Following Heath's devastating death, Michelle struck up a romance with the director. The two worked together on the 2008 film Synecdoche, New York, and dated for a year before eventually going their separate ways in September 2009. "The timing was impossible," Michelle confirmed in Vogue magazine. "I thought falling in love again was the only thing that was going to save me from the pain — this erroneous idea. It just makes things more complicated." Michelle also admitted that dating as a single mother played a part in their split. "I obviously don't know how to do it," she said.