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 three Golden Globe Awards, two Actor Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award, in addition to nominations for five Academy Awards, four BAFTA Awards and a Tony Award. Williams, 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 as Jen Lindley 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), which earned Williams her first Academy Award nomination. Williams received 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 has won three Golden Globes: for her portrayal of Marilyn Monroe in the drama My Week with Marilyn (2011), Gwen Verdon in the miniseries Fosse/Verdon (2019), and a woman with terminal cancer in the miniseries Dying for Sex (2025), as well as a Primetime Emmy Award for Fosse/Verdon. 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 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 three children with her second husband, theater director Thomas Kail. Description above from the Wikipedia article Michelle Williams (actress), licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Filmography

• 2027A Place in Hell
• Dying for Sex — Molly Kochan, Executive Producer
• 2023Deep Sky — Narrator (voice)
• 2023Showing Up — Lizzy
• 2022The Fabelmans — Mitzi Fabelman
• 2021Venom: Let There Be Carnage — Anne Weying
• 2019After the Wedding — Isabel
• Fosse/Verdon — Gwen Verdon, Executive Producer
• 2018I Feel Pretty — Avery LeClair
• 2018Venom — Anne Weying
• 2017All the Money in the World — Gail Harris
• 2017The Greatest Showman — Charity Barnum
• 2017Wonderstruck — Elaine
• 2016Certain Women — Gina
• 2016Manchester by the Sea — Randi Chandler
• 2016Project X — Narrator 2 (voice)
• 2015Suite Française — Lucille Angellier
• The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
• 2013My Journey in Oz — Self, Thanks
• 2013Oz the Great and Powerful — Annie / Glinda
• 2011Meek's Cutoff — Emily Tetherow
• 2011My Week with Marilyn — Marilyn Monroe, Songs
• 2011Take This Waltz — Margot
• 2010Blue Valentine — Cindy, Executive Producer
• 2010Shutter Island — Dolores
• Cougar Town — Laurie's Foster Sister
• 2009Mammoth — Ellen Vidales
• 2009Where the Wild Things Are — Thanks
• 2008Deception — S
• 2008Incendiary — Young Mother
• 2008Synecdoche, New York — Claire Keen
• 2008Wendy and Lucy — Wendy Carroll
• 2007I'm Not There — Coco Rivington
• 2007The Hawk Is Dying — Betty
• 2007The Hottest State — Samantha
• 2005Brokeback Mountain — Alma Beers
• 2005The Baxter — Cecil Mills
• 2004A Hole in One — Anna Watson
• 2004Imaginary Heroes — Penny Travis
• 2004Land of Plenty — Lana
• 2003Heart of America — Third Assistant Director
• 2003Prozac Nation — Ruby
• 2003The Station Agent — Emily
• 2003The United States of Leland — Julie Pollard
• 2001Me Without You — Holly
• 2001Perfume — Halley
• 2000But I'm a Cheerleader — Kimberly
• 2000If These Walls Could Talk 2 — Linda
• 1999Dick — Arlene Lorenzo
• Dawson's Creek — Jen Lindley
• 1998Halloween H20: 20 Years Later — Molly
• 1997A Thousand Acres — Pammy
• 1997Killing Mr. Griffin — Maya
• 1996My Son Is Innocent — Donna
• 1995Species — Young Sil
• 1995Timemaster — Annie
• 1994Lassie — April Porter
• The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
• Home Improvement — Jessica Lutz
• Step by Step — J.J.
• Baywatch
• Evel Knievel on Tour
• Nice Fish
• Sacrifice

Appearances as themselves (21)

• Off Script with The Hollywood Reporter — Self
• 2023The Fabelmans: A Family in Film — Self
• 2019That Click — Self
• The Kelly Clarkson Show — Self
• Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter — Self
• Variety Studio: Actors on Actors — Self
• 2012Ben Lee: Catch My Disease — Self
• 2009Heath Ledger: A Tribute — Self
• Late Night with Jimmy Fallon — Self - Guest
• Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen — Self - Guest
• The Graham Norton Show — Self
• Jimmy Kimmel Live! — Self
• The Ellen DeGeneres Show — Self
• The View — Self
• E! True Hollywood Story — Self (archive footage)
• LIVE with Kelly and Mark — Self - Guest
• MTV Video Music Awards — Self
• The Oscars — Self
• The Emmy Awards — Self
• Golden Globe Awards — Self - Nominee
• Jodi Lyn O'Keefe: A Life on Screen — Self (archive footage)