Michelle Williams Recalls Heartbreak of Moving Out of Home Shared with Heath Ledger

Michelle Williams strikes a serious pose on the cover of WSJ. Magazine‘s February 2017 issue, on newsstands on January 28.

Here’s what the 36-year-old Manchester By the Sea star had to share with the mag:

On moving out of the home she shared with her late partner Heath Ledger: “At that time, I was inconsolable, because I felt, How will he be able to 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].”

On romance: “It’s hard to romanticize romance when you’re 36. 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.

On being a single mom: “It’s a little bit difficult to contend with a feeling of failure for not living up to a standard of normal. 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 I have a family; I have the thing you typically get married for. I live in a commune.”

For more from Michelle, visit WSJ. Magazine.