There are 288 exact pages in Britney Spears’ memoirs, published on Tuesday in the United States (The Woman in MeGallery Books) and Thursday in the Spanish-speaking world (The woman that I am, Plaza and Janés). And five hours and 31 minutes is the exact length of its audiobook. If the revelations about his father, his previous partners, his career, his children… have been left black and white in the millions of books sold this week, they have also been recorded in your audiobook. But surprisingly, the well-known voice of the 41-year-old artist is only present in the dedication (“To my boys, who are the love of my life”) and in the 163 words of the prologue. In total, one minute and 25 seconds. He leaves the rest in the voice of actress Michelle Williams. She, who seeks to recover her own voice, has agreed to give it to the interpreter, who has accepted her assignment in two very intelligent moves on both sides.
The striking landing of the actress, five-time Oscar nominee (and so far never a winner), was widely applauded when it was announced, but this week her story has become a hit on the internet and an unexpected step forward in her own career. Williams. “He deserves another nomination,” is heard on the network. The interpreter manages to give a poignancy and strength to Spears’ words that they probably would not have had in her own voice.
It was too painful. Too hard for Spears to sit down and review and write her story and, once in order, have to retell it in words. She says it herself at the beginning: “This book has been a labor of love and with it have come many emotions,” she says. “Reliving all of this you are about to hear has been exciting, heartbreaking and emotional, to put it mildly. For these reasons, I will only read a small part of my audiobook. I am so grateful to the incredible Michelle Williams for reading the rest, and to you for listening to it.” The only words Williams has said about it have been four: “I’m with Britney.”
The agreement between Spears and Williams has not been made public. If the first chose the second, if it was an editorial decision willingly accepted by both parties, if it was unilateral. It is also unknown what Williams’ stipend is. Narrators usually have a fixed income from the audiobook, and do not royalties, royalties from sales. It is not known how much the interpreter has earned, but the American press says that Spears has earned between 12 and 15 million dollars for the advance, and a very generous 25% for each book (in the sector, 10% is already a good figure).
Beyond the income that the autobiography has brought for Williams, it has given a new perspective to his career. First, because her figure gives flavor to Spears’ story, as it is narrated by an authorized acting voice. Second, for his public and clear support for a star who is not having his best moments in terms of criticism: without releasing music for years, with no vocation in sight and whose only appearances are a series of disturbing videos and writings on social networks. Third, because her narration is brilliant. She delicately and powerfully recounts Spears’ laments, with anecdotes such as how Madonna became her mentor or how her father forbade her from eating hamburgers—only chicken and canned vegetables—which she would ask the butler for cover. But also her forced abortion by Justin Timberlake and how he left her by SMS, the sadness of her postpartum depression and even the restlessness of her regained freedom. Her fine interpretation of Timberlake in an episode in which Spears remembers him imitating the rapper Ginuwine, and which she saves more than worthily, is earning her applause and Grammy nominations for best narrator.
And fourth, because the lives of Spears and Williams are not that different from each other. They have simply decided, or have been able, to manage them differently. Williams, 15 months older than Spears, was also a young child star, but instead of starting her career on the Mickey Mouse Club, like the singer, she did it in episodes of The Baywatch either Lassie, besides, of course, in the teenage soap opera Dawson Growsto later develop a career of triumphs thanks to his performances in Brokeback Mountain, My week with Marilyn and Manchester by the sea. She has been married twice and has three children, and her relationships and her children have also placed her in the center of attention. Matilda, her eldest daughter, who comes of age this Saturday, was born from her relationship with her fiancé, the late Heath Ledger, with whom she had broken up just four months before her death. For just one year, between 2018 and 2019, she was married to musician Phil Everum, and in 2020 she married her current husband, director Thomas Kail, with whom she has two children, Hart, three years old, and an 11-month-old baby. .
Heath Ledger died in January 2008. The same month Spears was hospitalized for her first known mental health issues, which led to her being taken into custody by her father. 15 years ago, the two stars were scrutinized for their pain. Williams managed to get out of it slowly and with the cameras watching her, but to one side of her. Spears is starting to do it now, with the spotlight always on her. Also now, when she wants to ward off her demons and leave her old life behind entirely, and get her voice back. Meanwhile, Williams will lend him his.
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