The #MeToo Moment made its way to Hollywood in 2017 amid the allegations against Harvey Weinstein. Many actors spoke up, and soon, the need for more focus on how women are treated in show business became apparent. Actor Michelle Williams has addressed this topic, especially as it concerns pay disparity between men and women in the entertainment industry. She explains why she feels more powerful since movements like #MeToo and #TimesUp.
Michelle Williams discusses the #MeToo movement
As the movement hit Hollywood, it became clear that there are many women (and a number of men, as well) affected by sexual harassment and assault in the industry. More and more voices chimed in, addressing incidents from the past and present. Many big-name creators faced scrutiny, including Bryan Singer (the X-Men franchise) and Joss Whedon (The Avengers and Buffy the Vampire Slayer). Also, actors like Kevin Spacey and comedians such as Louis C.K.
Speaking on the subject, Williams reveals that, while making the 2018 film, Venom, she insisted on creating a partnership between her character Anne Weying and Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock. “For me, it was really important that as a woman — for other women — that this movie felt like it was made during the #MeToo era,” she told AP. “It was really important to me that we both feel like we wear the pants in the relationship…that there was more equality in their relationship.”
Michelle Williams has felt ‘a shift’ since 2017
It’s understandable why #MeToo and #TimesUp mean a lot to Williams. In 2017, she starred in All the Money in the World. Not only did the film originally feature Kevin Spacey (who was replaced by Christopher Plummer following the allegations against him), but it brought the issue of pay disparity between actors to the table.
After filming reshoots due to the cast change, information leaked that Williams was paid significantly less than her co-star, Mark Wahlberg: $80 per diem to his $1.5 million. Though Wahlberg later donated his salary, the point stood.
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In 2022, Williams sat down with The Hollywood Reporter for a roundtable interview with several others actors. She described the “frustrating” feeling of having information withheld from her as an actor. “In the last few years, I really do feel a shift,” she said. “I feel a difference after #MeToo, I really do.”
She continued. “I feel like there’s more information flowing between all of us [as female actors]. And we’re a little scary and powerful. I see more information coming to me, and people saying, ‘Now, based on the information, what decision do you want to make?’”
Michelle Williams notes it’s not just about Hollywood though
But #MeToo didn’t start in entertainment, and it doesn’t end there, either. Williams acknowledged this in a 2018 article with Jezebel, sharing the movement changed her. “It was the forming human chain of women that was building momentum. We had never talked about it before,” she explained. Williams even formed a friendship with Tarana Burke, the woman who first used the hashtag.
“It feels like a path you can’t really get off of,” Williams noted of how she approaches her career differently now. “Once you have your eyes opened, it’s difficult to close them again. I think it’ll now color everything that I’m interested in and everything I do.” And despite setbacks, she sees the possibilities moving forward. “I do believe we’ll hand our daughters a different world than the one we grew up in,” she said. (Williams has three children, one of whom is her daughter, Matilda Ledger, with the late Heath Ledger.)
