Michelle Williams Splits From Husband Of Less Than A Year

Michelle Williams - Fosse/Verdon

Just as quickly as they got together, Michelle Williams and her husband Phil Elverum have called it quits on their marriage. Less than a year after they were wed, the actress and the musician are no longer seeing each other. Not a lot was known about their private relationship when they decided to say their vows. And now, before they celebrated their one-year anniversary, the couple decided to end things in equally swift fashion. Here's what we know about this surprise separation.

As it was reported by People, Michelle Williams and Phil Elverum have been separated since "the beginning of the year," according to an unnamed source reportedly close to the former couple. While they "remain friends" and it was an "amicable split" between them, the relationship was felt apart in rapid fashion — especially looking at the turn of events leading to their quickly evolving (and then dissolving) romance.

The couple announced they were living together in the early summer last year, very shortly before the public learned of their marriage. Phil Elverum and Michelle Williams were then married last summer, and it sounds like only about six months or so went by before the couple decided to call it a wrap on their romance.

As it is often the case with relationships, especially celebrity ones, it's hard to know what happened between Michelle Williams and Phil Elverum. The details are largely private, and the only information one can glean about the short-lived coupling is speculative and assumptive. Their love was one of the most serious relationships in Williams' life, however — especially after the sudden and heartbreaking loss of Heath Ledger, the father of her 12-year-old daughter, Matilda. Phil Elverum is also a parent himself; like Matilda, his 3-year-old daughter was one of the few guests in attendance at their wedding ceremony in the Adirondacks.

As it was reported last year, Michelle Williams disclosed her relationship and marriage to Phil Elverum for the first time when she was profiled by Vanity Fair. Here's how the Academy Award-nominated film and television actress described her secretive and emotional romance to her previously-unknown lover at the time.

I never gave up on love. I always say to Matilda, 'Your dad loved me before anybody thought I was talented, or pretty, or had nice clothes.' Obviously I've never once in my life talked about a relationship, but Phil isn't anyone else. And that's worth something. Ultimately the way he loves me is the way I want to live my life on the whole. I work to be free inside of the moment. I parent to let Matilda feel free to be herself, and I am finally loved by someone who makes me feel free.

Michelle Williams and Phil Elverum were brought together — at least in part — by their shared feelings of loss. Elverum lost his wife, fellow musician Geneviève Castrée, only 18 months after she gave birth to their daughter. They've both faced many hardships in their lives, and their related sense of tragic loss was liekly one thing that brought them together. It's unknown what drove them apart. This update was made shortly after Michelle Williams was seen in public without her wedding band.

Away from her personal life, Michelle Williams can be seen in the FX new biopic, Fosse/Verdon, the limited series she stars in alongside Sam Rockwell's Bob Fosse. Her performance as Gwen Verdon is one of the show's most celebrated aspects.

Will Ashton

Will is an entertainment writer based in Pittsburgh, PA. His writing can also be found in The Playlist, Cut Print Film, We Got This Covered, The Young Folks, Slate and other outlets. He also co-hosts the weekly film/TV podcast Cinemaholics with Jon Negroni and he likes to think he's a professional Garfield enthusiast.