Michelle Williams Celebrates How ‘Brave’ Her ‘Brokeback Mountain’ Co-Stars Were
Michelle Williams is an actor that has earned acclaim for her fearlessness and talent. She’s tackled a wide variety of roles that call for her to dig deep within herself, accessing tough emotions and displaying them onscreen.
Still, Williams is nothing if not generous, and she often looks for opportunities to praise her co-stars over herself.
In a recent video interview with Vanity Fair, Williams recounted one of her earliest feature film roles, recalling her experience on Brokeback Mountain and detailing why she thinks that her co-stars were incredibly “brave.”
What role did Michelle Williams have in ‘Brokeback Mountain’?
Williams first rose to fame for her work in the TV series Dawson’s Creek. She acted in the cult classic TV series throughout the early 2000s before breaking out to act in a series of independent and low-key film roles, including Me Without You and Prozac Nation.
Even as Williams was making a name for herself as a star of independent productions, she landed her big breakout role in Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain. In Brokeback Mountain, Williams plays Alma Beers, a young woman who is married to Ennis, a man secretly involved in a homosexual relationship.
Set in the ’60s, the film deals with the oppression that LGBTQ people faced at the time – and as Ennis’ wife, Williams is at the center of many of the film’s most complex emotional scenes, including a shattering moment when she confronts her husband about his affair.
Michelle Williams opened up about the ‘bravery’ of her ‘Brokeback Mountain’ co-stars
Brokeback Mountain was a controversial film when it was released in 2005, making waves with fans and critics all around the world. While stars Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal were at the center of the media spotlight for their roles as star-crossed lovers, Williams earned praise for her work in the film as well.
These days, Williams still considers the film to be extremely important. As she revealed to Vanity Fair, “My experience maybe is that the perception that the film could change was for men to see themselves in love with each other,” the actor said.
“That that was a perception, that that love, I think, offered a kind of self-love that hadn’t been given to them in cinema before.” Williams went on to praise Ledger and Gyllenhaal, telling Vanity Fair:
“I think that what the two boys did was at the time incredibly brave. And maybe even now still would be considered brave. I don’t know. But I know that that wasn’t really on my shoulders … like in the way that it was on theirs.”
‘Brokeback Mountain’ is considered to be a groundbreaking film
From the moment it was released, Brokeback Mountain garnered a lot of praise. The film received multiple Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director. It also received seven Golden Globe nominations, winning four of the seven nominations, according to IMDb.
For stars Ledger and Gyllenhaal, it was a career-defining film. Ledger, who had previously been known as a Hollywood heartthrob, was able to show critics that he was a fearless actor in addition to being a talented one. Brokeback Mountain is still widely considered to be a movie of profound historical and cultural significance.
This film highlighted a love story that was rarely told in Hollywood. As for Williams, it is clear that she still considers the movie to be one of the true highlights of her film career.
