The actor is putting all her experiences into an Oscar-nominated turn as the director’s formidable mother. She talks about the dramatic changes she’s witnessed in Hollywood and beyond
Michelle Williams is apologising for the camera angle. She’s cross-legged on a bed and her iPhone keeps slipping down the pillows. Sometimes all I see is the duvet, sometimes something more mysterious. “It’s hard to find a place to put this,” she says. “I don’t want to breastfeed you.”
It’s 7am in Palm Springs, California. Last night, Williams was at a film gala. This morning, she’s been up for two hours already. “I thought I would be super-accomplished and do this before he [the baby] woke, but he’s jet-lagged and already woke at five.” Williams’ son was born last October; his brother, Hart, is two-and-a-half. Their father is Williams’ husband, the director Thomas Kail; she also has a 17-year-old, Matilda, from her relationship with the actor Heath Ledger.
