Natasha Gregson Wagner tries to get answers to death of her mom via documentary
Los Angeles – Natasha Gregson Wagner was only 11 years old when her mother, the lovely Golden Globe award winner Natalie Wood, mysteriously died on November 29, 1981. She was 43.
Her cause of death was described as “drowning” but with many of the circumstances unknown.
Her late mom was with her dad Robert Wagner and her then “Brainstorm” co-star Christopher Walken on a weekend boat trip to Catalina Island. For someone who was scared of the “dark waters” and did not know how to swim, it was inexplicable why she would go out on a dinghy by herself in the dead of the night.
The case was reopened in February 2018 and Robert Wagner was named a “person of interest” but Robert denied any involvement.
Natasha, in her attempt to find answers to her mother’s death, made the documentary as producer with director Laurent Bouzereau, “Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind” which explores Natalie’s life and career through the unique perspective of Natasha and people who knew her. These included her step-father, Robert, and her own late father British agent-producer-screenwriter Richard Gregson, who was then suffering from Parkinson’s disease during the interview.
We recently talked to the charming 49-year-old actress via video interview and asked her how she felt after doing the documentary.
“Making the documentary was absolutely cathartic for me, 100 percent,” she confessed. “But so much of what is in the documentary I already knew about my mom; I knew her quite well. And so I knew what a powerhouse she was, she certainly was the boss of the family, the boss of my sisters and my dad and me. But what was so amazing for me was to share the story and so many people don’t know all these things about her. They don’t know that she fought for equal pay, they don’t know she was such a champion of LGBTQ rights. They didn’t know she championed mental health. To have the documentary out in the world for people to discover her or rediscover her, is a balm to my soul.”
So was one of her motivations of wanting to make this documentary was to finally clear off all the rumors and all these decades of ongoing perceptions?
“Yes it was, so much because I have a daughter now who is my mom’s only grandchild,” she admitted. “And so I don’t want the burden of that to rest on my daughter’s shoulders. I would like to clarify all of that, all those misconceptions and also to shine a light on her amazing life. It’s so overshadowed by the tragedy of the night she died and also for my stepdad who turned 90 this year. I don’t care for the way the media has exposed him in this way. I don’t care for it.”
How did she deal with the unavoidable scars of losing a parent early on in life?
“They are unavoidable and painful,” she revealed. “I have done a lot of personal inner work on myself and I definitely grieved for my mom for many years. But I also think that it’s something that has made me stronger in a lot of ways and I never go through a day without feeling so grateful for my life and the people that I love that are in it. I think that when you experience loss early, you develop a sensitivity to life and a level of gratitude that you never take for granted.”
Best memory of her mom? “Well luckily I have a lot,” she replied. “But the thing that I remember so much about my mom is her intimacy and her warmth and that I could always hug her. I could always touch her. I could always fill up with her. She always had time for me. I remember her reading me books. She loved to read to us and sing songs.
“I remember her laughing all the time. I just remember her being a huge presence in my life. She was also strict. I had to practice my piano lessons. I needed a math tutor because I was hopeless at math.
She believed in education and learning. But she was fun and I had a best friend. I always wanted her to spend the night and I had always asked my mom if my friend Tracy sleep over? And she always said yes. She always brought my friend into our family and loved her the way I loved her, which I am always so grateful for.”
‘To have the documentary out in the world for people to discover her or rediscover her is a balm to my soul.’