The actress is in the midst of a promotional tour for her new film, Manchester by the Sea, where she portrays a heartbroken mother trying to start a new life.
The character is a lot closer to home for the 36-year-old, whose most important role is to her 11-year-old daughter Matilda Ledger.
During a cover interview for fashion title, Porter, the starlet delved into her personal life.
Talking about her little girl, Michelle touched on the emotional struggles she deals with from the untimely death of her ex, Aussie actor Heath Ledger.
“In all honesty, for pretty much everything else, I feel like I’m a believer in not fighting circumstances, accepting where you are and where you’ve been. In pretty much all senses but one, I would be able to go totally down that line of thinking were it not for Matilda not having her dad,” she explained to Porter.
“You know, that’s just something that doesn’t… I mean, it just won’t ever be right.”
“Not only are we OK, she’s happy!” The proud mum mused.
The mum-of-one continued, “Talk about a learning process. I think, God, what would I say about it? I feel really sensitive about it and certainly did not expect to still be dating at 36 with an 11-year-old.”
“This is not what I imagined.”
For Michelle, her priority is giving Matilda a wonderful life.
“I watched [Matilda] warm in the sun, in her swimsuit, get on her bicycle and smile and wave as she rode off to go meet her friends.”
“I went back into the house and sobbed because of this incredibly simple moment ― common everyday happiness. I really felt like in that moment, like wow, we’ve done it,” she admitted.
“Not only are we OK, she’s happy. Life has brought us to a place that’s not just surviving, but thriving.”
Heath tragically passed away in 2008 following an accidental overdose.
While the Dawson’s Creek starlet has been in many high-profile relationships, including romances with Jason Segal, Dustin Yellin and Cary Joji Fukunaga, for now she’s happy with life as mum, and is in no rush to head to the alter.
“I’m like a cat, I’m a very domestic creature. I just want to stay home and take care of people. But I’m also happy with myself and just because I might have a desire to be with someone… that won’t lead me to marry the wrong person.”
She went onto joke about her bestie, former Dawson’s co-star and Matilda’s godmother, Busy Phillips, and her view on Michelle’s love life.
“My friend Busy and her husband Marc [Silverstein] said, ‘Michelle, you’re in like a blackout zone, everybody is now partnered up and you have to wait for people to start getting divorced.'”
Laughing she added, “Oh my f–king God. Are you kidding me? I’m just sitting around and waiting for marriages to crumble? Oh wow! No!”
