Michelle Williams (actress)

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Williams in a screenshot from Brokeback Mountain, 2005

Michelle Ingrid Williams (born September 9, 1980) is an Academy Award-nominated American actress. Williams broke into stardom on the teen series Dawson's Creek and later graduated to full length features, such as Brokeback Mountain, for which she earned an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

1 Biography
2 Partial filmography
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Born in Kalispell, Montana, she is the eldest of the five children of Larry Williams, a renowned commodities trader, and Carla Williams, a homemaker. She also has a half sister named Sara Williams, who is the vice principal of Loma Vista Elementary School, in Brentwood, CA. When she was nine, her family moved to San Diego, California. At an early age, Williams took interest in acting. With her parents' disapproval, at age fifteen Williams emancipated herself from her parents and graduated from high school, in order to pursue her acting career.

Williams' father is a noted stock and commodities trader and had taught her about trading. In 1997 at age 16 she won the Robbins World Cup Trading Championship, the same as her father won in 1987.^[1] She turned $10,000 into $110,000 over the course of a year and that gain (as of 2006) is the fourth highest in the competition (her father's being the highest).^[2]

[edit] Career

Williams' career began in television, appearing in programs such as the 90's version of Lassie, Baywatch and Home Improvement. Williams' first film role was in the motion picture Species. Soon after, she won additional roles, including the Jessica Lange-Michelle Pfeiffer film A Thousand Acres and the 1998 movie Halloween: H20. However, it was in 1998 when Williams was cast as Jen Lindley on the hit WB show Dawson's Creek, that helped to put her on the map.

During and after the show's six season run, Williams made strong turns in several notable indie films. Her first starring role was as Arlene in the film Dick, a satire of the Watergate scandal, opposite Kirsten Dunst. She starred opposite Christina Ricci in Prozac Nation, and also appeared in the HBO film If These Walls Could Talk 2, and a slew of acclaimed indie pictures such as The United States of Leland, Me Without You and Imaginary Heroes with Sigourney Weaver. For her performance in The Station Agent, Williams along with the rest of the cast received a Screen Actors Guild award nomination for Best Acting Ensemble. It was in 2005 when critics and audiences took note of Williams' performance in Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain. For her performance, she won a Critic's Choice Award and received Golden Globe, BAFTA and Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress.

Since then, Williams has quickly gained employment in several highly anticipated films. Later in 2006, she will appear in the drama The Hawk is Dying, with Paul Giamatti. She recently wrapped The Hottest State opposite Ethan Hawke. She also completed filming on a Bob Dylan biopic titled I'm Not There by director Todd Haynes, which also features Cate Blanchett, Julianne Moore, and Heath Ledger, and is signed to film projects with directors Woody Allen, Charlie Kaufman and Spike Jonze.

[edit] Personal life

Williams is engaged to Australian actor Heath Ledger and gave birth to their daughter, Matilda Rose Ledger, on October 28, 2005. The couple met on the set of Brokeback Mountain, where they played husband and wife, and currently live in Brooklyn, New York.