She just got her fifth Oscar nomination for one of the most important roles of her life, inspired by the mother of Steven Spielberg in the autobiographical The FabelmansBut Michael Williams he devoted himself to independent cinema, with which he discovered, he assures us, the possibility of “self-esteem”.

Williams doesn’t know, nor does she want to know, why the director thought of her to play Mitzi Fabelman, an eccentric family mother with an artistic vocation in the United States in the 1950s and 1960s, inspired by Leah Adler, the real mother of Spielberg.

“I didn’t want to know so as not to narrow my vision of the character”, claims the American actress in a meeting with a small number of international media, including EFE.

But at the same time, he confesses that he has absorbed all the details and circumstances of Adler’s life that permeate the character. She must not have been wrong because Spielberg was moved to look at her.

“You have to keep in mind that he was recreating his childhood, his home, with a great level of precision and detail; for him it was like walking into his past and surrounded by important people who are no longer alive, it’s logical to get emotional,” she explains .

As for her, she says she feels that each of the 30 years she’s devoted to acting has been preparation for this role; Among other things, she allowed her to reflect on the difficulties of reconciling being a mother – she has three children – and being an artist.

“Any mother can understand that struggle, because we all have high demands on ourselves,” she reasons, but recommends remembering that “who you are as a mother affects who you are at work and vice versa,” and that with a little kindness, conflict can turn into “symbiosis”.

a childhood story

The film combines drama, humor and emotion and bears the stamp of the creator of Shark, ET and so many titles connected to each viewer’s inner child.

But this time Spielberg talks about his childhood, his traumas in relation to a secret he kept hidden from his mother for a while or the bullying he suffered for being Jewish; and, in the midst of all this, the discovery of cinema as a tool to control one’s fears.

Williams also discovered his calling at an early age. She made her television debut at the age of 13 and she says cinema has taught her not only to broaden her vision of what it means to be human, but also to accept herself.

“Independent cinema has opened up the possibility of self-love and self-acceptance for me, because when I saw the characters in Cassavetes’ films, so challenging and challenging yet I was so drawn to them, I thought maybe it could give me a little bit of that.” same”.

Williams had a hard time leaving behind his teen idol facet gained from his participation in the series Dawson Creek in the late nineties. But in 2005 he reached his peak and got his first Oscar nomination thanks to Secret in the mountainsfollowed by three others Blue Valentine, My week with Marilyn AND manchester by the sea.

Although her image is often associated with suffering women with a turbulent inner life, the truth is that the first films that marked her and made her want to be an actress were musicals like the rebel newbie AND The Wizard of Oz.

“They attracted me because they seemed to be enjoying themselves, that they were happy and I still believe that singing and dancing brings you joy, because when you do your conscience goes out, to keep the beat and pitch you have to stop thinking, you can’t overanalyze or worry either distract yourself with other things, and I think that’s happiness and life, to be in the present moment.”

His next project, directed by Todd Haynes, may bring him that joy as it is a biography of singer, songwriter and actress Peggy Lee (1920-2002), author of songs such as fever OR Because you are not doing well.

POS