Michelle Williams wants good sex before she dies

BarcelonaIn the miniseries Dying for sex (Disney+), Molly receives the devastating news that her cancer has returned and has spread to her bones. But all she can think about is her desire to have sex with someone. Now past 40 and in a stable relationship for 15 years, her life is a sexual desert. Faced with the evidence that death is approaching—only 30% of patients survive five years—she decides to leave her husband and dust off her most intimate desires, which have been muffled by the patient-caregiver dynamic that has developed in her marriage. Five-time Oscar nominee Michelle Williams plays the protagonist of this miniseries, which will be available starting Friday.

Dying for sex adapts the true story of Molly Kochan, who shared her sexual escapades in a podcast that was released after her death. In that audio project, Kochan was interviewed by her best friend, Nikki Boyer, played in the series by Jenny Slate. In the podcast, the pair discussed and commented on Kochan's nearly 200 sexual adventures, which through exploring her sexual desire helped her feel alive again. In the fiction, Molly's odyssey begins when she signs up for a dating app and receives a very welcome avalanche of photopenis.

Aside from Williams and Slate, Dying for sex It features a cast that includes Sissy Spacek, in the role of the protagonist's mother, Jay Duplass, who plays her ex-husband, and Robert Delaney, in the role of one of Molly's adventures.

Self-esteem

Williams, Emmy winner for the miniseries Fosse/Verdon (Disney+), began talks to star in Dying for sex four years ago, but in the middle of it, she became pregnant and it was impossible for her to perform the many sexual scenes in the show in that state. When her son was one year old, the actress called her agent to ask what had happened with that series. When she discovered that it hadn't materialized, it was clear to her that she had to be its lead actress. "Molly is someone who wants to experience every sensation, every pleasure available, the most of everything as a kind of counterbalance to her medical life, where things are done to her and everything is procedural and uncomfortable," Williams explains in an interview with Vanity Fair.

The actress recalls that the real Molly found a way to enjoy her body even in the final stages of her life. "She loved to dress up in pretty lingerie and would take these really beautiful photos of herself where she creatively concealed her surgery scars or where her chemotherapy catheter was. She found ways to continue loving herself," she notes.

Williams explains that preparing for the series has allowed her to learn about sex and reflect on the concept of desire. "I think sex is a birthright. Our bodies are designed for pleasure. We're not robots," the actress concludes. Dying for sex, Williams has worked for the first time with an intimacy coordinator, a figure she has fiercely defended in various interviews despite some colleagues who consider it superfluous or even intrusive.