Michelle Williams: MSN Interview

Michelle Williams, who rose to fame on the TV hit Dawson's Creek, is still coping with the death of ex-boyfriend Heath Ledger, the father of her young daughter, Matilda Rose.

 

But in the midst of her grief, she's found new challenges. In Wendy and Lucy, coming to UK cinemas on March 6, Michelle plays Wendy, a young woman trying to start a new life after bad breaks leaves her penniless and alone.

 

On the first anniversary of Heath’s untimely death at 28 years old, Michelle talks about her struggle with celebrity status.

 

How did you feel about playing someone whose life is hitting rock bottom?
I kind of grew up with the idea that, 'You're an American. Pull yourself up by your bootstraps. Put your nose to the grindstone. With a little hard work, you're going to come out on top, kid.'  That was definitely passed on in my family. But as I got out into the world, I saw the inequality, I saw that it wasn't true at all, especially when you hit a string of bad luck like Wendy does. And there are a lot of people like her in these tough times we're facing.

 

Heath Ledger tribute

Can you imagine being as alone and without friends as your character, Wendy, is?
I do sometimes wish that I could live with less attention, but not being totally ignored by the world. It's very wearing to be a celebrity. I wonder if people are going to follow me or if someone is going to pop out of nowhere with a camera. I get very angry but I'm trying not to let it stop me from living. You're sort of straddling that fine line between being kind and courteous and everything that your mother raised you to be to strangers that come up and refuse to respect your privacy.

Is acting getting easier for you?     
I still have to put up a fight to get the environment right on the set when I'm acting, and, as a woman, it's hard to do. You're taught to be polite and quiet so that nobody will think that you're difficult. When I worked with Philip Seymour Hoffman on Synecdoche, New York (in UK cinemas in May), I saw him get really militant about keeping people out of his eye line. I thought, 'Gosh, I've always felt like that, but I've been too shy to really say anything.' And so when you see somebody else do it and still be respected, it makes you go, 'Well, I'm going to try it too.'
 
Any regrets about leaving your parents behind and heading for LA. when you were just 15?
I got so much flack for that. But I don't think that there's really any use in looking back. Because what's done is done for good or for bad. I am thankful for all of it because it's put me in a place in my life that I am happy. 
 

Do you ever wish you'd finished high school?
I went to my first year and I was like the really oddball new girl. I spent a lot of lunches in a bathroom stall kind of hiding out. I can't even imagine what kind of a person I'd be or how happy I would be had I done the normal four years and had a boyfriend and was a cheerleader or something.

 

Weren't you ever afraid of being alone in Hollywood as a teenager?
Hindsight. Isn't it great? The risks of going into LA. at such an early age are huge. At the time, I was invincible. I thought I was on top of the world. I didn't realise what I was doing. But I wouldn't trade any of those experiences for anything in the world. I am who I am because of them. I had a lot of growing up to do and it was slammed into a couple of short years. I did stupid, crazy things. But those stupid crazy things prepared me to deal with future.
 
What's guiding you now?
I think that, above all, it would be perseverance. I can't really be objective, but the one thing that I've always had is an incredible amount of determination. And I guess it's innate within everybody. It's just a survival skill.

Heath Ledger tribute

More interviews at Parade.com