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Michelle Williams

Actor

Michelle Williams

Born September 9, 1980 in Kalispell, Montana, USA50 films

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.

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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.

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Shutter Island posterFirst watchShutter Island20108.2as DoloresWorld War II soldier-turned-U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels investigates the disappearance of a patient from a hospital for the criminally insane, but his efforts are compromised by troubling…View film

Essential films

Ranked by acclaim and reach
The Greatest Showman poster7.9The Greatest Showman2017Brokeback Mountain poster7.8Brokeback Mountain2005Venom poster6.8Venom2018Manchester by the Sea poster7.5Manchester by the Sea2016Venom: Let There Be Carnage poster6.7Venom: Let There Be Carnage2021The Fabelmans poster7.6The Fabelmans2022Blue Valentine poster7.0Blue Valentine2010Synecdoche, New York poster7.5Synecdoche, New York2008

Filmography

50 films as actor
  1. TBAEvel Knievel on Tour
  2. TBANice Fish
  3. 2027Sacrifice
  4. 2027A Place in Hell
  5. 2023Showing UpLizzy
  6. 2022The FabelmansMitzi Fabelman
  7. 2021Venom: Let There Be CarnageAnne Weying
  8. 2019After the WeddingIsabel
  9. 2018VenomAnne Weying
  10. 2018I Feel PrettyAvery LeClair
  11. 2017All the Money in the WorldGail Harris
  12. 2017The Greatest ShowmanCharity Barnum
  13. 2017WonderstruckElaine
  14. 2016Manchester by the SeaRandi Chandler
  15. 2016Certain WomenGina
  16. 2015Suite FrançaiseLucille Angellier
  17. 2013Oz the Great and PowerfulAnnie / Glinda
  18. 2011Take This WaltzMargot
  19. 2011My Week with MarilynMarilyn Monroe
  20. 2011Meek's CutoffEmily Tetherow
  21. 2010Blue ValentineCindy
  22. 2010Shutter IslandDolores
  23. 2009MammothEllen Vidales
  24. 2008Wendy and LucyWendy Carroll
  25. 2008Synecdoche, New YorkClaire Keen
  26. 2008DeceptionS
  27. 2008IncendiaryYoung Mother
  28. 2007I'm Not ThereCoco Rivington
  29. 2007The Hottest StateSamantha
  30. 2007The Hawk Is DyingBetty
  31. 2005Brokeback MountainAlma Beers
  32. 2005The BaxterCecil Mills
  33. 2004Imaginary HeroesPenny Travis
  34. 2004Land of PlentyLana
  35. 2004A Hole in OneAnna Watson
  36. 2003The Station AgentEmily
  37. 2003Prozac NationRuby
  38. 2003The United States of LelandJulie Pollard
  39. 2001Me Without YouHolly
  40. 2001PerfumeHalley
  41. 2000But I'm a CheerleaderKimberly
  42. 2000If These Walls Could Talk 2Linda
  43. 1999DickArlene Lorenzo
  44. 1998Halloween H20: 20 Years LaterMolly
  45. 1997A Thousand AcresPammy
  46. 1997Killing Mr. GriffinMaya
  47. 1996My Son Is InnocentDonna
  48. 1995SpeciesYoung Sil
  49. 1995TimemasterAnnie
  50. 1994LassieApril Porter