Michelle Williams Brings Grit And Gravity

One of the most poignant performers of her generation, Michelle Williams has brought grit and gravity to a variety of heartbreaking roles. She returns in awards favourite Manchester By The Sea, a potent reminder of just how good she really is. Total Film meets the softly spoken powerhouse.

- Matt Maytum

"To be totally candid, I haven’t seen the movie yet,” Michelle Williams tells Total Film the first time we meet to discuss Manchester By The Sea. We’re at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2016, where the film has played to another round of critical adulation, with three time Oscar nominee Williams’ supporting performance highlighted for significant praise. The film sees her play Randi, the ex-wife of grief-stricken janitor Lee (Casey Affleck), who finds himself back in his home town of the title to care for his nephew following his brother’s death.

It’s a raw, authentic meditation on grief, and not one Williams relishes watching back. “I’ll enjoy watching Casey, and what Kenny [Lonergan, writer/director] was doing with his camera,” she says, in a breathy whisper. “But to me, the outcome isn’t the thing. I’d be perfectly happy to go from experience to experience and never have them out there. I’m just here for the learning, and watching myself has never been the best way for me to learn. That’s just the way for me to beat up on myself.”

Williams has something of an ethereal quality, and it’s not just because of her platinum crop and pixie-perfect features; she speaks in hushed, measured tones with a wisdom far beyond her 36 years. When we catch up on the next leg of Manchester’s tour – at the London Film Festival in October – she’s more lively, greeting TF by checking, “Would you vote for Trump?” Answering “Hell no!” allows us into the suite at the Corinthia Hotel to continue the interview (“I still haven’t seen it,” she admits). Pouring TF a glass of water, she seems upbeat, but has a tendency to withdraw into her thoughts, and trail off midway through an answer.