Michelle Williams channels Marilyn Monroe

LOS ANGELES—Nothing prepared us for the bravura performance of Michelle Williams as Marilyn Monroe in “My Week with Marilyn.” Not only does Michelle capture the essence of the original blonde bombshell; she also sings a la Monroe and does a very good job.

“My Week” is based on two books by Colin Clark, who was a young man (played by Eddie Redmayne) when the American sex symbol went to Britain to shoot “The Prince and the Showgirl” in the 1950s with the great Laurence Olivier (a wonderful Kenneth Branagh). After her husband, playwright Arthur Miller (Dougray Scott), returns to the US, Marilyn is escorted around by Colin, a production assistant whose memoirs of that week fuel this entertaining film, directed by Simon Curtis.

A scene in the movie made us recall Meryl Streep telling us her initial nervousness on her first day of rehearsals for “The Iron Lady” in London as she was surrounded by British thespians. Marilyn felt the same dread on the set of “The Prince…” with Olivier, Dame Sybil Thorndike (the great Judi Dench) and other London actors. Julia Ormond (as Vivien Leigh), Zoe Wanamaker (Paula Strasberg, Monroe’s acting coach and confidante, who was Lee Strasberg’s wife), Emma Watson, Toby Jones and Dominic Cooper also star.

Michelle and Kenneth are nominated for Golden Globe acting honors for their performances in the movie. Below are excerpts of our interview with Michelle, who is raising Matilda, her daughter with the late Heath Ledger.

What about Marilyn Monroe stayed with you?

One would think that when you’re playing Marilyn Monroe, you’d feel like a goddess all the time. But, that was all armature—three hours on the hair and make-up chair, plucking my eyebrows to look more like hers, bleaching my hair so that it matches the wig, and gaining weight. So, when all of that came off at night, I felt like an in-between person. I didn’t feel quite like myself—and, I also didn’t feel quite like her. Her glee, giddiness and the more lustful aspects of her—that’s what struck me more than anything.

Why do you think the more famous Marilyn Monroe got, the more insecure she was?

I think it was a combination of things and the possibility of mental illness. She had built something she couldn’t get out of, this character Marilyn Monroe that she’d developed and which initially got her exactly what she was looking for—love, connection, praise, a place to belong in the world. She realized that she had built herself a kind of prison. She wanted to be seen as a full human being, not a sex object—but, she couldn’t break free of it, because people were so attached to it.

Failed marriages

She also lived at a different time than we do now. The studio system demanded that you play the same role over and over to satisfy the appetite of the audience. When she was in her 30s, she wanted to take a break from it. She wanted to be considered a real artist. She married  Arthur Miller, wanted to be taken seriously, studied more—but, she couldn’t break free of what she had created. Toward the end of her life, with her dependency on pills, drugs and the fact that she was beginning to age, something was starting to slip away from her. She had two failed marriages. She couldn’t make anybody stay!

What about you? How’s your own support system?

When I am not at work, we’re a fully functioning family of two. But, when I’m working, it requires a lot of support. We have a remarkable babysitter.

Why do you think Monroe had such low self-esteem?

Zero. She was raised essentially without a mother and a father. No father would claim her. Her mother was in and out of mental institutions. She was raised by aunts and distant relatives. At 15 or 16, she was married to avoid becoming a ward of the state. Had she not married, she would have gone back into the system, so these intense relationships were all a substitute kind of family. But, people would tire of it because her need was bottomless.

You sing like Monroe, as well, in the movie. How did you prepare?

I’m not a singer. I have not been trained. But, when I was a kid, I did musical theater. It was my first love. For those musical numbers, a team was assembled—choreographers, an arranger, and a pianist who also guided me vocally. We got together eight hours a day for a long stretch of time. They rehearsed me. They turned me into a singer and a dancer!

Why do you think Monroe attracted so many people?

She was so many things. So, she defies description. She was all these things that are starting to be revealed. I hope they become more wrapped up in the public consciousness of who she was, that she’s allowed to go beyond the representation of physical perfection. That her soul is allowed to surface.

What impact did Arthur Miller have in her life?

When she married Arthur Miller, I think she thought she would settle down and live a quieter life, that she would have a family. Maybe one of the most tragic aspects of her life was that she wasn’t able to have kids.

Arthur Miller gave Marilyn courage to take on this new identity of a New York intellectual and a serious actress. The first time he met her, he said, ‘You should do stage.’ Nobody had ever said that to Marilyn Monroe. He wrote “The Misfits” for her.

While they were together, Miller didn’t write a single thing for six years. He produced no new material other than “The Misfits,” written for her to give her the shot that he thought she deserved—to let her show another side.

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