Michelle Williams brings own perspective to motherhood roles
NEW YORK – Michelle Williams is just as obsessed with “Fleabag” as you are. “‘Fleabaaag! Fleabaaaaag!’ I think we’re all living for ‘Fleabag’ at the moment,” says the actress, who’s a fan of the Emmy-nominated Amazon comedy. “I look forward to accosting (creator/star Phoebe Waller-bridge) at the Emmys.”
A four-time Oscar nominee, Williams, 38, earned her first Emmy nods for executive producing and starring in FX miniseries “Fosse/verdon,” in which she plays Broadway legend Gwen Verdon, the often-overlooked wife and muse of choreographer Bob Fosse. The former “Dawson’s Creek” star says she celebrated the honor modestly with Matilda, 13, her daughter with the late Heath Ledger.
“My kid hugged me and said she’s proud of me, and nothing really touches that.”
Motherhood is at the center of Williams’ new film “After the Wedding” (in theaters in New York and Los Angeles, expanding to 200 theaters nationwide throughout August). She plays Isabel, a reticent manager of an orphanage in India who’s summoned to New York by a wealthy benefactor named Theresa (Julianne Moore). But melodrama ensues when Isabel learns that Theresa’s daughter Grace (Abby Quinn) is the child she gave up for adoption, and Theresa’s husband (Billy Crudup) is her former flame.
The gender-flipped movie is adapted from a 2006 Danish drama of the same name, which centered on two men who learn they share the same daughter and ex. But Williams believes that the female perspective raises the stakes. “I’m playing somebody who’s lived for 20 years with this absence and this mystery,” Williams says. “I did a lot of research because there’s a lot of material written by women who have been put in this situation, and they talk about their enduring connection and sadness (over their child).”
As a mom, Williams can sometimes relate to Isabel’s feelings of ineptitude as a parent to Grace, whom she reconnects with as an adult.
“Being a mother is my primary identity, and it relates to everything I see and do and think,” Williams says.