Michelle Williams
Michelle Ingrid Williams (born September 9, 1980) is an American actress. Known primarily for starring in small-scale independent films with dark or tragic themes, she has received various accolades, including two Golden Globe Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award, in addition to nominations for five Academy Awards and a Tony Award. Williams, a daughter of politician and trader Larry R. Williams, began her career with television guest appearances and made her film debut in the family film Lassie in 1994. She gained emancipation from her parents at age fifteen, and soon achieved recognition for her leading role in the teen drama television series Dawson's Creek (1998–2003). This was followed by low-profile films, before having her breakthrough with the drama film Brokeback Mountain (2005). Williams went on to receive critical acclaim for playing emotionally troubled women coping with loss or loneliness in the independent dramas Wendy and Lucy (2008), Blue Valentine (2010), and Manchester by the Sea (2016). She won two Golden Globes for portraying Marilyn Monroe in the drama My Week with Marilyn (2011) and Gwen Verdon in the miniseries Fosse/Verdon (2019), in addition to a Primetime Emmy Award for the latter. Her highest-grossing releases came with the thriller Shutter Island (2010), the fantasy film Oz the Great and Powerful (2013), the musical The Greatest Showman (2017), and the superhero films Venom (2018) and Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021). Williams has also led major studio films, such as Ridley Scott's crime thriller All the Money in the World (2017) and Steven Spielberg's drama The Fabelmans (2022). On Broadway, Williams starred in revivals of the musical Cabaret in 2014 and the drama Blackbird in 2016, for which she received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play. She is an advocate for equal pay in the workplace. Consistently private about her personal life, Williams has a daughter from her relationship with actor Heath Ledger and was briefly married to musician Phil Elverum. She has two children with her second husband, theater director Thomas Kail.
Known For
Credits
- 2024 · Roller Jam as Self - Special Guest Judge
- 2023 · Deep Sky as Narrator (voice)
- 2023 · The Fabelmans: A Family in Film as Self
- 2022 · The Fabelmans as Mitzi Fabelman
- 2022 · Showing Up as Lizzy
- 2021 · Venom: Let There Be Carnage as Anne Weying
- 2020 · That Click as Self
- 2019 · After the Wedding as Isabel
- 2019 · Fosse/Verdon as Gwen Verdon
- 2018 · Venom as Anne Weying
- 2018 · Always at The Carlyle as Self (archive footage)
- 2018 · I Feel Pretty as Avery LeClair
- 2017 · All the Money in the World as Gail Harris
- 2017 · The Greatest Showman as Charity Barnum
- 2017 · Wonderstruck as Elaine
- 2016 · Manchester by the Sea as Randi Chandler
- 2016 · Project X as Narrator 2 (voice)
- 2016 · Certain Women as Gina
- 2015 · The Late Show with Stephen Colbert as
- 2015 · Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter as Self
- 2015 · Suite Française as Lucille Angellier
- 2014 · Variety Studio: Actors on Actors as Self
- 2013 · Letters to Jackie: Remembering President Kennedy as Narrator (voice)
- 2013 · Oz the Great and Powerful as Annie / Glinda
- 2012 · Ben Lee: Catch My Disease as Self
- 2011 · Take This Waltz as Margot
- 2011 · My Week with Marilyn as Marilyn Monroe
- 2011 · Meek's Cutoff as Emily Tetherow
- 2010 · Blue Valentine as Cindy
- 2010 · Shutter Island as Dolores
- 2009 · Cougar Town as Laurie's Foster Sister
- 2009 · Heath Ledger: A Tribute as Self
- 2009 · Mammoth as Ellen Vidales
- 2008 · Wendy and Lucy as Wendy
- 2008 · Synecdoche, New York as Claire Keen
- 2008 · Deception as S
- 2008 · Incendiary as Young Mother
- 2007 · I'm Not There as Coco Rivington
- 2007 · The Hawk Is Dying as Betty
- 2007 · The Graham Norton Show as Self
- 2006 · The Hottest State as Samantha
- 2005 · Brokeback Mountain as Alma Beers
- 2005 · The Baxter as Cecil Mills
- 2004 · Imaginary Heroes as Penny Travis
- 2004 · Land of Plenty as Lana
- 2004 · A Hole in One as Anna Watson
- 2003 · The Station Agent as Emily
- 2003 · Dawson's Creek - The Series Finale (Extended Cut) as Jen Lindley
- 2003 · The United States of Leland as Julie Pollard
- 2003 · Jimmy Kimmel Live! as Self
- 2001 · Me Without You as Holly
- 2001 · Prozac Nation as Ruby
- 2001 · Perfume as Halley
- 2000 · But I'm a Cheerleader as Kimberly
- 2000 · If These Walls Could Talk 2 as Linda
- 1999 · Dick as Arlene Lorenzo
- 1998 · Halloween H20: 20 Years Later as Molly Cartwell
- 1998 · Dawson's Creek as Jen Lindley
- 1997 · A Thousand Acres as Pammy
- 1997 · The View as Self
- 1997 · Killing Mr. Griffin as Maya
- 1996 · E! True Hollywood Story as Self (archive footage)
- 1996 · My Son Is Innocent as Donna
- 1995 · Species as Young Sil
- 1995 · Timemaster as Annie
- 1994 · Lassie as April Porter
- 1992 · The Tonight Show with Jay Leno as
- 1991 · Step by Step as
- 1991 · Home Improvement as Jessica Lutz
- 1989 · Baywatch as
- 1988 · LIVE with Kelly and Mark as Self - Guest
- 1984 · MTV Video Music Awards as Self
- 1953 · The Oscars as Self
- 2024 · Dying for Sex as Molly