Filmmaker Bruce David Klein on How Liza Became Liza (With a Little Help from her Friends)

EDGE: Had you met her before you made the film?

Bruce David Klein: No. Although I saw her in concert, most memorably at the "Liza At The Palace" in 2008. That just completely blew my mind, both for her performance and the audience's reaction to her, which was just to witness this ocean of love for as a performer I had never seen this before. I remember watching that reaction and thinking that this woman has such a profound connection with her fans that goes way beyond whether they like her singing a song or the way she dances or if they liked her in a movie. This is a profound, deep human connection, and it wasn't until really going through all the footage and spending some time with her, filming with her, that I kind of made the connection of the power of her vulnerability, which is unique.It is a vulnerability that comes from her strength, her quirkiness, her larger than life persona, and her fearlessness in performance that just draws people to her.

EDGE: What was it like interviewing her?

Bruce David Klein: I think the two immediate take-aways of spending hours with Liza are, first, she is hysterical. She loves to be funny. And t she also just gravitates to anybody who's cracking a joke. And the second thing is, she absolutely smokes like a chimney. I mean, holy crap. She loves those cigarettes. And I think another endearing quality is something I have never seen in any famous person, that when you meet her, she wants you to love her. She wants you to be friends with her, so she's making sure that you like her. And it's very, very unnerving, because you're like, 'you're Liza Minnelli, I love you already.' But that is very, very important to her, that every single person in the room likes her and connects with her. She wants to be everyone's friend, and that that's something also that is really stand out. Obviously, it doesn't hurt that she has those dark saucer eyes staring up at you. But yes, she makes you feel like you were the only person of importance in the room, and that and that her friendship with you is important to her.

EDGE:What was in the footage you found in Liza's vault?

Bruce David Klein: A lot of stuff I had never seen before particularly in the 70s and 80s rightinto the 90s. She was constantly being interviewed. And she was constantly being photographed. And what we found in the footage was stuff that didn't exist anywhere else. We make mention that Liza was brought up in this kind of MGM world where everything was beautiful, but where no one ever show vulnerability, or ever reveal your true self. Celebrities would never been seen in sweat pants. They were always well-dressed. They were always made up. It was the world Liza grew up in, but after"Cabaret" and "Liza with a Z," overnight the Taylor Swift of her day. She was the 'it' girl of the moment. And she was always been filmed, so you see her when she's nervous riding in the back of a limo with Kay Thompson, or singing with her sister Lorna, or just washing her hair, and it is amazing to see. Today this is the stuff you find on Instagram, but back then it just wasn't part of being a celebrity. Her generation didn't do it. Careers and lives were very, very carefully, carefully controlled. So to see that of her in these moments when she is being very real, very vulnerable, very quirky, you really get to see who she is. And that's why we ended up really gravitating a lot towards the footage we found in that vault.