The 27 year-old Williams was Oscar nominated for her role in Brokeback Mountain in 2005 and has since worked on several independent US films such as Sharon Maguire's Incendiary and Charlie Kaufman's Synecdoche, New York.
"In Michelle Williams, I feel that we have found the perfect actress for the part of Ellen, and the perfect match for Gael Garcia Bernal. She relays intelligence, poise and presence in every character she plays. For me, her role in Brokeback Mountain is one of the most honest portrayals on screen," said the director of Lilya 4-ever.
Based on Moodysson's original script, Mammoth is the story of Tom, a young IT golden boy who lives in New York with his wife, their 8 year-old daughter and their Filipino nanny. On a business trip to Thailand, Tom realizes he wants to change his life.
The film will start filming in Thailand on November 5. The cast and crew will then move to the Philippines, Film i Väst's Trollhättan studios in Sweden in January 2008, and back in New York.
The SEK 70m film produced by Lars Jönsson (Memfis Film) in co-production with Zentropa's production branches in Copenhagen and in Berlin was just awarded a record SEK12m from the Swedish Film Institute as part of the Institute's new policy to give higher grants to fewer Swedish films. Other confirmed financiers include Film i Vast, SVT, TV2 Denmark, Medienboard Berlin, the Danish Film Institute, Filmförderungsanstalt, Nordisk Film & TV Fond and Eurimages. International sales are handled by Trust Film Sales who started pre-selling the film in Cannes last May.