Michelle Williams

• Keeps her hair short in memory of “somebody who really loved it, possibly referring to her former partner, Heath Ledger. (November 2011)
• Found filming BLUE VALENTINE helped her confront her grief over Heath Ledger’s death.
• Often dreams of quitting acting, “Walking away and becoming a laundress or a sous chef or maybe writing other people’s love letters for a living.”
• Will play Glinda, the good witch, in OZ, THE GREAT AND POWERFUL. (May 2011)
• As a young woman, her dream was to live on her own.

Biography

MICHELLE WILLIAMS starred in Ang Lee’s critically acclaimed drama Brokeback Mountain. Her riveting performance as Ennis Del Mar’s long suffering wife earned her a Broadcast Film Critics Association Award and an Academy Award(R) nomination, plus nominations from SAG, HFPA’s Golden Globe, and two BAFTA nominations. In 2005, Williams was also honored by the Motion Picture Club as Female Star of Tomorrow.

More recently, she appeared in Todd Haynes’ biopic on Bob Dylan entitled I’m Not There. She stars opposite Philip Seymour Hoffman in Synecdoche, New York, directed by Charlie Kaufman. Also upcoming is Shutter Island, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, directed by Martin Scorsese; Mammoth; and Incendiary, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.

In 2004, Williams shared a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination with her fellow actors from Thomas McCarthy’s The Station Agent for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. The film had previously earned the Audience Award at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival, as well as a 2004 BAFTA award.

Williams’ film credits also include Julian Goldberger’s drama The Hawk Is Dying opposite Paul Giamatti and Michael Pitt, and Ethan Hawke’s The Hottest State, which premiered at the 2006 Venice and Toronto Film Festivals. Williams also starred in Wim Wenders’ Land of Plenty, which was in competition at the Venice Film Festival and won the UNESCO prize.

On stage, Williams received glowing reviews for her portrayal of Varya in Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard at the Williamstown Theatre Festival. Prior to that, she achieved critical acclaim for her run in Mike Leigh’s Smelling A Rat at the Samuel Beckett Theatre and her off-Broadway debut in Killer Joe.

Williams’ other film credits include Dan Harris’ Imaginary Heroes, Richard Ledes’ A Hole in One, Michael Showalter’s The Baxter, Sandra Goldbacher’s Me Without You, and Andrew Fleming’s Dick.

On television, she starred opposite Chloe Sevigny in the critically acclaimed HBO tele-movie If These Walls Could Talk 2, directed by Martha Coolidge. She also had a 6-year run as Jen Lindley on the WB hit television series Dawson’s Creek. The series premiered in 1998 and remained one of the WB’s top-rated shows throughout its run.

Movies