Michelle Williams on motherhood

Michelle Williams‘s career is on a roll.  The actress we all knew as Jen on Dawson’s Creek has one movie after another coming out in 2007 (The Hawk is Dying with Paul Giamatti, Ethan Hawke‘s The Hottest State, the Bob Dylan biopic I’m Not There) and will be shooting even more (Charlie Kaufman’s Synecdoche, Spike Jonze‘s Where the Wild Things Are, The Tourist with Ewan McGregor and Hugh Jackman) but it’s clear that what she values most is being a mom to 1 year old daughter, Matilda Ledger, with fiance Heath Ledger. The gorgeous 26 year old appears on the cover of the December/January 2007 issue of Nylon and gave an insightful interview.

"I always sort of imagined I would be a young mother.  Kids just bring such a natural order to your life.  I used to have all these questions that felt like they would never be answered.  I’d agonize myself with them.  You know, "What am I going to do with my time?  Who will I be with?  Will I wind up alone?  And having Matilda, I don’t plague myself anymore.  I know what life is like.  For the next 18 years, I’m devoted to somebody’s welfare.  It took all that noise out of my head."

She adds, "It wasn’t that long ago that I was sleeping until noon and not doing anything all day.  Literally nothing.  And now my life’s not going to be like that again.  I think about it when I go out with my friends for a night and, you know, 10 or 11 o’clock rolls around, and I look around the table and think, ‘Wow, I’m the only person here who has a kid, I’m the only person who has to go home now to get up by six to function for the rest of the day. "

She also said, "I feel like maybe having kids young is going to come back in vogue."

For more photos, click the extended post.

Source: Nylon, December/January 2007 issue, Photo: People, used with permission

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Comments

There have always been young mothers and older mothers, since the beginning of time. I don’t think it’s a question of being “in vogue” or not.

For lots of people, the age at which they become mothers depends on when they meet their spouse, when they marry, and when they’re able to to become pregnant. That happens earlier for some, and later for others.

- Christina on December 11th, 2006

it all depends on what “young” is, at 29 I feel really young, but know that it isn’t that young at all!

- legalmama on December 11th, 2006

Lucky her, sleeping till noon! LOL! Most working people can only do that at weekend. But i guess you can’t compare “normal” people with “rich” ones. As for being a young mom… A lot of people, including myself, have to finish college first. Then find a job and than the right man. And before you can accompish that you are in your thirties…
She looks good int this photoshoot btw.

- zwizda on December 11th, 2006

Wow Michelle is a stunning girl!! And as a mother she exudes a kind of quiet confidence that really makes you feel as though she’s doing exactly what is right for her and taking care of her baby. I love this actress and she’s never looked happier or better.

- Emma on December 11th, 2006

The quote about young motherhood coming back in vogue really struck me as an irresponsible thing to say. It’s easy for someone of means and in a loving relationship to say, “Oh, it’s so IN to have kids maybe I should have one.”, but that is not the reality of every day life for a lot of people who will read the interview. While it may be “fashionable” to have a baby, a lot of people are not in the position to have one and should not think that a child is like maxxing out your credit card on a new Marc Jacobs bag. I know quotes can be taken out of context and I am not passing judgement on Michelle for her thoughts, just adding my opinion about the blurb.

- Melissa on December 11th, 2006

Michelle sounds so grounded and so down to earth and real. She probably makes an excellent mother! I hope she and Heath marry and have two or three more babies!

- tink1217 on December 11th, 2006

I think some people here are getting a little too touchy about the young mother thing. You have to look at it from the other side too… Young moms get criticized all the time by older moms. Most of the women in my family started having children in their early 20′s, but it just happened to work out that way for them. And just because you go to college, that doesn’t mean you can’t be a young mother. I was fortunate enough to meet my future husband during my freshman year of college, we graduated on the same day, we’re getting married next year, and we look forward to having our first child in the next couple of years (I’ll probably be around 26 years old which I consider young). Things happen at different stages in each person’s life. That’s no reason to get defensive and criticize anyone’s choices (as long as they are being responsible).

- Ash on December 11th, 2006

i am 25 and i have 3 children aged 5,2,1 and a loving husband, i love my life now more than ever, i never planned to have kids so young but i would not be without them now. each to there own

- tina on December 11th, 2006

i’m also 25 and just gave birth to my first child. i think that more and more celebrities are starting to have families in their mid 20s.

- mara on December 11th, 2006

Zwizda I think Michelle referred to sleeping until noon as something she did before she had her baby.

Anyway yeah having a career as an actor is obviously much different than most career most young adults have. (Yeah once an actor can get into the millions range they have the luxury of picking how much they work, and most projects last only a few months at a time…so the rest of the year can be spent as you wish.)

However being a mother has brought her back to a more “normal” schedule in a way, which is good.

I think Michelle is envisioning babies/motherhood as the tool to bring some young women her age (ie. the party “actress/heiress” crew) back to a more responsible life (plus Michelle just wants her friends to have babies too, so that she can have someone to discuss poopie diapers with, who aren’t grossed out by the topic)…however Britney Spears’ recent actions seem to prove that theory wrong.

Personally I wish Michelle the best with her family and friends. And even if some of her friends don’t have kids for a few more yrs yet, it will just be another lesson she’ll get to learn about life then.

- Autumn on December 11th, 2006

Perhaps Michelle means young motherhood might come back in vogue within the context of Hollywood, where motherhood in one’s 30s and 40s seems to have been more the trend. Michelle becoming a mom at 26 or Katie Holmes at 27 or Maggie Gyllenhaal at 28 don’t seem particularly young–except in the context of Hollywood parenting, they do.

- Fynn on December 11th, 2006

Michelle is what, 26? I guess it’s all a perception thing, because in my opinion, young mother means like 21, 22. I was 21 when I had my son. Personally, I agree with Christina’s comment. I’m not sure having babies is necessarily a trend thing. I would imagine for a lot of people it’s more about whether you’ve met the right person, are done with school, have the money, or even if you can become pregnant when you plan to. And these days, with more women working and having successful careers, I think that might possibly delay when a couple starts a family. We don’t all have nannies and hired help at our disposable. So, no, I don’t agree that “having kids young is going to come back in vogue.”

- gargoylegurl on December 11th, 2006

well I think people will have hids even older, why? Firstly because people’s living expectancy is getty longer. And secondly because people start working later, because they study during a longer time, and they want to have a first career than a baby.
I actually think that people shouldn’t be parents too young(especially men…and I’m not telling this in a mean or bad way), because I think people must have some responsability and a good perception of life before having kids.
Anyway, just my point of view.

- Ana on December 11th, 2006

Michelle’s use of the phrase “in vogue” is being misinterpretted. She’s talking about a societal trend, not a fad. She’s referring to the fact that, although our mothers had us around ages 21 to 25, my generation (Gen X) has tended to wait until their 30′s and some even their 40′s. With the advent of the women’s movement in the 1970′s, I know for a fact that in school, we were taught to look down on a woman who chose to be a young mother at the expense of a career. Not blatently taught it; it was the subtext and attitude (and perhaps an unintended consequence, although I believe it was deliberate) that I and many of my generation picked up on. As a result of the subtle pressure of a society that seemed against any woman who held a more traditional role, I felt very ashamed that my own mother had chosen to be a mere homemaker, and I told her so. This has affected our choices, not only mine, but the majority of my high school and college friends, all of us waiting until our 30′s to have children, and some of us finding it to be too late. Finally now, in our late 30′s, we are saying, “How do we have time to find someone, date them and get to know them, marry them, and have a child before we can no longer do so?”

I believe that what Michelle is saying is that just maybe, now younger women no longer feel the pressure to focus on career first. Maybe now they will stop putting off children until later. Maybe the societal TREND has swung back the other way, and younger women in their early and mid-20′s will begin being mothers again.

Her statement is actually not irresponsible at all. But a statement on a change in the social attitude of the previous generation.

- pmc on December 12th, 2006