These rare words, tied to the evening of May 19, 1962, when the actress delivered the iconic birthday performance for JFK in a nearly sheer gown designed by Bob Mackie, are part of an intimate interview she gave to Life magazine editor Richard Meryman. The material now forms the basis of a new book, Marilyn: The Lost Photographs, The Last Interview, excerpts of which have been published in PEOPLE.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Marilyn Monroe Fan Page ♡ (@mesmerizingmarilynmonroe)

“There was a hush in the room,” Monroe recalled. “I didn’t think anything would come out at all. When I walked up to the microphone, I just took one breath and suddenly thought: here we go.”

After the performance, at a reception where Monroe was seen speaking with John Kennedy and his brother, Attorney General Robert Kennedy, she said: “I had met the Attorney General before, so it was nice to see a familiar, smiling face.”

Monroe also brought her former father-in-law, Isidore Miller — the father of playwright Arthur Miller, whom she divorced in 1961. “He came to America as an immigrant, and I thought this would be the biggest moment of his life,” she said. “I wanted him to be able to tell his grandchildren about it.”

During a later gathering at the home of film producer Arthur Krim, Monroe again found herself near John F. Kennedy and Robert Kennedy.

Across a series of conversations with Meryman (the first lasting four hours and beginning with a glass of champagne, the second stretching nearly until midnight, when Monroe suggested cooking steaks only to discover there was no food in the house), she spoke candidly about fame: “They take pieces out of you.” On being a sex symbol, she added: “If I have to be a symbol, I’d rather be a sex symbol than some of the other things people become symbols of.”

The interview was published in the August 3, 1962 issue of Life magazine. Just two days later, on the morning of August 5, Monroe was found dead in her bed. The cause of death was listed as “acute barbiturate poisoning.” It was officially ruled a possible suicide, though the circumstances surrounding her death remain the subject of speculation and debate to this day.

On the eve of what would have been her 100th birthday, marked on June 1, her words and rare photographs by Allan Grant reveal a multi-layered figure — intelligent, witty, guarded, and deeply vulnerable.

The photographer later recalled: “She was thinner and more fragile than I expected. She was smiling, but I sensed a sadness in her that was just about to surface.”

The new book Marilyn: The Lost Photographs, The Last Interview, featuring the full interview and previously unseen images, will be released on May 12.