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 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.