Fame and Celebrity: Michelle Williams, you're doing it right

I won't go on a long babblefest about our nations obsession with fame and celebrity. I could go on forever about it. There are some celebrities who try and lead as normal a life as they can. Sometimes for their own benefit and sometimes for that of their children. Michelle Williams, who most remember as Jen from Dawson's Creek, is one of those 'private' celebrities. She always seems so fragile in interviews. As though one question could break her. When Heath Ledger passed, the cameras were all on her and little Matilda; their daughter. She's been nominated for an Oscar twice. Once for Brokeback Mountain (which Ledger starred in) and for Blue Valentine. She's become one of the finest actresses of my generation.

This post isn't going to delve into her life, career, or psyche. I read an interview that appears in the latest GQ. It's great and I encourage you to read it, IF you enjoy her work. I just wanted to share one excerpt from the interview below:

There is a question I have been wanting to understand the answer to, but have been feeling that I simply can't ask. Eventually I just ask it anyway:

Do you think there was a part of you that imagined the two of you would somehow end up together?

Immediately, I wish that I hadn't. The look on her face—a kind of juddering visceral alarm at what has been said...I don't wish to see that look many more times in my life. "That would make me way too sad to answer," she says quickly, and I hurriedly begin another question, about something completely different, hoping that if I say it fast enough these new words will chase the old words away from where they are hanging in the air between us, and maybe she will let me pretend that it was something I never said.

"No, no," she says, and I can see the tears forming, and I think she means that she doesn't want to answer any more questions about anything. I mutter some kind of apology under my breath.

But, even now, I'm wrong about everything. Mostly she is just trying to stop my new question. She has something to tell me.

"No," she says. "I said it would make me too sad to answer but it's also..."—and she nods even as her voice breaks once more with tears—"...one of my favorite things to imagine." And through the tears, a beaming, almost beatific smile stretches room-wide across her face. "It's actually one of my favorite places to visit."

You can read more here. You can also see some stunning pictures of her from the photo shoot. I like that quote/exchange because it shows an amazing spirit. Not only did she lose someone she loved, she had to deal with it for all of the fame/celebrity crazed world to see. She seems to be doing ok with it. I just enjoyed the article and thought I'd share it. Maybe it will help someone deal with their loss.

That is all.

-D