At the Gotham Awards in New York City on Monday, November 28, Michelle Williams delivered a moving homage to her old “Dawson’s Creek” co-star Mary Beth Peil, raising questions about the actress’ health.
Peil, though, is said to be healthy and living. Fans were perplexed when 42-year-old Michelle, who co-starred with 82-year-old Peil as Evelyn “Grams” Ryan on the sitcom from 1998 to 2003, paid respect to the actress.
Michelle, who was presented with the Film Tribute Award, said, “Whenever something good happens for me in my life, I can draw a straight line back to somebody who was meant to be here tonight but, being a New Yorker, means living in a reality that you are definitely not in control of — so she’s not in the room, but she’s in my heart.”
What Michelle Williams Said About Beth Peil
When Michelle first encountered Peil, she claimed to be an “emancipated juvenile.” Added her, “I was 16 years old and completely alone myself. The first artist I ever met in my life was Mary Beth Peil.
Although she didn’t identify as that, there was something distinctive about her. It was the way she interacted with us during chats, how eager she seemed to be for every second of every day on our TV set. Despite not understanding what this intangible characteristic was, I knew I wanted to move my chair toward hers.”
As Mary Beth’s granddaughter, Michelle remarked, “I wouldn’t have known how to handle playing Steven Spielberg’s mother [in The Fabelmans] without being Mary Beth’s grandchild. So thank you Mary Beth, and thank you Gotham Awards for this. Peil is currently performing in the off-Broadway production of “A Man of No Importance.”
No one would possibly leave this speech thinking Mary Beth Peil is still alive (she is lol), one user tweeted after the speech.
One person said, “It’s a fantastic speech, but for a second I freaked out since I was quite sure I didn’t hear about Mary Beth Peil passing away, but I think she just meant she literally couldn’t be there.” “And apparently the longer version of the clip expressly mentions Peil was supposed to be there, but she couldn’t make it at the last minute,” the same user continued in another tweet.
One person said, “Very delighted with all the Mary Beth Peil tweets, but now I’m terrified.”
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