Sasha Weiss

People are very reluctant to speak candidly about Prince. They're protective. Some people seem scared.

People are very reluctant to speak candidly about Prince. They're protective. Some people seem scared.

I mean, it's not that unusual in a way for a world famous celebrity, you know, for people not to want to talk about them. But it was very intense. And, you know, it seemed across the board universal, this reluctance. And Ezra and his team started to wonder like, what's the big secret here? Is there some secret that people won't tell us?

I mean, it's not that unusual in a way for a world famous celebrity, you know, for people not to want to talk about them. But it was very intense. And, you know, it seemed across the board universal, this reluctance. And Ezra and his team started to wonder like, what's the big secret here? Is there some secret that people won't tell us?

People slowly did begin to talk.

People slowly did begin to talk.

At a certain point, he had interviewed enough people, over 75 people. To start to get a clearer picture of Prince and to be able to marry a narrative of Prince's life from the beginning really to the end where he died in a very mysterious way with this footage that was in the vault.

At a certain point, he had interviewed enough people, over 75 people. To start to get a clearer picture of Prince and to be able to marry a narrative of Prince's life from the beginning really to the end where he died in a very mysterious way with this footage that was in the vault.

And it's not that there's a secret, but there's a complex, tortured, deeply traumatized person alongside the musical genius. And eventually, Ezra had what he felt was a solid cut of the film, and I was able to watch it.

And it's not that there's a secret, but there's a complex, tortured, deeply traumatized person alongside the musical genius. And eventually, Ezra had what he felt was a solid cut of the film, and I was able to watch it.

Well, one of the things the film does so well is tell the story of Prince's childhood. And it's maybe worth saying that it doesn't unfold the story in a linear way. It accumulates through the interviews, through all of the different people he speaks to, his lovers, his sister, his friends. And what you see is a picture of a boy.

Well, one of the things the film does so well is tell the story of Prince's childhood. And it's maybe worth saying that it doesn't unfold the story in a linear way. It accumulates through the interviews, through all of the different people he speaks to, his lovers, his sister, his friends. And what you see is a picture of a boy.

First of all, he had, according to several testimonies in the film, a troubled relationship with his parents. There was violence in the home. His parents split when he was a kid. First, he was living with his mother. She then remarried. And two people in the film say that Prince told them that when he was a kid, his stepfather shut him in a room or a closet for six weeks. Wow.

First of all, he had, according to several testimonies in the film, a troubled relationship with his parents. There was violence in the home. His parents split when he was a kid. First, he was living with his mother. She then remarried. And two people in the film say that Prince told them that when he was a kid, his stepfather shut him in a room or a closet for six weeks. Wow.

And he came out changed.

And he came out changed.

How could he not? And then when he was 12, his mother kicked him out of the house and sent him to live with his father. He was very close to his father. His father was a musician. And he was a very religious man. He was a strict man, kind of an authoritarian parent. And he found Prince in a room with a girl a couple times. And he, too, kicked Prince out when Prince was 14 years old. So...

How could he not? And then when he was 12, his mother kicked him out of the house and sent him to live with his father. He was very close to his father. His father was a musician. And he was a very religious man. He was a strict man, kind of an authoritarian parent. And he found Prince in a room with a girl a couple times. And he, too, kicked Prince out when Prince was 14 years old. So...

he was an abandoned person. And that abandonment and the dissolution of his family and the feeling of neglect, according to the many people who knew him, was a real through line in his life. This drove Prince to his own unstable sort of familial and love relationships. And one pattern that you see in the film over the course of Prince's life is that he would kind of

he was an abandoned person. And that abandonment and the dissolution of his family and the feeling of neglect, according to the many people who knew him, was a real through line in his life. This drove Prince to his own unstable sort of familial and love relationships. And one pattern that you see in the film over the course of Prince's life is that he would kind of