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Michelle Ingrid Williams (born September 9, 1980 in Kalispell, Montana) is an American actress who first rose to fame in the late '90s playing bad girl Jen Lindley on the hit series ''Series/DawsonsCreek''. After the show ended, she jumped to the silver screen with roles in such films as ''Film/{{Dick}}'', ''Prozac Nation'', and ''Film/TheStationAgent'', and also gained critical acclaim for several independent films before taking the role that would establish her as an A-list talent, the long-suffering Alma Beers in 2005's ''Film/BrokebackMountain''.

On the set of ''Brokeback Mountain'', she [[RomanceOnTheSet met and began dating]] Australian actor Creator/HeathLedger, and a year later Williams gave birth to a daughter, Matilda Rose Ledger. The couple stayed together until 2007, separating amicably. After Ledger's death in 2008, Williams withdrew from public life for a time, but did have a starring role in the poorly-received Swedish film ''Film/{{Mammoth}}''.

In 2010, Williams returned to the screen with a critically acclaimed lead role in the romantic drama ''Film/BlueValentine'', and also appeared in the Creator/LeonardoDiCaprio thriller ''Film/ShutterIsland''. 2011 saw her take the title role of Creator/MarilynMonroe in ''Film/MyWeekWithMarilyn'', and her performance drew extensive praise and award nominations. In 2013 she played the good witch Glinda in Creator/SamRaimi's ''Film/OzTheGreatAndPowerful'' opposite Creator/JamesFranco and Creator/MilaKunis.

In 2019 she played actor and dancer Gwen Verdon in the miniseries ''Series/FosseVerdon''. The following year she married ''Fosse/Verdon'' director Thomas Kail, with whom she has two children.

Not to be confused with the singer Music/MichelleWilliams of Music/DestinysChild.
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!!Filmography
* ''Series/{{Baywatch}}'' (1993-1994) as Bridget Bowers / Hobie's Groupie
* ''Franchise/{{Lassie}}'' (1994) as April Porter
* ''Series/StepByStep'' (1994) as J.J.
* ''Series/HomeImprovement'' (1995) as Jessica Lutz
* ''Film/{{Species}}'' (1995) as Young Sil
* ''Series/DawsonsCreek'' (1998-2003) as Jennifer "Jen" Lindley
* ''Film/HalloweenH20TwentyYearsLater'' (1998) as Molly Cartwell
* ''Film/{{Dick}}'' (1999) as Arlene Lorenzo
* ''Film/ButImACheerleader'' (1999) as Kimberly
* ''Film/IfTheseWallsCouldTalk2'' (2000) as Linda
* ''Film/TheStationAgent'' (2003) as Emily
* ''Film/TheBaxter'' (2005) as Cecil Mills
* ''Film/BrokebackMountain'' (2005) as Alma Beers
* ''Film/ImNotThere'' (2007) as Coco Rivington
* ''Film/SynecdocheNewYork'' (2008) as Claire Keen
* ''Film/{{Mammoth}}'' (2009) as Ellen Vidales
* ''Film/BlueValentine'' (2010) as Cindy Heller
* ''Film/ShutterIsland'' (2010) as Dolores Chanal
* ''Film/MeeksCutoff'' (2010) as Emily Tetherow
* ''Film/MyWeekWithMarilyn'' (2011) as Creator/MarilynMonroe
* ''Series/CougarTown'' (2013) as Laurie's foster sister (uncredited)
* ''Film/OzTheGreatAndPowerful'' (2013) as Glinda the Good / Annie
* ''Theatre/{{Cabaret}}'' (2014): Sally Bowles
* ''Film/SuiteFrancaise'' (2015) as Lucile Angellier
* ''Film/ManchesterByTheSea'' (2016) as Randi Chandler
* ''Film/TheGreatestShowman'' (2017) as Charity Hallett-Barnum
* ''Film/AllTheMoneyInTheWorld'' (2017) as Gail Harris
* Film/SonysSpiderManUniverse as [[Characters/VenomMainHosts Anne Weying]]
** ''Film/{{Venom|2018}}'' (2018)
** ''Film/VenomLetThereBeCarnage'' (2021)
* ''Series/FosseVerdon'' (2019) as Gwen Verdon
* ''Film/TheFabelmans'' (2022) as Mitzi Schildkraut-Fabelman

!!Tropes and Trivia related to her work:
* AbilityOverAppearance:
** It was noted that in ''Film/MyWeekWithMarilyn'' she didn't resemble Creator/MarilynMonroe too much, but absolutely nailed Marilyn's mannerisms and behavior.
** She also doesn't look anything like Christa [=McAuliffe=], but her casting was still widely praised as being able to provide the proper poignancy to her story.
* CreatorBacklash:
** She doesn't look back too fondly on ''Film/{{Species}}'', due to all the teasing she got at school for playing an alien who turns into a giant cocoon.
** She also doesn't look back too fondly on her first film ''Timemaster'', having called it "Timewaster" on set.
* DawsonCasting:
** Ironically averted when she starred in the TropeNamer ''Series/DawsonsCreek'', as she was 16 playing 17. She was also the same age as her character Molly in ''Film/HalloweenH20TwentyYearsLater''.
** Justified in ''Me Without You'' where she was 20. She plays Holly as a teenager and she then ages over a few years.
* DoingItForTheArt: She was offered a large pay bump to redo her scenes opposite J. Paul Getty in ''All the Money in the World'' but insisted on the standard day player's salary. Unfortunately, controversy erupted when Mark Wahlberg wasn't so principled.
* DyeingForYourArt: She gained weight for ''Film/MyWeekWithMarilyn'', as Creator/MarilynMonroe would be HollywoodPudgy by today's standards.
* FakeBrit: She pulls off a very good southern RP English accent as Holly in ''Me Without You''. Michelle and her co-star Creator/AnnaFriel (who really is a Brit, originally from near Manchester), were both faking RP (standard British) accents; the director commented that Williams' accent was actually better than Friel's!
* LongHairIsFeminine: Usually with her roles; the characters she plays tend to act more feminine the longer their hair is. This stands out more in her case as she had long hair for most of her tenure on ''Dawson's Creek'', but cut it short while dating Ledger and found that he loved how she looked with short hair. She's mostly kept it short since his death.
* NippleAndDimed: She isn't exactly shy about partial nudity, but has toned it down since becoming a mother.
* PlayingAgainstType: She's been quite broad in her choice of parts, but one example would be that two of her more well-known roles (''Dawson's Creek'' and ''Blue Valentine'') cast her as emotionally damaged women who had issues with sex. Then she turns around and plays the sweet, [[IncorruptiblePurePureness pure as the driven snow]] [[Film/OzTheGreatAndPowerful Glinda the Good]]...
* ProductionPosse: She has been in three Kelly Reichardt films: ''Wendy and Lucy'', ''Meek's Cutoff'' and ''Certain Women''.
* RomanceOnTheSet:
** She was cast as Creator/HeathLedger's wife in ''Brokeback Mountain'', then they started dating during filming.
** She worked with Spike Jonze on ''Synecdoche, New York'' and they dated for a year.
** She's currently married to Thomas Kail, who directed her on ''Series/FosseVerdon'' shortly before it was announced she was engaged to him & pregnant.
* SoMyKidsCanWatch: The thing she loved most about her roles in ''Film/OzTheGreatAndPowerful'' and ''Film/TheGreatestShowman'' was being able to take her daughter Matilda to see them, as they were a departure from Williams' usual fare of heavy adult dramas.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
** She wrote a script called "Don't Blink" that she sold but never got made.
** She was the first choice for Evanora in ''Film/OzTheGreatAndPowerful'', but opted to play Glinda instead.
** She was one of the contenders for Daisy in Baz Luhrmann's ''Film/{{The Great Gatsby|2013}}'', and she owns a rare first edition of the book. The role went to Creator/CareyMulligan.
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