Michelle Williams Thanks Marilyn Monroe At Palm Springs Film Festival

Now that she's got the wiggle down, she's making sure Marilyn's spirit lives on.

At the Palms Spring Film Festival this weekend, where Brad Pitt limped onstage to accept awards for "Moneyball" and "Tree Of Life," Michelle Williams faced another feat: making sure Marilyn Monroe got the honor she deserved.

"My only wish is that Marilyn herself could have been lucky enough to have experienced in her lifetime what I am experiencing tonight," Michelle said in her acceptance speech for the Desert Palm Achievement Award. "Despite her gifts as a performer, the likes of which we haven't seen with since, never got the recognition she deserved."

"I want to thank my director Simon Curtis for entrusting me with [Monroe's] beautiful soul, her valiant struggle, and her eternal heart," Williams continued. "And I want you to know that I accept this award on both of our behalfs."

Although Williams' impersonation of Marilyn came off as effortless, the actress made sure she had Monroe down perfectly before stepping into her shoes. "For me, the most crucial discovery -- the flash -- was that the widely accepted image of Marilyn Monroe was a character that Norma Jeane played," Williams told The Hollywood Reporter; Norma Jeane was Monroe's birth name. "Unless you study her and understand her a bit better than the commonly accepted view, one could miss who she was underneath that. Marilyn was a part she played."

Comments

[logic-a-go-go]

09:20 PM on 01/10/2012

NOBODY CARES.

[susou]

08:17 PM on 01/10/2012

That's how you accept an award.

[N8tracks]

03:52 PM on 01/10/2012

I'm so sick of hearing about Ms. Monroe for all of my 40+ years of life.

Hopefully this movie will be the last chapter.

[MindyM]

12:06 AM on 01/10/2012

I said when this film came out, that I would content myself by watching the incomparable Marilyn Monroe in her own films. I wanted to remember the real thing, a woman of great beauty, talent, intelligence, wit and fighting spirit. She was my idol when I was a young girl growing up and I have never forgotten her.

I admire Michelle Williams and believe she is a talented actress. What meant the most to me in her acceptance speech, is the tribute she paid to Marilyn. It is true that Marilyn Monroe never really received her due as an actress. She never found the happiness that she desperately wanted. I often wonder what Marilyn would think of the fact that she is remembered today and considered to be such an icon. I would like to think that it would make her smile.

Thank you to Michelle Williams for her generous and beautiful, heartfelt words about Marilyn.

[capt hastings]

11:51 PM on 01/09/2012

She'll be the Liz Taylor of her generation.

[logic-a-go-go]

09:21 PM on 01/10/2012

Pffft! Absolutely no way.

[capt hastings]

10:28 AM on 01/11/2012

She's already made more movies than Liz, hasn't she? Her acting is superior to Liz's. Maybe it's the Hollywood Siren image that she doesn't represent as well as Liz did; she's pretty private except when she's promoting a movie. And, Liz was certainly more voluptuous.

[Gloria Grant]

08:06 PM on 01/09/2012

"Tell me, Honey. Why are you so cute?".......Van Johnson in Thirty Seconds over Tokyo.

[wolverine mags]

04:55 PM on 01/09/2012

Such a sweet, intelligent, beautiful woman. :)

[AllureAye]

02:35 PM on 01/09/2012

Love how she speaks... so elegant.

[Phxgwen]

02:07 PM on 01/09/2012

I couldn't stand her character on Dawson's Creek which is funny since now I cannot get enough of her acting. Wendy and Lucy, Incendiary, Blue Valentine, Brokeback Mountain.. one amazing performance after another.

[Joseph Scott]

02:02 PM on 01/09/2012

First acquainted with Michele Williams' acting from Brokeback Mountain.....and it's been one after another since then. She will never "phone it in" and even if the movie is bad, her acting...the way a Pacino, or DeNiro, or Ledger, or Streep will do it, will keep your interest.

She keeps my interest.
She has those untold depths that just shine from inside her.

[Gloria Grant]

01:13 PM on 01/09/2012

Just to get up there on the podium to deliver a speech, was so nerve-racking. And to deliver it flawlessly was a feat. And to deliver such a touching speech, welll.... what can I say? Brava, Michelle!! You looked very lovely.

[kinogod]

12:46 PM on 01/09/2012

She is a great actress, small when she needs to be, big when she needs to be. She picks interesting projects and I admire her. As for the triffle called My Week With Marilyn -- it was instantly forgettable -- how many times has this whole trajectory been done (and better). And MWwas totally unbelievable as Marilyn. This film is so not awards category filmmaking or acting. It's nice and forgettable.

[Mic5]

03:21 PM on 01/09/2012

I agree about MWWM. I lost my interest after the first half hour. The scenes with her and the young male star dragged on and on, and Marilyn was portrayed as an annoying, selfish druggie. I don't think the real Marilyn would have been a fan.

[thalius]

12:20 PM on 01/09/2012

Very lovely speech, made me teary.

[ashtonjones]

10:46 AM on 01/09/2012

total class and sophistication, Michelle!

[Zilo]

10:42 AM on 01/09/2012

I don't get what people see in her. She's...terrible. She's not a good actress at all and she's extremely plain. Every time I watch her movies, I WANT to like her, but there's just nothing there. I forget who she is and sometimes don't even remember her in movies..that's how plain she is.

[Dana Collesar]

12:28 PM on 01/09/2012

So you don't get what people see in her, but you did take the time out of your day to read an article about her and comment.

[Greenblue]

09:35 PM on 01/09/2012

cause it's a comment section, not a fan site.

[Robin Rae Overholt]

12:33 PM on 01/09/2012

Why? What's there not to "get"! You have no taste!