Funny thing about grief

Michelle Williams talks about 'Dying for Sex's' close examination of female friendship and finding the humor in life's darkest moments

- Story by Lorena O'Neil

MICHELLE WILLIAMS MAY BE AN EMMY NOMINEE FOR HER lead role in "Dying for Sex," but she seems most excited to share the accolades with the other women on the project. "I'm just so proud of all the women!" Williams lifts her fists up and shakes them with enthusiasm. She starts to talk about how thrilled she is with the FX series being represented so broadly — it scored nine nominations, including acting, writing, directing and limited series — but she cuts herself off again to repeat in her sports announcer voice: The 44-year-old actor, who is chatting with me on a video call from her upstate New York home, her hair tied back, sporting a massive straw sun hat and denim overalls, will come back to the importance of female friendship in the course of our conversation. It's what initially drew her to "Dying for Sex." Based on the story of real-life best friends Molly Kochan and Nikki Boyer, who described how they navigated the end of Molly's life as she died from Stage 4 breast cancer in a hit podcast, the series depicts Molly leaving her husband in order to explore her intimate desires while managing the trauma of childhood sexual abuse.

Williams said she appreciated how the series explores allowing women to experience pleasure without shame. But above all, she was moved by the platonic love story between Nikki and Molly.

"I wanted to say something about how passionate [nonromantic] love can be between two women. I really wanted to embody that, because for me the women who — I don't want to cry," says Williams, tearing up as she refers to her closest friends, among them actor Busy Philipps. "Those have been the abiding loves of my life."