--- title: Busy Philipps Talks Friendship With Michelle Williams description: Find out what Busy Philipps told Michelle Williams about the secrets to her long friendship with her Dawson's Creek costar. canonical: https://time.com/4724609/busy-philipps-michelle-williams-red-carpet/ author: Samantha Cooney article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-04-04T16:04:22.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:05:21.638Z og:title: Busy Philipps and Michelle Williams Are Each Other’s ‘Touchstone for Reality’ og:description: 'Maybe I’m giving away a secret’ og:url: https://time.com/4724609/busy-philipps-michelle-williams-red-carpet/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9fe13f55f2e00072/6988c13da988ca2de46bb967/busy-philipps-red-carpet-michelle-williams.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5324 og:image:height: 2995 og:image:alt: 89th Annual Academy Awards - Arrivals og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Busy Philipps and Michelle Williams Are Each Other’s ‘Touchstone for Reality’ twitter:description: 'Maybe I’m giving away a secret’ twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9fe13f55f2e00072/6988c13da988ca2de46bb967/busy-philipps-red-carpet-michelle-williams.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Busy Philipps and Michelle Williams Are Each Other’s ‘Touchstone for Reality’ > Sponsored content. 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It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-worth-2026q3/newsletters?i=dee5c709-23e8-45a1-8ff7-b3e62a3b5c09&cr=time-nl-worth-2026q3-v1)  by [Samantha Cooney](https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/)  ## Samantha Cooney Apr 4, 2017 4:04 PM UTC  HOLLYWOOD, CA - FEBRUARY 26: Actors Michelle Williams (L) and Busy Philipps attend the 89th Annual Academy Awards at Hollywood & Highland Center on February 26, 2017 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images) HOLLYWOOD, CA - FEBRUARY 26: Actors Michelle Williams (L) and Busy Philipps attend the 89th Annual Academy Awards at Hollywood & Highland Center on February 26, 2017 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images) Frazer Harrison—Getty Images  by [Samantha Cooney](https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/)  ## Samantha Cooney Apr 4, 2017 4:04 PM UTC Busy Philipps and best [friend](http://motto.time.com/4607738/michelle-williams-busy-philipps-love/) Michelle Williams keep each other grounded. In an [interview](http://www.elle.com/culture/celebrities/news/a44267/busy-philipps-michelle-williams-wine/) with Elle.com, Philipps said that she bonded with Williams over “boxed wine” while filming their hit teen show _Dawson’s Creek_ in the early 2000s — and that their friendship has continued to thrive as their careers have taken off. Philipps also shared why they frequently accompany each other to red carpet events. “For the most part, these awards shows, while they are fun, they’re high pressure for the people who are nominated, and for those walking the red carpet,” Philipps said. “It’s just great to have somebody that can be your touchstone for reality. Maybe I’m giving away a secret, but we always try right before we get to one of these red carpets to just look at each other and say, ‘Don’t forget how lucky we are. This is our life now.'” The _Cougar Town_ actress also said that she’s had her fair share of toxic friendships — but she’s learned with age to focus and prioritize on the relationships that matter. “In your early 20s, it was maybe acceptable to have a friend who was taking all of your time and energy, and exhausting you, and always a drama. When you’re in your 30s or you’re starting to have babies, you just can’t put up with it anymore, and that’s okay, because I think your priorities shift,” she said. “So it’s great if you can recognize that kind of earlier — what is tolerable for you, and what isn’t.” Read the [full interview](http://www.elle.com/culture/celebrities/news/a44267/busy-philipps-michelle-williams-wine/) on Elle.com ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4724609/busy-philipps-michelle-williams-red-carpet/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4724609/busy-philipps-michelle-williams-red-carpet/"},"headline":"Busy Philipps and Michelle Williams Are Each Other’s ‘Touchstone for Reality’","datePublished":"2017-04-04T16:04:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:05:21.638Z","description":"'Maybe I’m giving away a secret’","url":"https://time.com/4724609/busy-philipps-michelle-williams-red-carpet/","keywords":["motto"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9fe13f55f2e00072/6988c13da988ca2de46bb967/busy-philipps-red-carpet-michelle-williams.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Samantha Cooney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9fe13f55f2e00072/6988c13da988ca2de46bb967/busy-philipps-red-carpet-michelle-williams.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"89th Annual Academy Awards - Arrivals","caption":"89th Annual Academy Awards - Arrivals","creditText":"Frazer Harrison—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4724609/busy-philipps-michelle-williams-red-carpet/","name":"Busy Philipps and Michelle Williams Are Each Other’s ‘Touchstone for Reality’"}}]}] ```