“I based a lot of Roslyn, the girl in my Misfits screenplay, on Marilyn. Marilyn identifies powerfully with all living things, but her extraordinary embrace of life is intermingled with great sadness. In the picture Roslyn dances in the woods, longing for the stability of a tree, sad that she can’t be at one with Nature’s beauty. Marilyn’s tremendous empathy for people and animals is reflected in the movie too… Frank Taylor, our producer, says ‘Marilyn hates cages for birds, leashes for dogs and halters for herself.’ He’s right. To understand Marilyn best, you have to see her around children. They love her; her whole approach to life has their kind of simplicity and directness. I have not really helped her as an actress. Marilyn has perfected herself. She can imply the world in a look. The thing is, Marilyn has become a sort of fiction for writers; each one sees her through his own set of pleasures and prejudices.”—Arthur Miller on writing Marilyn’s character, Roslyn, for The Misfits.
