Photo: Amy Sussman/Getty
The success ofBrokeback Mountainwas overwhelming forMichelle Williams.
During an appearance onSunday Sitdown with Willie Geist, the actress, 42, recalled how landing her first Oscar nomination for her work in the 2005 drama left her “a little bit frozen for a moment, creatively” as to where to go in her career from there.
“It was really unnerving after that,” said Williams, who was just 25 at the time of her Best Supporting Actress nomination for her role as Alma Beers Del Mar, the wife of the lateHeath Ledger’s character. “Like, what do you do? What do you do next?”
“I never really had attention on me before in that kind of a way, and I think that that attention can be sort of destabilizing,” continued Williams, explaining that “before that, I didn’t think anybody was really paying attention or really cared that much” about the work she was doing. “Now it feels like, ‘Well, people are watching. What if I make a mistake?’ That’s really scary. What would happen to me?”
Michelle Williams in Brokeback Mountain.Focus Films/Everett Collection
Williams became a household name through her work onDawson’s Creek, which she starred in from 1998-2003. The teen soap lead to a number of big screen movies, likeHalloween H20: 20 Years Later,DickandProzac Nation.
ButBrokeback Mountain— which starredJake Gyllenhaaland Ledger, Williams' late partner with whom she shares daughter Matilda, 17 — catapulted Williams into a new category, cementing her as a dramatic actress draw. The film was nominated for eight Oscars and won three at the 2006 ceremony, including Best Director, Best Original Score and Best Adapted Screenplay.
Gyllenhaal and Ledger were also nominated for their roles as Jack Twist and Ennis Del Mar respectively.
SinceBrokeback Mountain, Williams has been nominated for an Oscar four other times — in 2011 forBlue Valentine, 2012 forMy Week with Marilyn, 2017 forManchester By The Seaandat this year’s ceremonyforThe Fabelmans.
Michelle Williams at the 2023 Oscars.Mike Coppola/Getty
The Fabelmans(2022).Merie Weismiller Wallace/Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment
Williams — who ultimately lost out on theBest Actress award to Michelle Yeoh— told PEOPLE last month of where she waswhen she found out about her fifth nomination, “I was at home. It was a school morning, so I was getting the kids ready to go and then got the news and took a little break lying down on the floor.” She continued, “And then I got back up, and got everybody out.”
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She added of the nomination and role, which saw her play Mitzi,a character based on Steven Spielberg’s mother, “My gosh, it means so much to me. It means so much to me to have been asked to make this movie with Steven Spielberg, and to play his mother, who he loved very, very much. It’s beyond a dream come true. It’s really like the honor of a lifetime.”
Sunday Sitdown with Willie Geistis streaming now wherever podcasts are found.
source: people.com
