Interviews >>Michelle Williams on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

:: Leno introduces Michelle. She walks out onto the stage in A strapless black shirt and black slacks. They shake hands and Michelle goes in for the peck on the cheek, Leno doesn't realize and keeps walking. He realizes after a minute and says, "Oh, I get a kiss". They peck each other quickly and sit. Michelle shakes hands with Geraldo Rivera (the previous guest)::

Leno: One of those awkward, should I go for the kiss or not

Michelle: We went for it

Leno: Yes, yes we did. How are you? It's good to see you

Michelle: I'm all right, it's good to see you again

Leno: It's good to see you again. I enjoyed your movie. And you play a young English woman. I've seen you in Dawson's Creek and obviously you're an American. But you are very convincing, I thought you did a wonderful job.

Michelle: Thank you, I appreciate that

Leno: Now where did you film that? Were you right in London?

Michelle: For about a month we were right in the heart of London and then we went to this place called the Aisle of Mann

Leno: Oh Oh I know the Aisle of Mann

Michelle: You know the Aisle of Mann?

Leno: That's where they race motorcycles

Michelle: Yeah they do, it's like death race

Leno: Well, It's not a death race

::audience laughs::

Michelle: Oh, I think it is

Leno: Well the idea isn't to get killed. Like he died, you won. But it's a high-speed road race on just country roads, where people go like 150 MPH, its a scary race

Michelle: It is, it's a sort of a strange place. Somebody described it as 35 drunks clinging to a rock. Because it just gets beaten by wind and rain all year round. And apparently they have a very high suicide rate

Leno: Well the reason why the have these races there is well nobody else would have these races on cities streets in the 1990s and they were like "well we'll do it" so you can pretty much do whatever you want.

Michelle: well I don't think it's so okay to be gay and you get thrown in jail for smoking pot

Leno: Oh

Michelle: So it's backwards in some ways but they want movies...

Leno: Oh well I am okay on both counts. Well I'm not gay, but Kev I think you might have trouble with the pot thing. (sidebar for those who don't get Jay Leno: Kevin is Leno's guitar player) But other than that, its pretty much lack of rules. Do you like that lack of rules thing?

::audience laughs::

Michelle: Um it was. Well you know what I learned to do there? They were flaming Sambuka (?) shots.

::audience hoots and hollers::

Leno: Oh yeah?

Michelle: Um we actually had somebody in the cast who lit his lips on fire after doing too many of them. So yeah no rules.

Leno: Why would you do that? Um light your lips on fire? I'm not quite sure Was that accidental?

Michelle: Oh yeah, it was accidental. It was after doing to many of them. Cuz you take the alcohol and hold it in the back of your mouth and then you light a match and drop it in and see how long you can hold your mouth open ::she motions two thumbs up to the audience:

Leno: That seems wise

::audience laughs::

Michelle: Killer, Yeah :she laughs::

Leno: Now in the film, both your characters are attracted to older guys do you like the older um ::he leans over and looks at Geraldo who is sitting next to Michelle::

::audience laughs::

::Geraldo starts flexing and giving sexy looks, Michelle shifts uneasily in her chair::

Michelle: No comment

::audience laughs::

Leno: Well tell the people what the movie is about

Michelle: the movie is about... it tracks the friendship of these two girls who grow up next door to each other and it takes them from when they are adolescents till they are in their late twenty and its a story about this sort of obsessive, life-blood friendship that defines they way each other sees themselves.

Leno: it's a coming of age film?

Michelle: yeah it's a coming of age.

Leno: did you have any friends like that when you were a kid. Well you sort of grew up in show biz, so its kind of different isn't it

Michelle: Yeah well I haven't had friends that I have kept my whole life I have had friendships that were similar at certain periods in time but I haven't really....

Leno: Yeah because in TV you have friends until your show gets cancelled and then you get new friends

Michelle: Yeah right ::she laughs::

Leno: well let's show people the clip. Now what is it this scene we're gonna see here?

Michelle: This is us at our youngest, lying in bed and um talking about how bored we are

Leno: All right lets take a look

:::::::::CLIP::::::::::: the clip is pretty much just as Michelle described. Them Lying in a bed smoking and talking about how bored they are. The other girl is smoking a cigarette held between her toes. She is commenting on Michelle's dark brown hair saying it makes her look like a virgin. They continue to chat and begin jumping on the bed. :::::::::END CLIP:::::::::::

::audience applauding::

Leno: I think Geraldo may be going to see it

Geraldo: I've been leering hungry looks

Leno: Now you've been doing a play in New York, is that right?

Michelle: Yeah I am, I've been doing a Mike Leigh play called "Smelling a rat" We have one more week left, it's been a really good run. Another English accent

Leno: Do you like the live audience thing? Do you like doing plays

Michelle: I do. I've been enjoying it. It's strange. It's a really intimate space It's like a 99 seat theater. And the first row is quite literally next to the stage. And people have been putting their feet up on the stage and their coke cans up on the stage, their purses up on the stage. Which is not okay. Well, I mean it's not your stage, it's not your home.

Leno: It's like people don't know how to behave in public. I mean I've seen this happen Like when you're on stage and there is somebody on the phone in the audience and you are like "Sir?" and they are like ::pretending to hold a phone:: "What"?? Like they don't even know what you are talking about. Have you had the cell phones go off in the theater?

Michelle: Yeah we have had the cell phones go off. There is sort of famous theater story that floats down, that I'm not sure if it's true or not but I'll tell it anyway. About somebody who was in a play and recounting this story that they were in the middle of a performance and somebody's cell phone rings who's in the audience and they are like ::holds fingers up to ear like a phone:: "yeah, yeah yeah I am here at the theater" ::she pauses:: "Ehhh" Like the person asks "How is it" and they are like "Ehhhh"

::audience and Leno laugh::

Michelle: Can you imagine?

Leno: Yeah I've had that happen. Yeah I've had people go like ::he puts his hand up to his ear like a phone:: "Yeah he's on stage right now Listen! ::he stretches his hands outwards::

::Michelle shakes her head::

Leno: Now do you do the matinees too?

Michelle: Yeah we have a Saturday matinee which tends to bring in an older crowd

::Leno gestures towards Geraldo::

::Everyone laughs::

Michelle: We've had hearing aid feedback

Leno: yeah that's great when you get that ::he makes a high-pitched buzzing sound::

Michelle: Yeah Yeah ::She laughs:: And they tend to have a running dialogue with the play and an echo, like whenever there's a joke ::in an old granny voice:: "Oh, he said such and such"

::everyone is laughing::

Leno: You know my dad and my uncle would come to my show and they would sit in the front and they both had twin hearing aids so I would hear ::he makes a high-pitched whistle sound:: This screaming whistling and they were adjusting hearing aids. it was very funny. Well the movie is called "Me Without You" And a wonderful job. Michelle thank you very much.