How Michelle Found Love Again

32 IN TOUCH AUGUST 13, 2018 A decade after Heath Ledger’s tragic death, Michelle Williams finally moves on with a musician who suffered a similar loss

Michelle Williams has been keeping a big secret. In July, the actress quietly married Mount Eerie frontman Phil Elverum — a respected indie-rock musician no one even knew she was dating — in what an insider tells In Touch was “a casual and beautiful” ceremony in the Adirondack Mountains witnessed by only a few friends. “Michelle’s 12-yearold daughter, Matilda, and Phil’s 3-year-old daughter, Agathe, were an important part of their special day,” adds the insider. “Michelle has never been happier.”

It’s the second chance she’s longed for. The incredibly private actress has spent the last decade raising her daughter as a single mom after losing the great love of her life, Heath Ledger, to a drug overdose in 2008. Last year, a mutual friend introduced Michelle, 37, to Phil, 40, who’s also suffered unspeakable loss: his wife, illustrator-musician Geneviève Castrée, died after a battle with stage 4 pancreatic cancer in 2016 when their daughter was just 18 months old. Michelle and Phil quickly forged a relationship she describes as “very sacred and very special.” Though reluctant to talk about her new husband too much, a besotted Michelle ultimately revealed their elopement in a Vanity Fair cover story published on July 26. “I never gave up on love,” she explained. “Obviously I’ve never once in my life talked about a relationship. But Phil isn’t anyone else. And that’s worth something. I am finally loved by someone who makes me feel free.”

DEEP BOND

Phil and his daughter just moved in with Michelle and Matilda in Brooklyn this summer after driving cross-country from their home in Anacortes, Wash. The couple “met through a friend in the music and art scene who thought they’d make a great match, and boy, was she spoton,” says the insider, who believes the pair have been together for nearly a year. (Michelle, who famously dated actor Jason Segel and director Spike Jonze after Heath’s death, was most recently linked to NYC financier Andrew Youmans, whom she was photographed kissing in Italy last summer). “They have the same sensibilities and taste — she’s very low-key and bohemian, and Phil is the same,” adds the insider. “They love the same films and art and music.”

The most important people in her life are thrilled they’ve found one another. “Matilda adores Phil and his daughter and is really enjoying the new role of big sister,” says the insider. As do her other loved ones, including BFF Busy Philipps, who posted a photo of herself alongside Phil, her hus- band, Marc Silverstein, and her kids at LA’S March for Our Lives on Instagram back in March. “Most of Michelle’s friends have met Phil,” notes the insider, “and they all approve.”

Michelle said she decided to open up about Phil to help anyone who’s “struggled as much as I struggled,” urging them never to settle for less than true love. She certainly didn’t. “Michelle and Phil,” says the insider, “are truly happy.” ◼