🎧 Michelle Williams on Producing With Empathy — and ‘Dying for Sex’The five-time Oscar nominee on her dual role as star and EP, reimagining the audition process and finding humanity in a life-and-death story
Subscribe on Apple PodcastsMichelle Williams knows what she wants her sets to feel like, and she’s had a long time to figure it out. The Emmy winner started her acting career as a teenager and has made everything from Oscar-nominated classics like Brokeback Mountain and Manchester by the Sea (earning five acting nominations herself in the process, including for both of those movies) to action spectacles (like, yes, seriously, Venom). She knows more or less every version of what a film or TV set can be like. Which is why it’s so surprising, to me at least, that Williams has been credited as an executive producer only three times: First on the 2010 feature Blue Valentine, then on her Emmy-nominated limited series FX’s Fosse/Verdon (2019) and now on this year’s Dying For Sex, also on FX. Combined, the shows have netted Williams four Emmy nominations and a best actress victory for Fosse/Verdon — one she could replicate next month at the Emmys. “In some ways, it can be so healing when you get to have the opposite experience of what you’re used to,” Williams, 44, tells me on this week’s episode of the Prestige Junkie podcast. She’s talking specifically about the process of auditioning Jenny Slate to play her onscreen best friend in the series. “I’m very used to sitting in Jenny’s chair. I know what that feels like. So now, if I’m in this chair, how can I build a better room? How can I build a room that I would have liked to walk into when I was auditioning?”
Dying for Sex, one of my absolute favorite shows of the year, features one of Williams’ all-time great performances, which is really saying something. Based on a true story and the Wondery podcast that emerged from it, the show follows Williams’ Molly as she responds to a terminal cancer diagnosis by going on a major journey of sexual discovery — and leaning on her best friend, played by Slate, in the process. It was a role that required Williams to work for the first time with an intimacy coordinator, a job she compared to an “on-set therapist.” I asked her about that process, what surprised and even shocked her about the show and what it means to finally have power behind the scenes. Hear all that and much more on today’s episode of the podcast, which also includes part 3 of our fall preview series. David Sims returns to join me and break down the major studios’ Oscar hopes, which begin with Warner Bros. hit Sinners but certainly don’t end there. As a reminder, paid subscribers to Prestige Junkie After Party can watch the full video version of my interview with Williams and the fall preview, plus all of our other podcasts. There’s more, too: Prestige Junkie After Party subscribers gain access to bonus episodes (like the fall festival draft happening on Friday; you don’t want to miss it), Substack Lives, call-in shows and much more. Join us!
Got a tip or story pitch? Email tips@theankler.com. ICYMI from The AnklerHow-To H’wood: The Blood Sport of Asking for a Favor In the marketplace of asks lurks danger and payback. Part 1 of Richard Rushfield’s four-day series with top names on outsmarting Hollywood’s dysfunction ‘What’s Ethical AI?’: The AI CEO Netflix, A24 & Disney Rely On (But Can’t Control) Runway CEO Cristóbal Valenzuela tells Erik Barmack regulation will ‘stifle’ innovation, and he won't put the genie back in the bottle: ‘You take the responsibility’ The Exec Behind The Studio on Selling Comedy, Originals & Who Gets First Looks Lionsgate’s Scott Herbst had four bids on Seth Rogen’s series, and reveals the one word driving today’s market PSKY, Welcome to Wall St: Analysts Warn of ‘Risk Running This Into the Ground’ They tell Claire Atkinson their worries on Day 1 of the company’s trading on NASDAQ Starz’s New Strategy: Make More, Own More, Go Where the Giants Won’t Scoop! Top execs Alison Hoffman & Kathryn Busby reveal to Lesley Goldberg their post-Lionsgate plan for the first time Brad Pitt’s F1 Jacket Was a $40M Ad Play. Want In? Here’s the New Playbook Hollywood’s top brand whisperers tell Ashley Cullins how integrations are helping finance production and marketing 🎬 Naked Gun, 90-Min. Movies & Hard Truths About Comedy Neglect In Richard’s new Rushfield Rants series: The first big LOL launch in ages means crowd pleasers must return in a genre Hollywood left for dead The TV Shows Disney+, Disney Channel Want Now Pilots are back and more market changes at the Mouse House, Elaine Low reports
Jamie Lee Curtis’ Epic 2025: Freakier, Louder, Stronger The Oscar and Emmy winner just had her biggest opening in years, Katey Rich writes, and is an OG influencer for her fellow actors Documentary is ‘Meeting the Moment.’ Now Distributors Need to Step Up TIFF programmer Thom Powers tells Katey about his slate of top nonfiction films 🎬 Sean & Chris: Another Victory for Mike & Pam as Weapons Hits Big Plus: Why this has been the summer of mid 🎧 Apple’s F1 Brand Slam & Disney+’s Streaming Shakeups Yes, Brad Pitt will wear your logo to finance his film 🎧 The Year Julianne Nicholson Broke Bad The Emmy winner and current double nominee for Paradise and Hacks tells Katey about her trips to the dark side More from Ankler Media
New from Natalie Jarvey’s creator economy newsletter: Amazon Audio Chief on Wondery 2.0 and Where Podcasts’ Big Money is Headed Jackpot: $2.5M for Classes ‘Shot on My Mac’ (in Just 6 Months!)
Andy Lewis’ latest IP picks: A Stanford Hawaii Murder, Bridgerton x Back to the Future? Yes!
|
