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I was curious about how she identified, where she saw herself on the spectrum.
He quickly found out.
That turned out to be the least of McCorveys surprises.
She had all these questions about me.
My answer was none.
I think because of that, she agreed to meet up, and we started hanging out.
We spent time in Texas driving around, and going to pick up barbecue a few times.
Not filming, just kind of talking about her life.
And the things she was saying to me were not what I expected.
Her health deteriorated quickly towards the beginning of 2017.
But when we first started filming in early 2016, she was very feisty, very fun.
She had a wry sense of humor and was very charming.
Norma was always thrashing against that.
She wanted to be herself, and that meant subverting peoples expectations for better or worse.
I think she alienated some people … by not fitting into what they wanted.
I dont think all of these things are mutually exclusive.
Theyve got me out front and tell me what to say.
And I took their money.
Its a really interesting point that you raise.
Charlotte says when Norma was at a Georgetown University appearance, there was so much adulation.
That was something that was certainly intoxicating to her.
Were you surprised by her confession and what do you think her motivation was?I was shocked.
It was not what I expected to be the direction the film took.
She knew that she could tell her story, or somebody else could.
But I didnt ever expect her to say those things.
The people who knew Norma were very surprised she came out with it.
Particularly Rob Schenck, the Evangelical leader who was one of the chief figures at Operation Rescue.
I was surprised at his reaction.
He believes very strongly in the cathartic power of confession.
Heres somebody who had nothing to gain by admitting to all of this.
It takes incredible bravery to do that.
So those forms are from the organization that she established for which she was the only employee.
She could not be a lesbian.
All we know is what we see: that she made TV and other public appearances disavowing her sexuality.
[Its] incredibly sad and heartbreaking [because] she says in the film, I loved her.
I loved her with all my heart, and I wish I could see her.
When I think about the impact that would have on my life to have those conditions put upon me.
The most emotional moment is when we see the look on Connies face when Norma gets baptized.
She is so heartbroken.
It took me an incredibly long time to make the film.
Normas life was so complicated, and we had so many disparate elements that we had to get together.
It just took an incredibly long amount of time.
She lived a pretty hard life a sad life that had a lot of traumatic events.
She liked to drink and party and take drugs.
Being at the center of these huge issues are real people.
Norma was the plaintiff who fit the bill, and she was forever tethered to this huge issue.
Behind the symbolic case and divisive debate [was] an actual person.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
