Before Michelle Williams, the stunning actress who plays the role of Glinda the Good Witch in the amazing film, Oz the Great and Powerful, sat down in a room full of mommy bloggers and answered our questions, I thought her to be untouchable. Surely a woman with her grace and stature would be different than me. But of the stars that we were lucky enough to interview for this deliciously creative and fantastical film, Ms. Williams was the one that I most wanted to get to know.
Fiercely private and notoriously closed lipped about everything from her private life to her motherhood, I did not think that the question I wanted to ask would be answered. I expected a very refined star to walk into the large ballroom where me and 24 other bloggers sat, laptops and phones buzzing with updated by the second for our readers, and to talk about Glinda and the movie and gloss over any questions that had anything to do with her personal life.
But when the door opened and this tall, thin, perfectly put together woman walked in wearing a black jacket and colorful shirt with a short skirt that complimented her fun pixie cut, I knew that my impressions of her were about to change. She came in truly excited to be there, making comments that she had probably read all of our blogs – yes, Michelle Williams reads mommy blogs… pause for audible squeal – and waving frantically with a huge, friendly smile on her face.
She was so approachable, so real, so… like us, that we had no problem asking her whatever we wanted. And she had no problem answering our questions with honestly, thought and detail. Below are some of my favorite parts of her interview Please know that as I relive this with you, my heart is bursting out of my chest with excitement and my respect for this Hollywood actress, real and kind-hearted woman…. that is a real mom too.
{appropriate edits made to clarify answers}
Are you prepared to have legions of little girls flocking around you?
I was thinking about delighting one young child {her daughter, Matilda}, and I didn’t realize there would be more than one. And that’s, I mean, really what feels better in this whole world than making a kid smile? So, that’s fine with me!
How do you balance your career with motherhood?
{I asked this question and I have to describe her reaction. She took a deep breath and sat back in her chair and seemed to really contemplate her answer. It was at this moment that I realized that all mother’s, no matter who you are or your career path, exhaust themselves trying to get it right. Below is her answer in detail}
I was afraid you might ask something like that. I mean, how do you, how does anybody do it? It is an Olympian undertaking. What have I really learned? Okay, what have I figured out? They’re all such hard lessons, I find. Like, when you really arrive at something that’s true and honest, it’s taken you so long to get there, and you had to work so hard for it.
Because it’s just not what you think it’s gonna be, and nobody really prepares you for it, and nobody really tells you the truth, which is that it’s not possible. It is not possible to do both things well at the same time, especially not if you are exacting, and maybe a Virgo, and like, and ask a lot of yourself. Every mother that I know asks a lot of themselves. What I’m trying to wrap my head around is to get comfortable with the moments, to get comfortable with the fact that it’s gonna feel like a scale, and I’m never gonna arrive at a perfect balance, and it’s always gonna be a give and take. Something’s always gonna feel like it’s suffering, it’s underserved. Like you’re not being the best parent that you could be, or you’re not being the best at your job that you could be . I’m really trying to get peaceful with the fact that I’m always going to feel like that and that is the equation for as long as I choose to or have to stay in this position where I work and where I parent. And that’s really hard on your heart. It’s so hard.
It’s just so hard, [LAUGHS]. What are the tricks, what are the hints? It’s really overwhelming. I mean, I’d be more apt to ask you guys, What works for you? What doesn’t? What do you give up?
Me? It’s a lot of work to clean a house! This is, like, a big epiphany for me recently. I am not gonna wash my dishes before I put them in the dishwasher. I find it so hard to make some time for myself. And I spend fifteen minutes pre-washing? I’m looking for time everywhere, in every corner, every day, and here I am, pre-washing my dishes. Silverware, going in there. Why would I do that? Not any more. Knives, going in there.
I try and buy back time where I can- try and figure out how to buy time. A friend of mine said to me something that really stuck with me. Everybody thinks that you should spend your time making money. But I think you should spend your money making time. Yeah.
You were amazing (in the movie). What was your inspiration?
Thank you. And I thought a lot about her. I watched that movie (The Wizard of Oz) passively for years, and watched it with my daughter. Sam (Sam Raimi, the director of Oz The Great and Powerful) said something really interesting to me. He said there’s a reason that Glinda, the Good Witch doesn’t go down the Yellow Brick Road, and that she’s not on the journey, because she’s one dimensional. She needs to learn about herself, and thus she’s the least relatable character. We don’t wanna do that, you know. they’re on a journey with Glinda, too, and that she isn’t this sort of crystalized version who knew it all along. We want her to have struggle, we want her to be human. But what does she have to struggle with because she doesn’t have a split nature. How can she still be good, and innocent, and believe the best in people, but still have a struggle?
And obviously, she’s struggling for the freedom of these people, and she’s struggling a little bit with her own self doubt. She’s a lot about transformation. She’s in charge of these, um, these sort of refugees, but she doesn’t really know how to protect them and how to make them see. So her story is about transformation and how Glinda transforms these dark and dire situations. I thought about her as somebody who transforms tears into bubbles, that she makes the best out of a rotten situation because of a way that she chooses to look at it. It’s not entirely human.
If you wouldn’t mind taking a quick photo with them (the mommy bloggers), they would be honored.
Would they? [LAUGHS]
No, well, you guys, thank you. I feel like your blogs are like definitely helpful and needed. I never really posted anything on a blog because I don’t really know how to, but I, I think every mother has the same question that we were all asking. How do you do it? How do you be a mom, and be a parent, and maybe even try and be in a relationship. And in the end, to be yourself. How do you make all of that work and providing this kind of conversation about it, and like this kind of access to it is awesome. So thank you guys for doing it. You guys, thank you.
Thank YOU, Michelle Williams. For you honestly, grace and your incredible talent that we get to witness coming March 8, 2013 in Oz The Great and Powerful!
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How exciting to talk to someone involved in this film! I can’t wait to see it, I’m a huge fan of all that goes down the yellow brick road.
When I was 17 make-a-wish granted my wish to meet Michelle Williams. I was lucky to meet her on the set of Dawson’s Creek, she is such a sweetheart and a kind person! I am so glad that her success continues! She is amazing!
She truly is and am amazing spirit! I, too, feel so lucky to have met her!