Michelle Williams finds acting liberating

Michelle Williams finds acting "liberating".

The 'Blue Valentine' actress admits she is shy in real life, and performing scenes she would never do in real life is a way of escaping herself.

She said: "I just find my work very liberating, and I find that I make allowances for myself, find space for myself and permission for myself in my work in a way that for some reason I don't in my life.

The 30-year-old actress - who has been nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance in 'Blue Valentine - stars alongside Ryan Gosling in the highly-anticipated Derek Cianfrance-directed romantic drama and admits living with him in preparation for the role was part of how they got into character.

She said: "When I say 'live' I do want to be clear that I didn't live THAT side of the marriage if you know what I mean, like after hours? l would go home every night, but yes, we inhabited the house like Dean and Cindy would or our imagination of Dean and Cindy would during the day.

"We actually made a house a home. I'm just thinking about that house now and it was nothing when we started and I feel like that's a place I lived now, like I would include that in my stops through life if I feel like it, "Oh, yeah. I lived outside of Scranton for a couple months."

'Blue Valentine' was put on limited release in the US on December 29 and hits UK cinemas on January 14.