Actress Michelle Williams has opened up about the more difficult moments of single parenting her daughter with her late ex Heath Ledger, as well as revealing 11-year-old Matilda is in a ‘good place’.
Our hearts broke for Michelle when, just four months after she and Heath ended their three year relationship, the much-loved actor was found dead.
‘I was inconsolable’
The 36-year-old has told of her heartbreak when she finally moved out of the home that she and Heath had shared.
“At that time, I was inconsolable,” she explains in WSJ. Magazine’s February issue, “because I felt, ‘How will he be able to find us?’ “
“This is where we lived, and he won’t know where we are. And now I can’t believe I thought that. Maybe that’s what’s making me cry is I feel sad for the person who thought he won’t be able to locate (us).”
Michelle is making a return to the big screen in the critically acclaimed Manchester By the Sea, as a grieving mum. People reports that the mum-of-one is putting all of her effort into parenting Matilda, rather than finding a partner.
“It’s hard to romanticise romance when you’re 36,” she says. “When you’ve been a parent for 11 years and you’ve done it alone, you don’t have romantic ideals, because you have a practical understanding that you can do it by yourself. The romantic idea of meeting your person and having a storybook family life that looks like the model you grew up with – that doesn’t really exist for me.
“I’ve not gotten married because I have not had a person to whom I would — so I have not let my sense of conformity or duty override my instincts.”
Single parenthood can be ‘alientating’
Michelle admits to what many single parents feel, it can be lonely at times.
“Sometimes it can feel alienating; at school functions, there’s only two of us single mothers. Everyone else has a partner, so we buddy up.”
But like any parent, the Oscar nominated actress says she has had to find a balance between her career, and being the mother that she wants to be.
“I worry about the next job and when it’s coming and will I be able to get it, but when you’re looking at something, there’s also the criteria of timing, the school calendar, the location, the duration, and just where we’re at as a family.
“We haven’t been on location in five years; I haven’t taken jobs that put us on the road,” she explains.
“Everyone told me to travel while (Matilda’s) young, but they hit a certain age, and they want a life. So we’re stuck – in a good place. There’s a lot of constancy. She’s in such a good place that I don’t worry about the stability of our unit when I have to go back to work.”
We take our hats off to single parents everywhere – and we’ve put together 14 reasons why being a single mum is kind of awesome.
