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 (2004–2007) |
| Children | 3 |
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| Awards | Full list |
Michelle Ingrid Williams (born September 9, 1980) is an American actress. She is well-known for her roles in smaller, independent movies. These films often explore serious or emotional topics. Michelle 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.
Michelle is the daughter of Larry R. Williams, who was a politician and trader. She started acting with small TV roles. Her first movie was Lassie in 1994. When she was fifteen, she became legally independent from her parents. This helped her focus on her acting career. Soon after, she became famous for playing Jen Lindley in the TV show Dawson's Creek (1998–2003).
After Dawson's Creek, Michelle acted in several smaller films. Her big breakthrough came with the drama Brokeback Mountain (2005). This movie earned her first Academy Award nomination. She received praise for playing strong women dealing with sadness or loneliness. These roles were in independent dramas like Wendy and Lucy (2008) and Manchester by the Sea (2016).
Michelle won Golden Globes for playing Marilyn Monroe in My Week with Marilyn (2011) and Gwen Verdon in the TV series Fosse/Verdon (2019). She also won a Primetime Emmy Award for Fosse/Verdon. Some of her most successful movies include Shutter Island (2010), Oz the Great and Powerful (2013), and The Greatest Showman (2017). She also appeared in superhero films like Venom (2018) and Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021). Michelle has also starred in big studio films like All the Money in the World (2017) and Steven Spielberg's The Fabelmans (2022).
On Broadway, Michelle starred in plays like Cabaret (2014) and Blackbird (2016). For Blackbird, she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play. Michelle supports equal pay for everyone in the workplace. She keeps her personal life private. She has a daughter with actor Heath Ledger. She was married to musician Phil Elverum for a short time. She has two more children with her second husband, theater director Thomas Kail.
Life and Career Highlights
Early Life and First Roles (1980–1995)
Michelle Ingrid Williams was born on September 9, 1980, in Kalispell, Montana. Her mother, Carla, was a homemaker. Her father, Larry R. Williams, was an author and a trader of goods. Michelle's family has lived in Montana for many generations. Her father ran for the United States Senate twice but did not win.
Michelle grew up in Kalispell with her three older half-siblings and her younger sister, Paige. She felt a special connection with her father. He taught her to fish and encouraged her to read a lot. Michelle remembers her childhood in Montana fondly. When she was nine, her family moved to San Diego, California. She found her preteen years there a bit challenging and often kept to herself.
Michelle became interested in acting after seeing a local play called The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. She performed in a play called Annie. Her parents would drive her from San Diego to Los Angeles for auditions. Her first TV role was in 1993 on Baywatch. The next year, she made her movie debut in Lassie. She played the love interest of the main character.
She then had guest roles on TV shows like Step by Step and Home Improvement. In 1995, she played a younger version of an alien in the science fiction movie Species.
By 1995, Michelle had finished ninth grade. She decided to leave school and study at home to focus on acting. At age fifteen, with her parents' permission, she became legally independent. This allowed her to work more easily without strict child labor laws. She finished high school quickly through a special program. Later, she wished she had experienced a more traditional education.
Dawson's Creek and Growing Up (1996–2000)
After becoming independent, Michelle moved to Los Angeles and lived alone. She took roles in smaller films and commercials to support herself. She appeared in TV movies like My Son is Innocent (1996) and Killing Mr. Griffin (1997). She also had a role in the drama A Thousand Acres (1997). Michelle later said she took these early roles just to earn money.
In 1997, Michelle was not happy with the roles she was offered. She worked with two other actors to write a movie script, but it was never made. When she was seventeen, Michelle entered a trading competition. She had learned about trading from her father. She won the competition, making a lot of money. She was the first woman to win this title.
In 1998, Michelle started her famous role in the TV show Dawson's Creek. She played Jen Lindley, a teenager from New York who moves to a small town. The show was filmed in Wilmington, North Carolina, where Michelle lived for six years. Dawson's Creek was very popular and made Michelle well-known. Her first movie after starting Dawson's Creek was Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998). This horror film was a financial success.
Michelle has said that Dawson's Creek was like "the best acting class." However, she also felt her personal taste was different from the show's style. She filmed the series for nine months each year. During the other months, she chose to act in independent films. She felt these roles suited her better. She said the steady income from Dawson's Creek allowed her to take on these more artistic projects.
In 1999, she appeared in the comedy Dick, a parody about the Watergate scandal. She and Kirsten Dunst played teenagers obsessed with Richard Nixon. She also had a small part in But I'm a Cheerleader, a comedy. Michelle wanted to play more challenging roles for adults. In 1999, she starred in an off-Broadway play called Killer Joe. Her next role was in the TV movie If These Walls Could Talk 2 (2000).
Independent Films and Brokeback Mountain (2001–2005)
In 2001, Michelle starred in the British film Me Without You. She played Holly, a shy book lover. Critics praised her performance and her British accent. The next year, she acted in a play called Smelling a Rat. She also had a supporting role in Prozac Nation, a drama based on a real-life story.
Dawson's Creek ended in 2003, and Michelle was ready for new challenges. She moved to New York City. That year, she had supporting roles in two art-house films: The United States of Leland and The Station Agent. In The Station Agent, she played a librarian. The film was highly praised, and the cast was nominated for an award. In 2004, Michelle played Varya in a play called The Cherry Orchard.
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In 2004, Michelle starred in Land of Plenty, a film about life in America after the 9/11 events. She was nominated for an award for her role. She also appeared in Imaginary Heroes and A Hole in One. Michelle returned to comedy with The Baxter. Critics noted that she made the movie feel more real and funny. However, these films were not widely released.
Michelle's big breakthrough came in 2005 with Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain. The director was impressed by her acting in The Station Agent and cast her as Alma. Michelle was deeply moved by the story. Even though her role was not huge, she was drawn to playing a woman limited by society's rules at the time. Brokeback Mountain became her most watched film, earning $178 million. It won three Academy Awards, and Michelle received a Best Supporting Actress nomination.
Michelle started dating actor Heath Ledger while working on Brokeback Mountain. They lived together in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, New York. In 2005, their daughter, Matilda, was born.
Working with Directors (2006–2010)
Michelle had two films released in 2006. She starred with Paul Giamatti in The Hawk Is Dying. Five months after her daughter was born, she worked on The Hottest State, directed by Ethan Hawke. After the success of Brokeback Mountain, Michelle took some time to decide her next steps. She chose a small role in Todd Haynes's I'm Not There (2007), a musical inspired by Bob Dylan.
She then appeared in the crime thriller Deception (2008) with Hugh Jackman and Ewan McGregor. Critics found the film average. In her next movie, Incendiary, she worked with McGregor again.
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Michelle's other two films in 2008 were better received. Director Charlie Kaufman cast her in his first film, Synecdoche, New York. This experimental drama starred Philip Seymour Hoffman. It was not a box office hit, but some critics called it one of the best films of the decade. Soon after, Michelle filmed Wendy and Lucy, directed by Kelly Reichardt. She played a poor young woman traveling with her dog, looking for work. The film had a very small budget and was shot in Portland, Oregon. Michelle had just separated from Heath Ledger and found comfort in the project's quiet nature. Critics praised her performance for its depth and stillness.
Michelle was filming Mammoth (2009) in Sweden when she learned that Heath Ledger had passed away. She continued filming but later said she didn't remember much of that time. In a public statement, she shared her heartbreak and said Heath's spirit lived on in their daughter.
Mammoth was directed by Lukas Moodysson. Michelle played a surgeon, a role she felt was too old for her at the time. In the same year, she appeared with Natalie Portman in a short film. For her next project, Martin Scorsese cast her with Leonardo DiCaprio in the thriller Shutter Island. This big movie was a new experience for her. She took a year off to focus on her daughter. Shutter Island was released in 2010 and was a huge success, earning over $294 million worldwide.
Michelle had read the script for Blue Valentine when she was 21. When the movie finally got funding years later, she was hesitant to accept because filming in California would take her away from her daughter. The director, Derek Cianfrance, decided to film near Brooklyn, where Michelle lived, so she could be in the movie. She starred with Ryan Gosling as a married couple facing difficulties. Before filming, Michelle and Ryan lived together for a month to understand their characters better. They also used method acting, improvising many scenes. The film premiered to great reviews. Michelle was nominated for Best Actress at the Academy Award and Golden Globe Award ceremonies.
In her last film of 2010, Michelle worked with Kelly Reichardt again on the western Meek's Cutoff. Set in 1845, it tells the story of a wagon train lost in the desert. Michelle played one of the passengers. She learned to fire a gun and knit for the role. Filming in the desert was difficult, but she enjoyed the challenge.
My Week with Marilyn and Broadway (2011–2016)
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In 2011, Michelle starred as the famous actress Marilyn Monroe in My Week with Marilyn. The movie showed the challenges of making a 1957 comedy. Michelle was unsure about playing Monroe at first because they looked and acted differently. She spent six months researching Monroe's life, reading books and studying her movements. She also gained weight, bleached her hair blonde, and spent hours in makeup. She sang three songs for the movie's soundtrack. Critics highly praised Michelle's performance. They said she captured Monroe's personality, strengths, and insecurities. For this role, she won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress and received another Oscar nomination.
In Sarah Polley's film Take This Waltz (2011), Michelle played a writer. To choose a role that her daughter would enjoy, Michelle starred as Glinda in Sam Raimi's fantasy movie Oz the Great and Powerful (2013). This film was based on the Oz children's books and was a prequel to The Wizard of Oz. It was her first time in a movie with many special effects. The film earned over $490 million worldwide, making it one of her highest-grossing movies.
A period drama Michelle filmed in 2013, Suite Française, was released in some countries in 2015 but not in America. Michelle later said she was not happy with how the film turned out. She wanted to try a different type of acting and found it hard to get movie roles that fit her family life. So, she spent the next few years working on stage.
Michelle wanted to star in a musical. This led her to play Sally Bowles in a 2014 revival of Cabaret on Broadway. The musical tells the story of a performer in 1930s Berlin as the Nazi Party rises. She spent four months preparing with music and dance coaches. She also visited Berlin to research the musical's background. Her performance received mixed reviews. Michelle considered Cabaret her most challenging project.
After Cabaret, Michelle wanted to continue working on stage. She found a role in a 2016 revival of the play Blackbird. Critics praised her brave and understanding portrayal of her character. She received a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play nomination for Blackbird.
Michelle returned to films in 2016 with supporting roles in two dramas: Certain Women and Manchester by the Sea. Certain Women was her third time working with director Kelly Reichardt. In this film, Michelle had to act a lot through silence, as there was little dialogue. For Manchester by the Sea, Michelle wanted to work with director Kenneth Lonergan. She visited Manchester to talk to local mothers about their lives. She also learned a Massachusetts accent. She received her fourth Oscar nomination for this role.
Mainstream Films and TV Success (2017–Present)
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After a small role in Wonderstruck (2017), Michelle appeared in the musical The Greatest Showman. She played Charity, the wife of P. T. Barnum (played by Hugh Jackman). She sang two songs for the film's soundtrack. The movie was very successful, earning over $434 million worldwide.
Ridley Scott's crime thriller All the Money in the World (2017) was Michelle's first main film role since 2013. She played Gail Harris, whose son is kidnapped. She saw this as a big chance, as she had not starred in a large Hollywood movie before. A month before the film's release, the actor playing J. Paul Getty was replaced, and Michelle had to reshoot her scenes quickly. Critics praised her "marvelous performance," noting how she showed her character's sadness through her body and voice. She received her fifth Golden Globe nomination. Later, it was reported that her co-star was paid much more than her for the reshoots. This led to discussions about the gender pay gap in Hollywood.
In 2018, Michelle married musician Phil Elverum in a private ceremony. Her first film role that year was in the comedy I Feel Pretty. She played a boss who was proud but also insecure. Critics called it "the funniest performance of her career." The film was a moderate success. Michelle also played Anne Weying in the superhero film Venom, starring Tom Hardy. Venom earned over $855 million worldwide, becoming Michelle's highest-grossing film.
Michelle returned to the Sundance Film Festival in 2019 with After the Wedding. This was a remake of a Danish film, where she and Julianne Moore played roles originally played by men. Michelle's first main TV role since Dawson's Creek was in Fosse/Verdon (2019). This miniseries was about the relationship between Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon. Michelle felt her experience in Cabaret helped her play Verdon. She also helped produce the series and was happy to receive equal pay to her co-star Sam Rockwell. Critics praised Michelle for showing Verdon's dedication to her art while also showing her emotional struggles. She won the Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a TV Miniseries.
Phil Elverum and Michelle divorced in April 2019. She later said the marriage was a "mistake." Later in 2019, Michelle became engaged to theater director Thomas Kail, whom she worked with on Fosse/Verdon. They married in March 2020. She gave birth to their son in 2020 and another child in 2022.
In 2021, Michelle returned as Anne Weying in the superhero sequel Venom: Let There Be Carnage. The film received mixed reviews but earned over $500 million worldwide. In her fourth collaboration with Kelly Reichardt, Michelle starred in the drama Showing Up (2022). For her role as a sculptor, she spent time with a real artist. Critics said Michelle "thrives more intelligently than ever" in this film.
Later in 2022, Michelle starred in The Fabelmans, Steven Spielberg's film about his own childhood. She played Mitzi Fabelman, a character inspired by his mother. Spielberg had thought of her for the role after seeing her in Blue Valentine. Michelle listened to recordings and watched home movies of Spielberg's childhood to prepare. The film was highly praised. Critics called Michelle's performance "gut-wrenchingly great" and said she "really goes for it." She received more Best Actress nominations for Golden Globe and Academy Awards.
After filming The Fabelmans, Michelle took a break from acting for two and a half years. In 2023, singer Britney Spears asked Michelle to narrate the audiobook version of her memoir, The Woman in Me.
Acting Credits and Awards
Michelle Williams has starred in many successful and critically acclaimed films. These include The Station Agent (2003), Brokeback Mountain (2005), Wendy and Lucy (2008), Blue Valentine (2010), Shutter Island (2010), Meek's Cutoff (2010), My Week with Marilyn (2011), Oz the Great and Powerful (2013), Manchester by the Sea (2016), Certain Women (2016), The Greatest Showman (2017), Venom (2018), Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021), and The Fabelmans (2022).
On stage, she has performed on Broadway in Cabaret (2014) and Blackbird (2016).
Michelle has received five Academy Award nominations. These include Best Supporting Actress for Brokeback Mountain (2005) and Manchester by the Sea (2016). She was also nominated for Best Actress for Blue Valentine (2010), My Week with Marilyn (2011), and The Fabelmans (2022).
She won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress for My Week with Marilyn (2011). She also won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film for Fosse/Verdon (2019). Michelle has been nominated for five other Golden Globe Awards.
Michelle also won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie for Fosse/Verdon (2019). She was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her role in Blackbird.
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See also
In Spanish: Michelle Williams (actriz) para niños
