Michelle Williams stars in “Meek’s Cutoff,” a movie about a group of settlers travelling through the Oregon desert in 1845. During their journey they have to make some tough decisions as they search for water and are forced to deal with trusting each other amidst fear of the unknown.
Michelle Williams, who drops the N-bomb in the film, sat down with GlobalGrind to talk about how hard it was for her to say the racial slur, uplifting roles for women and much more. Check out the interview below.
Global Grind: This character was really strong and uplifting for women. Was that a conscious decision and how was it to play?
Michelle Williams: Kelly (Reichardt, the director) had sort of wondered early on how ahead of her time can she be. How modern can we get away with? Is there such a thing as a woman who did not really want kids? Is there such a thing as a woman who, let’s say like, married later than her friends and her sisters and maybe married a man who was older than she was? Is there such a thing as a woman who’s going to stand up when others are quiet?
And there were a few accounts on the trail of women making this journey solo, but they were treated as very suspicious characters. And you know obviously Emily is married in it, but the idea of when you can make the transition from being a watcher to being a participant. That was something, where as I think Wendy and Lucy was on her heels the whole time and kind of unable to stand up for herself or her situation, that Emily took some control in a way and a time that you wouldn’t normally expect a woman to.
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Global Grind: There was an interesting scene that caught our attention in the movie. The characters were working hard. In this one scene, you said, ”Here we are, working like ni**ers again.” That scene was really, really powerful. Was it difficult for you to say these things?
Michelle Williams: Tell me about it. That was the first thing that I said to Kelly. I said yeah, but you know we’re going to have to cut that. And she said, ‘No Michelle; it doesn’t mean that she is a bad person or that she’s even a racist. She is a product of her environment and her times. And if we are going to step outside the box in so many ways, we have to pin her to her.’ We can’t do it completely and it also shows the evolution that she makes. Somebody that initially starts out being afraid of somebody who is other or mysterious, finds herself at the end more willing to put her faith and her trust and literally her life in this man’s hand; whose experiences she does not share, whose language she does not share.
That day I think I said it so quietly because I just didn’t want to and she’s like, ‘We can’t hear you. I think you’re going to have to say that a little bit louder.’ But it was just like one of those days that you know it’s coming and it’s sort of looming in the distance and you’re going to have to do that thing or that scene or say that word or reveal this part of yourself. It’s just like you wake up in the morning like I have to go that thing today. I don’t want to do. Blah.
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Global Grind: What was your least pleasant moment on set?
Michelle Williams: I think, I felt like for the entire movie I had one weeping eye from the dust that was flying in. It was so annoying. I’m sure it seemed strenuous at the time and it was, but you know how in retrospect everything gets romanticized and I’d be back on that train in a second. What seemed hard then, seems like great fortune now. I remember being in a room that was just icy cold on the seventh day of the shooting and that continued for weeks, that was pretty tough. But also at the same time feeling like this is the work that I’ve always wanted to do and I get to make a movie with Kelly for the second time.
I guess also, but being able to make another movie with her, it’s like you get to re-experience, you get to have that sort of double gratitude thing. I find I wish I could go back to an experience in time and really be in it again to understand, to appreciate fully how important it was or how magical it was because I didn’t fully get it then. So this time I feel like I got to put in all that double gratitude on it. So being cold in an icy river, it hurts your body, but it’s not like hurting my insides.
Global Grind: Can you just reflect on the journey of going from “Dawson’s Creek” to Academy Award nominee?
Michelle Williams: It’s a long journey. (laughs) It’s a really long journey. I started out on that show when I was 16 and I’m 30 now. I just see it as like a series of choices with some luck or a lot of luck.
Global Grind: It’s a pretty amazing journey.
Michelle Williams: It is and I don’t feel fully responsible for it. I don’t know how I got here either. (laughs)
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Global Grind: Continuing on the topic of reflection, now that you’ve achieved these amazing things, where do you see your career going from here?
Michelle Williams: Hard to say because I never imagined myself here. I definitely don’t think of it as like an upward trajectory. I suppose I don’t, I’m not really much of a chess player or a forward planner. You know, I just try to take these decisions as they come and as they suit me and my family and my life in a sort of moment to moment situation. But, I felt like this over and over again. I just feel like I’m very happy with what I have and I can’t ask for any more.
Global Grind: If you can bring one modern gadget into that time. What would it be?
Michelle Williams: Oh, good question. I actually don’t think I would want to bring anything. But if I could like give to them?
Global Grind: Yeah.
Michelle Williams: Oh, a Mac. (laughs)
Global Grind: GPS, right!
Michelle Williams: (laughs) Exactly.
Global Grind: Do you have another film lined up?
Michelle Williams: No, I’m not working. I’m taking a little time off. I just made a lot of work in the last two years and I’m kind of ready to rest.
