, producer Mike Todd. After Todd’s untimely death, Taylor had an affair with Eddie Fisher, who was married to Debbie Reynolds at the time. Ironically, Taylor cheated on Fisher, with her “Cleopatra” co-star Richard Burton, whom she would marry twice and with whom she'd make 11 films together.

The candid recordings recount Taylor’s thoughts about her public image, her performances and her relationships, as well as her perceptions on being a “bad girl” and a “sex goddess.” Burstein amply and nimbly illustrates the conversation with film clips, newsreel footage, photographs and interviews. What emerges is an intimate look at a legend that feels confessional.

In a recent interview, Salon spoke with Burstein about her new documentary and her thoughts on Elizabeth Taylor.

Elizabeth Taylor has both a persona and reputation that is larger-than-life. Your documentary is not judgmental. It allows Taylor to “speak for herself.” What is your impression of Liz Taylor? 

I think Elizabeth was way ahead of her time. She was legendary. She lived life big and hard. I have mad respect for the way that she lived her life. But it was not without its consequences. She was slut-shamed, and considered a homewrecker, and she was insecure about herself — not just in regard to her private life being under public scrutiny, but also how she was perceived as an actress, and legitimately so. She was seen as a sex symbol and a pretty face, and not as an actress one should respect for her chops and talent. She was an amazing actress. She had to fight for these edgy roles. That is what she gravitated to. It wasn’t just a good role, like a complicated messed-up woman and not a pretty face. The roles she most loved are the ones she aged up for and did not look like an ingenue.

Like Martha in “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” 

Yes, and “Giant.” Carroll [Baker] is older than she is, and Elizabeth plays her mom! All her favorite roles are ones where people said, “You shouldn’t do that movie. Are you crazy?” Those were the films she most admired and was proud of and celebrated for.

But then there is “Butterfield 8”. . . 

She is great in it as an actress. She didn’t like that film because the studio is humiliating her. At a different time in her life, she would have been fine playing it. She’s been slut-shamed in public, and now they are making her play a sex worker, and casting Eddie Fisher, the guy she married, and is seen as a homewrecker because he left America’s sweetheart [for Liz]. We’re casting him as your best friend, who is really in love with you and whose fiancée [Susan Oliver] looks exactly like Debbie Reynolds. They are taking the most humiliating parts of how Elizabeth has been judged and putting it on the screen and making her play this role of the slut of all time. And then she wins an Oscar for it. She cannot believe she is winning an Oscar for this role. But she resents the fact that she has to do it because of how she is being depicted and how art is imitating life.

There were not too many actors in the studio system era who had any control over their careers.

That was the problem. When you were a contract player, you didn’t have control over your career, so it was such struggle to get parts you wanted to play. You were basically chattel. You are doing this film . . . They would even lend you out. You were like their slave. She fought for these roles when it was not only tough under the contract system but tougher as a woman.

She was the first actress paid $1 million for a film…

Actor or actress, by the way. No man had been paid that even, which is kind of remarkable given the pay inequalities between men and women.

In the tapes, Taylor’s vulnerability is revealing. She had relationships with men who were no good for her and she never tried to be alone. She had men controlling her career. But as you say, she was tough and fought. What do you make of her character? 

She couldn’t be alone. She was very reactive. She did this so young. She is in her third marriage and still in her 20s! I am constantly reminding the audience of her age in the film, because you assume she is older than the age she is — not because she looks old but because of the life she is living. She has this great line in the film. She says it so poetically, and I love it so much: “There are two Elizabeth Taylors. One is a commodity, and one is the real Elizabeth Taylor who doesn’t care about the commodity. One is flesh and blood, and one is cellophane.” Her private life was under scrutiny. They judged her, but they didn’t understand her completely. Now we get to understand her in a way we never did. She was a walking contradiction in many ways. She is powerful but likes to be dominated by men. She is insecure but demands $1 million and 10% of the gross for a film. There is nothing straightforward about her.

How did you come in possession of the tapes and decide to take the approach you did of telling her story through her movies and marriages? I liked the parallel tracks of personal and professional. 

I came to the movie because these recordings were made in 1964 between her and this journalist, Richard Meryman, who was ghostwriting a biography about her. He recorded their conversations as research, and they were not meant to be shared. She had control over the book; she said, “You can’t put that in the book.” The recording sat in his attic for decades and then posthumously, his wife discovered them. They came to the attention of the [Taylor] estate, and she bequeathed them. [Editor's Note: House of Taylor reclaimed the tapes from Richard Meryman's widow in 2019.] The family felt she was misunderstood, and they get how she wasn’t willing to say this during her lifetime because of the judgment she faced. They wanted someone to use this asset to make a movie. They also had this really good personal archive of her that no one had taken advantage of before. They found a producing team they were excited about and trusted, and they came to me. There were these gems in these 40 hours. People always ask, how did you cut 40 hours down to two?

I wasn’t going to ask that, but since you brought it up . . .

Believe me, you could cut it. There is a lot of nonsense. But there was some wonderful silliness. They were drinking martinis and talking late night for many nights over the course of a year.

I just want to be there!

[laughs] I know! You get to do that now.

I loved that about your film. Watching it is like eavesdropping on their conversations. Did anything surprise you about what Taylor said in the recordings?

It surprised me this megastar is really insecure about how she is perceived and that she is thought of as a sex symbol as opposed to a talented actress. That so upsets her. She is asked, “What do you think your public image is?” She says, “Immoral, not too pretty inside . . .” It’s all very negative. She talks about things she never discussed, like her first marriage.

Where did you find all the footage you assembled and what decisions did you make about what you included, and how you edited it together?

Some of it came from the estate. There is a personal archive they have that was really a gold mine of home movies and personal photos — not just the publicity photos you see. I also have an amazing archivist who unearthed so much footage. The estate also assembled a bunch of photos and shared that with us, but they didn’t control the rights.  We continued to [add images during] cutting — we would cut a scene and realize we needed more, so we’d look for more and find them. I started my career as an editor, and I love that part of making films.

You include a coda in the film — an interview conducted in 1985 by Dominick Dunne that talks about her charitable work with AmFAR, and her experiences in rehab. Why did you choose to include this content?

I did it because I didn’t feel the point of her story ended in 1964 — even though in this moment in time in which she was very confessional at the height of her fame. To not include these pivotal moments that happened in the 1980s, particularly her philanthropy, wouldn’t have told Taylor’s story. One of the big themes is of the story is how fame or infamy affected her. It became her albatross. In the 1980s, she realized fame could be her superpower. All of her best friends were gay men who are closeted to the public. Those were her most enduring relationships. The AIDS crisis happens, and no one is doing anything about it. Reagan won’t even utter the word AIDS. Homophobia is at the heart of this, and she’s appalled. She realized that her fame could do what she was wanted to do in life. She was most proud of that more than any movie role she played.

It a five-minute coda. It is an interview off camera with a reporter where she is being confessional. But she is at a different stage in her life. She has been through rehab and learned how to be single for first time ever and be OK with it, and she learns how to use her fame for good and has this optimism about it. I didn’t want to end in 1964.

Do you think there is someone today who is on the level Taylor was back in her day?

The mega-level celebrity scrutiny and paparazzi that Elizabeth had was on the level of Princess Diana. We don’t have movie stars now like we did in that era. The culture does not exist in same way. Elizabeth was rare and legendary. There are few comparisons. When you see archival footage, it’s like The Beatles or Princes Di, with scary amounts of paparazzi.

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Why do you think we are still fascinated by Liz? 

She was a talented actress. She was beautiful. She was in the public eye since she was a child. There was a lot of infamy. We are fascinated by scandal and by this woman who lived life the way she wanted at a time when you are not supposed to do that. She didn’t play the game and suffered for it. She tried to create this balance of being a badass and pretending to still follow the norms of society. When she is married to Mike Todd or Richard Burton, she says she is going to quit acting and stay home and be a housewife. Of course, she never does! Does she ever really mean it, or is she just saying that because you feel that people threatened by your power in the world, and you have to undermine it in this way? There is a lot to be learned about how we look at gender and continue to. I think she’s revered because she lived life the way she wanted to.

And what lesson did she impart to you? Will you live life the way you want to?

I’m not under public scrutiny like her, so I can live my life the way I want to. No one’s going to judge. [Laughs] I appreciate how big she lived. I admire her for her. Maybe I won’t get married eight times, but I appreciated her enjoyment of that.

“Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes” begins streaming on Max on Saturday, Aug. 3.