Michelle Williams reflected on her tough time playing Marilyn Monroe (Pictures: AP / Rex)
Michelle Williams has opened up about her tough experience starring as Marilyn Monroe, describing the process as ‘excruciating’.
The 42-year-old portrayed the Hollywood icon in the film, My Week With Marilyn, alongside Kenneth Branagh, Emma Watson and Eddie Redmayne, and was met with huge acclaim at the time.
She went on to land an Oscar nomination for best actress, and took home the Golden Globe for the 2011 flick.
However, during a Q&A and screening of The Fabelmans at 92NY in New York – where she was joined by screenwriter Tony Kushner – the Dawson’s Creek icon admitted that it was tough behind the scenes.
Discussing how she prepares for projects, the mom-of-three began: ‘I think of it as architecture. You’re building the architecture, you have to get the bones and the heart of the matter.
‘The first part of the prep is this scaffolding, and then you’re trying to figure out how to breathe through it.’
Michelle was met with huge praise for the 2011 role (Picture: Rex)
She went on to win a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Oscar (Picture: Rex)
When asked if the ‘scaffolding’ is more complex when she is playing someone who ‘really did walk’, such as Mitzi Fabelman or Monroe, Williams continued: ‘It’s different. When I played Marilyn, it really took my head off my body because I just didn’t know what I was doing.
‘It was so excruciating, because I had never had to learn how to break myself and then remake myself in somebody else’s form. I’ve lived however many years, at that point I was 30, I’d accumulated 30 years of habits and tendencies.
‘I had to rid myself those and it was so painful, and then remake myself in somebody’s image. There was a lot of really hard learning, I cried every day I left that set.
Michelle appeared at 92NY on Thursday for a Fabelmans screening and Q&A (Picture: AP)
She has been tipped for Oscars success for her portrayal of Mitzi Fabelman (Picture: Universal)
‘But at the end of it, I thought, “Okay, I know a few things and I would like to carry this forward.” It became easier the next time, and easier the next time.’
Williams had a completely different experience while taking on the role of the Fabelman matriarch – which she has also nabbed an Oscar nod for – confessing that she actually found it tough to walk away from the project at the end of filming.
‘I had a really hard time leaving this movie,’ she added. ‘I was messed up. I was just like, I love this woman, I love these people. I cried so hard when we wrapped our last scene that Tony came up to me and said, “What happened?!”
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‘I was so affected by it. I just couldn’t really shake it, honestly. And I still feel very emotional when I see you [Tony], when I see Steven [Spielberg]…
‘I just feel drawn to that time when we shared that space.’
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‘There was a lot of really hard learning.’