Congratulations are in order for actress Michelle Williams and her new husband, singer-songwriter Phil Elverum, who wed in a private ceremony in the Adirondacks.
Williams opened up about the secret wedding in her cover story for the latest issue of Vanity Fair. Her relationship with the indie rocker, who performs under the name Mount Eerie and previously The Microphones, is one that Williams describes as "very sacred and very special."
The couple share a bond few others can fully understand: raising young children alone after the death of their partners. Williams has been bringing up daughter Matilda, 12, solo since Heath Ledger died in 2008. Elverum lost his wife, artist and musician Geneviève Castrée, in 2016, just over a year after she was diagnosed with inoperable stage-4 pancreatic cancer, leaving him to raise their 18-month-old daughter.
Williams also got real about Hollywood's gender pay gap, including the exclusive report about the egregious pay disparity between her and co-star Mark Wahlberg during the re-shoots for "All the Money in the World," first reported by USA TODAY.
“Obviously I’ve never once in my life talked about a relationship, but Phil isn’t anyone else," the notoriously private Williams said. "And that’s worth something. Ultimately, the way he loves me is the way I want to live my life on the whole. I work to be free inside of the moment. I parent to let Matilda feel free to be herself, and I am finally loved by someone who makes me feel free.”
“You feel totally de-valued,” Williams said when asked about the money Wahlberg received. “But that also chimes in with pretty much every other experience you’ve had in your workplace, so you just learn to swallow it.”
“A private humiliation became a public turning point,” Williams said.
The moment was indeed a turning point in opening up the conversation about pay disparities, particularly for Williams. She revealed that she has been offered the same amount of money as her co-star, newly minted Oscar winner Sam Rockwell, for her role in a new FX limited series on choreographer and filmmaker Bob Fosse and legendary dancer Gwen Verdon.
"Before I could even ask for it, they said, ‘They’ve offered you what Sam Rockwell is making.’ I cried,” Williams said.
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