Monroe was open about feeling a paternal draw toward her costar before she ever met him

NEED TO KNOW

• Marilyn Monroe got the opportunity to work alongside idol Clark Gable in what would be both actors’ final film, 1961’s The Misfits
• The film came out three months after Gable’s death at age 59
• Photographer Eve Arnold captured Monroe on the set of the film, with grandson Michael Arnold telling PEOPLE about the bond between the two female pros and what Eve saw from the actress on her final film set

Marilyn Monroe attached herself to people throughout her life in pursuit of the feeling of family.

PEOPLE spoke with Michael Arnold, grandson of photographer Eve Arnold, about the connection between the artist and her subject. Michael says he's particularly proud to see how Eve's collection of photos "speak to really special moments."

Arnold's photos of the late icon show a vulnerable and more relaxed side of the star. The two also formed a different kind of camaraderie as women working toward the top of their respective industries.

"Both the film industry and the photography world are very much male-dominated, and I think both of them were like fighting to find their corner and to make it in this male-dominated world, and each in their own way. I think they probably kind of bonded over that fact as well," Michael shares.

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Of Monroe, he continued, "She studied the great actors and actresses from the '20s, '30s, and '40s, and she studied this way of walking and this way of talking that was kind of magnetic to people, and I think Eve was also fascinated by that. And Eve said, for example, that Monroe would say to her, 'Let's make a Marilyn.' "

Some of the most striking photos in Arnold's collection featured in the book are of Monroe on the set of The Misfits, which would be her final film. One shot shows the actress carefully studying her lines as a boom mic is perched over her.

"What she's doing there is she's learning her lines that there's a really important scene. It's like the final scene in The Misfits," Michael explained. "This is like her big scene that Arthur Miller had written for her, and she was dreadfully nervous because she was actually acting alongside. Clark Gable, who was her childhood hero."

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"She used to have these dreams that he would come to the orphanage. He was like a kind of father figure to her. So she was nervous, and a lot of lines would be changed throughout the filming. Other actors would just rattle them off as if nothing had changed, and Monroe felt that she wasn't able to be such a polished actor, particularly as she was really struggling mentally and emotionally."

He continued, "You can kind of see her real focus and concentration, where she's learning her lines. It's very different, as you say, than the very glamorized photos that you often see of Monroe."

In 1960, Monroe spoke about her connection with Gable in an interview with Marie Claire. "I'm sure he wouldn't mind if I say it, because in a Freudian sense it's supposed to be very good… I used to think of him as my father," Monroe said.

She explained, "I'd pretend he was my father. I never pretended anyone was my mother, I don't know why – but I always pretended he was my father."

Monroe also reflected on connecting with Gable in a Feb. 1961 interview with Family Circle, which came just three months after the actor's death at age 59. Discussing what he meant to her, she said, "I always thought some day when Clark and Kay were sitting together—some relaxed time—I'd be able to tell him. I don't know how he would have reacted if he had known how important he had been to me all those years."

She continued, "I think he would have understood. That was a wonderful thing about Clark. He understood me. I don't know why. He cared about everything. I think he knew that I cared, too.”

Marilyn Monroe 100: The Official Centenary Publication from ACC Art Books is now available, wherever books are sold.

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