ON A CHILLY BUT HUMANE NOVEMBER night in Toronto, Allison Williams and I slip into an expansive conversation about the polite ways one can manipulate an audience. Williams is an actress, one of the more self-aware of her generation; audience manipulation is her not-so-secret weapon. And I'm abundantly aware that, as a writer profiling her for a magazine, I'm an essential part of that audience. I have interviewed Williams several times over the years, and each time is as lovely and warm and full of mutual compliments as the last. I would say, at this point, we like one another. But also, do we? Can we? Is it possible to have an "authentic" connection during a press commitment between two people who know how the personality machine operates and are each trying to work it for their own advantage? Is it gauche to admit you're both trying to have a nice time? Maybe, but let's just lean into the ambiguity for now and enjoy ourselves.
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