Earlier this year, Michelle Williams took on the role of Molly Kochan in a series in which she's diagnosed with cancer, gets divorced and proceeds to sleep numerous men.
It's a rollercoaster of a story, and it's all based on the life of the real Molly, who sadly passed away in March 2019.
Molly was just 33 years old when she was diagnosed with breast cancer, and after deciding how she wanted to spend the rest of her life, she and her best friend, Nikki Boyer, decided to document her sexual experiences in a podcast.
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After the series was picked up by Amazon's podcast studio, Wondery, it went on to become the comedy-drama TV series that released in April 2025, titled Dying for Sex.
Who was Molly Kochan?
The star of the show, Molly was born and raised in New York before moving to LA with the age-old dream - to become a star.
She settled in the city after getting engaged to her husband, but in 2005, she went to the doctor after noticing a small lump in her breast.
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In a blog post, Molly claimed the doctor said the lump was 'nothing', and that she was 'way too young to worry about something like breast cancer'.
It wasn't until 2011 that the lump Molly had discovered six years earlier was confirmed to be breast cancer, and it had since spread to her lymph nodes.
Molly was 38 by that point and underwent treatment including chemotherapy, a bilateral mastectomy and radiation, as well as five years of hormone therapy. Unfortunately, however, Molly learned in 2015 that her cancer had returned, and it had spread to her bones, liver and brain.
Molly was diagnosed with Stage IV cancer, which was determined to be terminal, but she initially only told her family and closest friends.
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In a later interview with Fred Hutch News Service in 2016, Molly explained: "It’s just something I’m going through, not who I am. I realize it’s something I will probably be dealing with forever. But I don’t want cancer to be my life.”
How did Molly react to the terminal diagnosis?
After learning the cancer had metastasized, Molly decided to leave her husband after acknowledging that they'd been having 'difficulties' even prior to her diagnosis.
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That wasn't the only change Molly underwent, though, as she also noticed that her cancer treatment had dramatically increased her libido. As a result, she decided to put her newly single status to use and threw herself into the dating scene.
In on episode of her and Nikki's podcast, she explained: “Being sexual is the antithesis to death. Sex also makes me feel alive and it’s a great distraction for being sick.”
Molly's 'full-on sexual awakening'
As her best friend put it!
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After committing to her newly single life, Molly began experiencing everything from saucy texts to experimenting with fetishes, ultimately having sex with a reported 200 men.
The experience allowed her to reclaim her body, while also helping her process traumas she'd previously experienced.
Discussing Molly's journey, Nikki said: "Her whole life she felt fragmented and during sex she was allowed to make her own choices and put the pieces together for herself.”
Knowing Molly's journey made for a good story, the pair decided to document it and initially pitched it as a television show of their own.
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When the series idea got rejected, the pair instead set up their podcast.
Molly's success with 'falling in love'
Molly ultimately passed away three years after her terminal diagnosis, but prior to her death she was able to share her story in a memoir.
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In the book, she explained that she started on her journey with sex because she was 'desperate to fall in love'.
"[I] wanted to find my soulmate,” she wrote, adding: “It was a romantic human idea I wanted to belong to.”
However, Molly acknowledged that she 'obviously wasn’t dating the people who fit that mold', but she had the realization that they ended up 'being perfect catalysts in many ways'.
"And between those interactions, along with the ones with friends and family, I realize I did get to fall in love," she said. "I am in love. With me.”
The Dying for Sex series
When Dying for Sex made it to TV Nikki said that while the series was largely true to life, the show did take a few creative liberties, for example setting it in New York rather than LA.
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As for the on-screen friendship between Nikki and Molly, the best friend said: “It very much feels like me and Molly, the core of us."
Michelle Williams has said she was also personally touched by Molly's story, saying she was 'bowled over' by the podcast she and Nikki had created.
Dying for Sex is available to stream in the US on Hulu.
Emily Brown