Michelle Williams Remembers Heath Ledger: ‘Thank God There’s Matilda’
Celebrity relationships often burn fast, fade faster, and sometimes end up in a messy divorce. However, there are those rare times when two actors aren’t made to be together, but…
Celebrity relationships often burn fast, fade faster, and sometimes end up in a messy divorce. However, there are those rare times when two actors aren’t made to be together, but they still manage to have respect and love for one another. Case in point, Michelle Williams and Heath Ledger, one of Hollywood’s most poignant “what ifs.” Nearly two decades after his tragic passing, Williams is opening up again, not just about Ledger, but also about the beautiful legacy he left behind: their daughter, Matilda.
Michelle Williams: “Thank God There’s Matilda”
In a recent appearance with Dax Shepard’s podcast, Armchair Expert (via E! News), Williams and Shepard talked about what they remembered most about the talented actor who’s gone too soon. Shepard said, “I feel obligated to say that I knew him a little bit when he was getting sober. I can feel the weight of the world on him in a very special way that kind of broke my heart. I was very, very sad, and I thought he was just so special.”
Williams shared his sentiment, “So special, so special. Thank God there’s Matilda.”
The podcaster also said that Ledger's is “this heart here that’s just leaking out of everywhere,” to which Williams replied, “Yeah, an incredible sensitivity.”
A Whirlwind Love Affair
The Shutter Island actress reflected on her relationship with Ledger and how she remembers it all as a “whirlwind.” She shared, “We had a baby, but I suppose maybe it's a good thing about being young is that you don't have so much life experience that you can contextualize things. So, you're really just going with the flow.”
Williams is not only a mother to Matilda, who is now 19 years old, but also to three other kids with her husband, Thomas Kail, a director. She said of motherhood, “Kids are such great life checkers. They force you to put your best self in front of them. You can’t abdicate your life and your work and your own desires, but you do have to put them in check and figure out which master you’re going to serve.”
She also gave some insights on how to balance being a mother and an actor, and the secret is “to allow for that give and take, but then also replenish the other things.”
Williams currently stars in Hulu’s Dying for Sex, where she plays Molly, a woman diagnosed with terminal cancer.
