American Actress Michelle Williams began her career as a teen TV idol on the sitcom Dawson’s Creek. At the age of 15, the actress freed herself from her family in order to further her career in Hollywood. She went on to win Oscars for her roles in Brokeback Mountain (2005), Blue Valentine (2010), My Week with Marilyn (2011), and Manchester by the Sea (2016).
Early Life and Emancipation
Michelle Williams was born in Kalispell, Montana, on September 9, 1980, to Carla and Larry Williams. Williams’ family, which included his younger sister, Paige, relocated to San Diego when he was nine years old. Many of her peers in Southern California were pursuing modest acting roles, such as commercials, and Williams decided she, too, wanted to act.
She went to a variety of schools throughout the years, including a Christian school, but ultimately concluded that completing her GED at home would be the most practical step for her acting career. With a GED, she might be legally emancipated from her parents, allowing her to work longer hours on set than a minor could.
Williams was liberated at the age of 15. She underlines that the change was made to offer Williams a better chance at a career, and it quickly paid off.
Breakout Role on ‘Dawson’s Creek’
Michelle Williams received her first prominent role at the age of 16 as the troubled adolescent Jen Lindley on the hit teen program Dawson’s Creek, where she stayed from 1998 until 2003. The sitcom made stars out of its teen characters, but the experience was mixed for Williams, who feared being stereotyped as a “pop tart” and was already planning her next move.
“I said to a friend [that] being on Dawson’s Creek was kind of like being a mobster,” she explained. “You set up a shop selling pizza, but in the back you’re laundering money. You’re doing one thing in plain sight and secretly plotting something else. I was plotting my tastes, my interests, my beliefs and hopes for what I could be.”
Launching Film Career: ‘Dick’ and ‘Prozac Nation’
While on hiatus from filming Dawson’s Creek, Williams lived in New York City and worked toward her bigger goals. She took parts in a variety of movies, ranging from comedy (Dick, with Kirsten Dunst) to horror (Halloween H20: 20 Years Later). She found her calling, though, in independent films such as Me Without You, Prozac Nation and The Station Agent.
“I remember when I was 18 and I was offered this play called Killer Joe, and I was also offered a movie about cheerleaders who carry guns,” Williams explains. “And Killer Joe was, I don’t know, maybe a 200-seat house, making scale. And the cheerleader movie was the kind of money that you can live off of for a long time to come. And I remember seeing the paths diverge. And I remember how easy the choice was. And so to me that feels like the beginning. That feels like where I began to develop my taste. I did the play, obviously.”
Oscar Nomination for ‘Brokeback Mountain’
Michelle Williams’ big break in the film industry came in 2005, when she played the wife of a gay rancher in Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain. The film was a critical and commercial success, and Williams received her first Academy Award nomination for supporting actress for the role. That year also marked a personal milestone for Williams: she married Brokeback Mountain co-star Heath Ledger and gave birth to their daughter, Mathilda Rose, on October 28.
Heath Ledger’s Death
When Williams and Ledger divorced in the fall of 2007, her personal life became difficult. Ledger died tragically of a prescription drug overdose in 2008, leaving Williams to deal with both her personal grief for her child’s father and the intrusion of the paparazzi into her life.
“I experienced a lot of loss after his death,” she said. “I lost my city because of all the paparazzi descending upon us. I actually lost my journal during that time, oddly enough … Things were just streaming away from me. I lost my sense of humor. I’m still sort of looking for that.”
Williams later described the year following Ledger’s death as a “year of magical thinking … In a strange way, I miss that year, because all those possibilities that existed then are gone. It didn’t seem unlikely to me that he could walk through a door or could appear behind a bush.”
‘Wendy and Lucy,’ ‘Blue Valentine,’ ‘My Week with Marilyn’
Michelle Williams overcame her sadness by devoting herself to her profession for a year, delivering four films in quick succession. In 2008, she attended the Cannes feature Festival to promote two films: Charlie Kaufman’s Synecdoche, New York and Kelly Reichardt’s critically praised independent feature Wendy and Lucy. She then appeared in Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island alongside Leonardo DiCaprio.
Williams co-starred in the 2010 romantic comedy Blue Valentine with Ryan Gosling. She was nominated for an Academy Award yet again, this time for best actress. Williams starred in another Kelly Reichardt film, Meek’s Cutoff, in 2011, as one of a group of pioneers who were lost in the Oregon Territory in 1845.
Williams’ principal role is generally defined as a mother, yet she continues to perform in a range of films, easily transitioning from roles in low-budget small films to popular productions. Her portrayal of Marilyn Monroe in My Week with Marilyn was one of her most well-known successes. Her portrayal of the late Hollywood sex symbol earned her numerous positive reviews and professional honors, including a Golden Globe Award and her third Oscar nomination.
Williams went on to play the good witch Glinda in the 2013 fantasy blockbuster Oz the Great and Powerful, opposite James Franco. Suite Francaise (2014), an art-house war film, was her next effort.
‘Manchester by the Sea’ and ‘All the Money in the World’
In Manchester by the Sea, Williams played the ex-wife of a janitor, Casey Affleck, and they both suffered a heartbreaking loss. For her performance, she got Golden Globe and Oscar nominations.
In 2017, Williams received critical acclaim for her performance in the J. Paul Getty biopic All the Money in the World, for which she received another Golden Globe nomination, and she also played the wife of Hugh Jackman’s P.T. Barnum in The Greatest Showman.It was on to the big-budget superhero industry the next year, with a starring role in Venom.
Stage Roles and Return to TV in ‘Fosse/Verdon’
Williams’ Broadway credits include her 2014 Broadway debut as Sally Bowles in the revival of Cabaret, co-starring Alan Cumming, and her 2016 Broadway return in the renowned drama Blackbird, co-starring Jeff Daniels. Both roles earned Williams Tony nominations.
Williams was revealed in July 2018 that she would return to television the following spring in the FX limited series Fosse/Verdon, about Broadway star Gwen Verdon and her famed choreographer husband Bob Fosse (played by Sam Rockwell). Her performance was a critical success, earning her Emmy and Golden Globe nominations.
Personal Life
In the September 2018 issue of Vanity Fair, Williams claimed that she had secretly married indie musician Phil Elverum in the Adirondacks.
“Obviously I’ve never once in my life talked about a relationship,” she told the publication. “But Phil isn’t anyone else. And that’s worth something. Ultimately the way he loves me is the way I want to live my life on the whole. I work to be free inside of the moment. I parent to let Matilda feel free to be herself, and I am finally loved by someone who makes me feel free.”
Despite her intense feelings at the moment, their relationship cooled over the next few months, and the pair parted in April 2019.
Williams confirmed her pregnancy and engagement to Fosse/Verdon director Thomas Kail in December 2019.