Michelle Williams signed up for therapy sessions as a teenager so she could cope with her parents' disapproval about her acting career.

The Blue Valentine star legally emancipated herself from her parents at 15 but couldn't shake the thought of their disappointment when she signed up for her first big New York stage role in Killer Joe, which required her to strip onstage.

Williams tells GQ magazine: "I remember my mother saying to me at one point, 'Just don't make anything your grandmother couldn't see.' And at that point I knew I was living a sinful artistic career, because I had done, and I knew I would do.

"They weren't fans of that play. It was like (an) alien invasion or something in our normal lives... They hadn't seen anything like it."

Hurt by their reaction, Williams sought support from a counsellor who helped her deal with her thoughts of betrayal.

However, the star's career can't have helped but left her parents impressed - the star has been nominated for a series of big awards, and walked away with a Golden Globe on Sunday for her portrayal of Marilyn Monroe in My Week With Marilyn.

Her turn as the tragic Hollywood siren has also attracted attention in Britain - she is up for Best Actress at the 2012 British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA), which take place in London next month.