Talking with: Michelle Williams

Though the core of "Brokeback Mountain" is the doomed love affair between two cowboys played by Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal, no less important to the plot machinations of the melancholic western is the role of Alma, the embittered wife of Ledger's taciturn Ennis.

Bringing Alma to brilliant life is 25-year-old Michelle Williams, whose memorable turn has generated nominations for supporting actress honors, from, among others, the Academy Awards, the Golden Globes, the Screen Actors Guild, the Independent Spirit Awards and BAFTA. She also won the Broadcast Film Critics Assn. award for the film.

Williams, who was born in rural Kalispell, Mont., came to fame as the "bad" girl Jennifer "Jen" Lindley on the WB series, "Dawson's Creek." Even during the run of the show, Williams opted to do independent films and off-Broadway plays instead of big-budget commercial Hollywood fare, appearing in "Me Without You," "The Station Agent," "Imaginary Heroes" and "The Baxter" before being cast by director Ang Lee in "Brokeback."

Not only has "Brokeback" been the highlight of her young career, it has also changed her personal life. She's engaged to Ledger and the two welcomed their first child, Matilda, last October.

Q: Both you and Heath have had your baby daughter on your minds more than the awards season, so what has that been like for you to deal with both?
A: It's a very steep learning curve.

Q: In what way?
A: How to balance the world. I find that it's very, very difficult to get out of the house these days. It takes me ages, ages to get ready, ages to make sure that Matilda has everything she needs and everybody knows what to do with her. I have a bit of an attack about leaving her. And then once we are there, it is sweet. It is sweet to be involved in the movie and it's rewarding and it's even, dare I say, kind of fun.

Q: You and Heath must know your fellow nominees pretty well by now with all the awards shows.
A: You know what has been so cool is getting to know the women in my category. I don't know if this sounds phony or not — but I assure you it isn't — but they are the coolest bunch of ladies. I am so enamored with them. Catherine Keener, she is such a hoot. And Amy Adams, she's so funny and so generous. I haven't met Frances McDormand yet. And Rachel Weisz who is pregnant, we can talk about all things baby. I really enjoy talking to them and seeing them. I really look forward to seeing them at these shows.

Q: Aren't you going back to New York to do a movie before the Academy Awards ceremony?
A: I somehow committed myself to making a movie in the middle of all of this. It is just a mommy-sized, back-to-work role in this movie called "The Hottest State" that Ethan Hawke is directing from the novel he wrote.

Q: Will Matilda be on set?
A: Oh yeah. Anywhere I go she goes.

Q: When you read the script of "Brokeback Mountain" did you immediately feel a kinship to Alma?