Michelle Williams (actress) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Michelle Williams
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Williams in 2012
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Michelle Ingrid Williams
September 9, 1980 Kalispell, Montana, U.S.
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| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1993–present |
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Works
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Full list |
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| Partner(s) | Heath Ledger (2004–07) |
| Children | 4 |
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| Awards | Full list |
Michelle Ingrid Williams (born September 9, 1980) is an American actress. She is known for starring in smaller, independent movies, often with serious themes. She has won many awards, including two Golden Globe Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award. She has also been nominated for five Academy Awards and a Tony Award.
Williams is the daughter of politician and trader Larry R. Williams. She started her career with guest roles on TV. Her first movie was the family film Lassie in 1994. At age 15, she became legally independent from her parents to help her acting career. She became well-known for her role as Jen Lindley in the teen TV show Dawson's Creek (1998–2003). Her big break in movies came with the drama Brokeback Mountain (2005), which earned her an Academy Award nomination.
She has received praise for playing women facing difficult situations in dramas like Wendy and Lucy (2008), Blue Valentine (2010), and Manchester by the Sea (2016). She won Golden Globes for playing Marilyn Monroe in My Week with Marilyn (2011) and dancer Gwen Verdon in the TV miniseries Fosse/Verdon (2019).
Her highest-earning movies include the thriller Shutter Island (2010), the fantasy film Oz the Great and Powerful (2013), the musical The Greatest Showman (2017), and the superhero movies Venom (2018) and Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021). She also starred in Steven Spielberg's drama The Fabelmans (2022).
On Broadway, Williams has starred in the musical Cabaret (2014) and the play Blackbird (2016). She also speaks out for equal pay for men and women. Williams is private about her personal life. She has a daughter from her relationship with actor Heath Ledger. She is now married to theater director Thomas Kail, and they have three children together.
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Life and Career
1980–1995: Early Life and First Roles
Michelle Ingrid Williams was born on September 9, 1980, in Kalispell, Montana. Her mother, Carla, was a homemaker, and her father, Larry R. Williams, was an author and trader. Her father also ran for the United States Senate twice. Williams loved growing up in Montana, where her father taught her to fish, shoot, and read.
When she was nine, her family moved to San Diego, California. She became interested in acting after seeing a local play. Her parents drove her to Los Angeles for auditions. Her first TV role was in a 1993 episode of Baywatch. The next year, she was in the movie Lassie. She also had small roles in TV shows like Step by Step and Home Improvement.
Williams wanted to focus on acting, so she left her regular school. At age fifteen, she filed for emancipation. This meant she became a legal adult. It allowed her to work longer hours as an actress without being limited by child labor laws. She finished her high school education in just nine months.
1996–2003: Dawson's Creek and Film Roles
After becoming emancipated, Williams moved to Los Angeles. In 1998, she landed a main role in the teen drama Dawson's Creek. She played Jen Lindley, a teenager from New York who moves to a small town. The show also starred James Van Der Beek, Katie Holmes, and Joshua Jackson. It was very popular and made Williams famous. The show was filmed in Wilmington, North Carolina, where she lived for six years.
While filming Dawson's Creek, Williams also acted in movies. She appeared in the horror film Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998). She also had a role in the comedy Dick (1999), a funny take on the Watergate scandal. She said that working on Dawson's Creek was like "the best acting class." The show gave her the financial security to choose interesting roles in independent films.
In 2000, she appeared in the HBO TV film If These Walls Could Talk 2. After Dawson's Creek ended in 2003, Williams moved to New York City. She had roles in two well-received independent films that year: The United States of Leland and The Station Agent. For The Station Agent, the cast was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award.
2004–2010: Breakthrough and Acclaimed Roles
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Williams's career reached a new level in 2005 with the movie Brokeback Mountain. The film is a drama about a complex relationship between two men, played by Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal. Williams played Alma, the wife of Ledger's character. Her performance was highly praised. The movie was a big success, and Williams received her first nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
While working on the film, Williams and Heath Ledger began a relationship. They lived together in Brooklyn, New York, and had a daughter, Matilda, in 2005.
In the following years, Williams focused on independent films. She starred in Wendy and Lucy (2008), playing a lonely young woman searching for work. The film was made with a small budget, and her performance was praised for being quiet and powerful.
In 2008, while she was filming a movie in Sweden, Heath Ledger passed away. Williams took a year off from work to focus on her daughter.
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In 2010, she starred in two major films. The first was Martin Scorsese's thriller Shutter Island, alongside Leonardo DiCaprio. The movie was a box office hit. Her second film was the romantic drama Blue Valentine, with Ryan Gosling. The film shows the beginning and end of a marriage. For her powerful acting, Williams was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress.
2011–2016: My Week with Marilyn and Broadway Debut
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In 2011, Williams took on the role of the iconic actress Marilyn Monroe in My Week with Marilyn. To prepare, she spent six months researching Monroe's life. She read her diaries, watched her movies, and studied how she moved and spoke. Her hard work paid off. Critics loved her performance, and she won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress. She also received another Oscar nomination.
Next, Williams starred as the good witch Glinda in Disney's Oz the Great and Powerful (2013). The fantasy film was a prequel to The Wizard of Oz and became one of her biggest box office hits.
In 2014, Williams made her debut on Broadway in a revival of the musical Cabaret. She played the lead role of Sally Bowles, a performer in 1930s Berlin. Two years later, she returned to Broadway in the play Blackbird. Her performance earned her a nomination for a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play.
Williams returned to film in 2016 with Manchester by the Sea. She played Randi, the ex-wife of a man, played by Casey Affleck, dealing with a family tragedy. Although her role was small, one of her scenes was called the highlight of the film. Her performance earned her a fourth Oscar nomination.
2017–2022: Mainstream Success and Fosse/Verdon
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In 2017, Williams starred in the hit musical The Greatest Showman with Hugh Jackman. She played Charity, the wife of circus creator P. T. Barnum. The movie was a worldwide success. That same year, she starred in the thriller All the Money in the World. For this role, she received another Golden Globe nomination. During reshoots for the film, it was reported that her male co-star was paid much more than she was. This started a public conversation about the gender pay gap in Hollywood.
In 2018, Williams played Anne Weying in the superhero movie Venom, starring Tom Hardy. The movie was a massive box office hit, earning over $855 million worldwide. She returned for the sequel, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, in 2021.
Williams returned to television in 2019 for the miniseries Fosse/Verdon. She played Gwen Verdon, a famous Broadway dancer and actress. Williams also served as an executive producer on the show. Her performance was highly praised, and she won both a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award.
In 2018, Williams married musician Phil Elverum, but they divorced the next year. She later married theater director Thomas Kail in 2020. They have three children together, born in 2020, 2022, and 2025.
In 2022, Williams starred in The Fabelmans, a film by Steven Spielberg based on his own childhood. She played a character inspired by Spielberg's mother. Critics called her performance "great," and she earned her fifth Oscar nomination.
2023–present: Recent Work
After The Fabelmans, Williams took a break from acting. In 2023, she narrated the audiobook for Britney Spears's memoir, The Woman in Me.
She returned to acting in the 2025 FX miniseries Dying .... The series is about a woman who explores her life after being diagnosed with a serious illness. Williams will also return to the stage in a revival of the play Anna Christie from late 2025 to early 2026.
Acting Credits and Awards
Some of Williams's most successful and acclaimed films include Brokeback Mountain (2005), Shutter Island (2010), My Week with Marilyn (2011), Oz the Great and Powerful (2013), Manchester by the Sea (2016), The Greatest Showman (2017), the Venom films, and The Fabelmans (2022).
She has been nominated for five Academy Awards. She has won two Golden Globe Awards: one for My Week with Marilyn and another for Fosse/Verdon. She also won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie for Fosse/Verdon and was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for the play Blackbird.
See also
In Spanish: Michelle Williams (actriz) para niños
