Michelle Williams: Men and women in suits were cashing cheques off of my daughter’s face. There are so many problems with that

 
Motherhood: Michelle Williams for ELLE magazine (Picture: Kerry Hallihan; Pictures as courtesy of ELLE UK)
Emma Powell3 March 2015
The Weekender

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Michelle Williams revealed that she can’t stop praising Kristen Bell's No Kids Policy for stopping people from “cashing cheques off of my daughter’s face”.

The My Week With Marilyn actress - who has nine-year-old daughter Matilda Ledger – told ELLE that it is a miracle that children with celebrity parents can now walk down the street without feeling scared.

“Men and women in suits were cashing cheques off of my daughter’s face. There are so many problems with that,” she said. “But Kristen [Bell] has made it so much easier for these kids to live in a world that is friendly and that they can trust.

“Every month I send her a gushy, ‘You don’t know what you’ve done’ note. Now my daughter and other kids aren’t scared to walk down the street any more. It’s like a miracle.”

Working mum: Michelle Williams (Picture: Kerry Hallihan; Pictures as courtesy of ELLE UK)

Williams, 34 – who is set to star in Kelly Reichardt’s as of yet untitled film alongside Kristen Stewart and Laura Dern - said that balancing motherhood and work can be challenging.

“I feel like I’m so good at raising a kid when I’m not working. I don’t forget anything. I’ve got everything covered,” she told ELLE. “It’s a real luxury to have a moment when I’m not scrambling. I feel like most of my life, I’m trying to do two things at once, both to the best of my abilities. So that leaves me feeling pretty exhausted.”

Her exhaustion, she joked, has led to her reputation as the guest who always falls asleep at parties.

She said: “I’m the person who falls asleep all the time. You invite me over for dinner or to a party, and there’s a whole scrapbook of pictures of me napping. I’ve even been given a nickname because of my snoring."

Elle Michelle Williams

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But something that the actress uses to open her up for the rest of the day is a poem – which she describes as a “shot” to help her be more observant.

“I get a poem of the day! I love poetry because it’s like a shot, like an attack, like a dose. And for a person who doesn’t have very much free time, it does its work very quickly. So I read poems on my phone when I wake up in the morning. It opens you up for the rest of the day, and suddenly your life becomes a little more observed. And when it becomes more observed, it can’t help but start to become more beautiful.”

See Michelle Williams’ full photo shoot and interview in the April issue of ELLE UK: On sale 5 March 2015

Also available as a digital edition and online here.

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