EXCLUSIVEMarilyn Monroe Admitted 'There's a Special Burden' With Being 'Glamorous and Sexual' in Final Interview Before Her Fatal Overdose
Marilyn Monroe candidly reflected on the 'special burden' of being a s-- symbol in one of her final interviews before her death.
May 18 2026, Published 6:48 p.m. ET
Marilyn Monroe was an icon for the ages, though her life was tragically cut short amid struggles with fame, loneliness and intense scrutiny surrounding her image.
Now, ahead of what would be her 100th birthday on June 1, never-before-seen reflections from the late Hollywood legend are resurfacing in the newly released book Marilyn: The Lost Photographs, The Last Interview, which hit shelves on May 12 and features one of her final candid interviews before her fatal overdose death in 1962.
In the revealing conversation, Monroe opened up about the complicated reality of being viewed as a s-- symbol, admitting there was “a special burden” that came with her glamorous image.
'I Don't Mind Being Burdened'
Marilyn Monroe’s life is being revisited ahead of what would be her 100th birthday on June 1.
"There is a special burden, which I might as well state here and now, I don’t mind being burdened with, of being glamorous and sexual," the Some Like It Hot actress confessed. "But what goes with can be a burden."
The blonde bombshell believed "beauty and femininity are ageless and shouldn’t be contrived."
'I never quite understood it,' Marilyn Monroe admitted while discussing pressures of her bombshell image.
"And glamour, although the manufacturers won’t like this, cannot be manufactured. Not real glamour — it’s based on femininity,” Monroe continued. "I think that sexuality is only attractive when it’s natural and spontaneous."
Elsewhere in the interview, Monroe reflected on her complicated relationship with the "s-- symbol" label — even joking that she once confused the phrase with musical instruments.
Want OK! each day? Sign up here!
'I Just Hate to Be a Thing'
The late Hollywood icon opened up about beauty, femininity and sexuality in a revealing final interview.
"I never quite understood it — this s-- symbol — I always thought [cymbals] were those things you clash together!" she quipped. "That’s the trouble, a s-- symbol becomes a thing. I just hate to be a thing."
Though Monroe acknowledged sexuality played a role in her fame, she insisted she never approached acting from an intentionally seductive perspective.
Rare photographs and never-before-seen reflections are offering a new look at Marilyn Monroe decades after her tragic death.
“I’ve never acted consciously from a sexual viewpoint, including the most erotic scenes,” she explained. “If you check over my movies, I’ve never had an erotic scene.”
Still, the Hollywood legend admitted she would rather be associated with sexuality than be perceived as “asexual.”
“If I’m going to be a symbol of something, I’d rather have it be s-- than some of the other things they’ve got symbols of,” Monroe said. “To be appreciated by the working class of people as something sexual rather than asexual, that’s better at least than to say, ‘Well, she leaves me cold.’”
