Michelle Williams is a great contradiction. She is an actress who appears in precious few movies, yet her presence and generosity in interviews are in stark contrast to the fact she's rarely got a film to plug.
And given she has been told to remain tight-lipped over her reprisal of the character Anna Weywing in the forthcoming Venom: Let There Be Carnage, it’s just as well the 40-year-old actress is willing to open up on the intricacies of the industry, on companionship and even motherhood, as we sit down for a conversation approached and respected by the Montana-born actress and singer with all the pleasantness and sincerity of royalty.
In short, it’s impossible not to like Michelle Williams. It’s hard to imagine a more gentle, soft-spoken, and endearing woman. She greets you with the same sweet smile that has endeared her to moviegoers in films ranging from Brokeback Mountain to Blue Valentine, My Week with Marilyn to Shutter Island, and on to Manchester by the Sea (which provided her with the most recent of her four Oscar nominations). Yet it's also plain that she is empathetic, and in the course of a conversation, she will run the gamut of emotions. But she's also pleased to tell you that she's gained a newfound sense of confidence and inner strength in recent years.
"When I was younger, I didn't have very much self-confidence, and I generally found it hard to have a particularly positive image of myself. Today, it's easier for me to feel good about the work I've done and the life I'm leading, and everything I've learned over the years has shown me that I have more strength than I ever dreamed I had."
Michelle Williams lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband Hamilton director Tommy Kail and her two children.
STRIPLV: Venom seems to have returned with a sequel that has pulled you out of what must have been a lovely place. Has it been easy to get back into work?
WILLIAMS: I think there's work, and there's work. I mean, I work every day. I work as a mother, as a creative, as someone who wants to make a nice home. I work on my own mental health. I think people sometimes assume that unless you’re there acting in blockbuster movies, you are in some way out of work, whereas the reality is you may well be busier than ever. I've always said it's very easy falling into a schedule when it's dictated to you. It actually takes much more craft and creativity when you are the schedule, when you are the person dictating things. I think Venom has come at the right time. Certainly, three years for a sequel feels right, and personally, it has been a thrill to go straight back into a big project and all that comes with it. I heard someone call me semi-retired the other day, and while that’s certainly not true, it’s fair to say it’s easy to get swept back into the momentum of things when you work on something like this.
STRIPLV: You seem to have busy periods and quiet periods in your career.
WILLIAMS: I think a big project a year is enough now. I am 40. I'm not 21. I've been doing this for all of my adult life, and I don't feel I have anything to prove. I also feel like moving aside for others is important. Although if you look at the ages of the main players in Venom, we are all almost the same age. With the exception of Woody (Harrelson), we’re all within three or four years of each other, and that feels great in a cast. You're all embarking on the same journey – there are no cast members who perhaps need to be guided or maybe come in with an attitude that puts them in the ascendancy. It's really good to have an equal dynamic on set. In fact, it's essential.
STRIPLV: What else makes Venom so appealing to come back to?
WILLIAMS: Sometimes, you just don't find those roles or stories that you find meaningful or where you feel you have some special connection to the character. I also have such a beautiful and comfortable life at home that I don't want to disturb my little world unless I feel very hungry about wanting to work on a film. Also, often there just aren't that many good roles available. It's not as if I'm constantly forced to choose between rubies and diamonds. So it can be very difficult to decide which film you're going to do next. I would rather wait for something I love. I just follow my heart.
STRIPLV: What motivates you to keep coming back? Is it the money?
WILLIAMS: No, never. I didn’t set out as an actress to make money, and very few do. I’m so boring and dull with money anyway, and I never want money I haven’t worked for, worked hard for. What kind of lesson is that for my children?
STRIPLV: But you are fortunate that you are very comfortable. More comfortable than most as a successful actress where you can spoil and make life very easy for your children.
WILLIAMS: Look, I'm a parent, I love my children, and I love to spoil them when I can. Or when I choose. As much as I love the look on Matilda's face, when I spoil her, it's also a disservice to her development, so I choose not to. It's hard, but it's better for her and who she is.
I want her to understand the value of money. I want her to work hard and understand the struggle it takes to sustain. When I was younger, I had no worth for money. I didn't value it. I didn't feel like any of my decisions were related. As I've gotten older, that's changed, and I now value security and independence, and freedom. That's what I want her to take on and appreciate and understand.
STRIPLV: Have you ever thought about quitting?
WILLIAMS: There are moments where I find it more difficult to find a balance between being a mother and being an actress. But I've been working in this business for such a long time that giving it up would probably be a shock for me. The way I work now is that I do just enough to make me happy and be financially secure. I also don't need to work that much to feel creatively fulfilled. I'm trying to do only films which allow me to come back home just in time to put Matilda to bed. Most of my life is separate from acting. I have a lot of good friends in New York, and I enjoy staying home a lot. I often hang out with other moms, and we're like a tribe. We're always asking each other questions about how we manage looking after our children, we look to each other for advice, and we feel this bond between us.
STRIPLV: You've often spoken about your love of motherhood. Is there any way for you to describe what the experience has meant to you?
WILLIAMS: Being a mom enables me to understand life. It hasn't just changed one thing for me; it's changed everything for me.
STRIPLV: This movie is a bit different from the norm for you, given that for a long time, you would specialize in playing sad or troubled women. Do you feel an affinity for those kinds of characters?
WILLIAMS: I don't necessarily need to go to emotional places that are painful, but it's the nature of an actor to look for work that is going to challenge you. Playing only what I already know and feel comfortable with would be boring.
STRIPLV: Is it true that you rarely watch your films?
WILLIAMS: (Smiles) If I do, it's usually late at night after I've had a couple of beers!
STRIPLV: When you look back at your early days in Los Angeles and your life now, how would you compare those two worlds?
WILLIAMS: When I left my family to live by myself in Los Angeles, I was confused by a lot of things, and I didn't really know who I was. I was struggling to keep on going and not let myself get overwhelmed by everything.
STRIPLV: What turned your life around?
WILLIAMS: Moving to New York helped me a lot. I really felt part of this incredibly creative world and all its energy. That was when I started to gain a greater sense of my own identity and develop more self-confidence. It didn't really all come together for me until my thirties.
STRIPLV: People still ask you questions about Jen Lindley in Dawson’s Creek. Are you aware of how important that performance remains for a lot of people?
WILLIAMS: Yes, I think for a certain generation, Dawson’s Creek was kind of milestone-like, they grew up with it during their developmental years alongside all of us, and it's really special.
STRIPLV: Would you ever consider going back to relive those times?
WILLIAMS: Well, she died in the end, so I don't know how that's going to work! (Laughs)