Natalie Wood drowned during a weekend boat trip in 1981, when she was 43. The iconic actress’ death has always been shrouded in mystery: How did she end up overboard? Were the yacht’s other passengers — her husband Robert Wagner, Christopher Walken, and the captain — involved in some way?

“There’s been so much focus on how she died that it’s overshadowed who she was as a person,” Wood’s daughter Natasha Gregson Wagner says in the trailer for “Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind.” While the HBO doc does spend time on her death, it’s mainly dedicated to telling the story of her life.

Wood acted from a very young age, eventually becoming one of Hollywood’s biggest stars (her daughter Courtney Brooke Wagner describes her as “this mythology character”), and so was in a unique position in show biz: she had more autonomy than most of her female counterparts, but still was largely at the mercy of the studios.

“The studio system controlled everything in her life,” an interviewee says in the spot. In an archival clip, Wood herself reveals she “did get the right to choose [to act in] ‘West Side Story.'” A commentator explains, “She was one of the few women that had that power,” suggesting that not many other actresses had a say in their own careers.

Featuring interviews with Wood’s friends and colleagues, such as Mia Farrow and Robert Redford, “What Remains Behind” also sees her daughters and Robert Wagner considering re-opening the investigation into her death.

Wood received Oscar nominations for “Rebel Without a Cause,” “Splendor in the Grass,” and “Love with the Proper Stranger.” She won Golden Globes for the former and miniseries “From Here to Eternity,” and also took home a special Globe, the Henrietta Award for World Film Favorite – Female. “Gypsy,” “Miracle on 34th Street,” and “Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice” are among her best-known credits.

“Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind” premieres May 5 on HBO.