Michelle Williams

Profile
Name: Michelle Williams
Birth Name: Michelle Ingrid Williams
Height: 5' 4''
Sex: F
Nationality: American
Birth Date: September 9, 1980
Birth Place: Kalispell, Montana
Profession: actress
Education: Santa Fe Christian High School
Relationship: Heath Ledger (actor; born on April 4, 1979; engaged in August 2005), Donal Lardner Ward (actor, writer, director; born on August 21, 1964), Andy Herod (singer/songwriter; dated two years)
Father: Larry (stock market trader; born 1944; divorced)
Mother: Carla (homemaker; born 1956; divorced)
Sister: Paige Williams (younger)
Half Sister: Kelley, Sara
Half Brother: Jason
Daughter: Matilda Rose Ledger (born on October 28, 2005 in Brooklyn, New York; father: Heath Ledger)
Claim to fame: as Jennifer Lindley in Dawson's Creek

Biography
Best known to audiences as transplanted big city teen Jen Lindley on The WB's popular "Dawson's Creek" (1998-2003), actress Michelle Williams was born in Montana and moved to San Diego, California at age nine. In her new home, she began acting in community theater, and later made her feature debut in "Lassie" (1994), next appearing onscreen as the young incarnation of Natasha Henstridge's alien in "Species" (1995). After a career-driven legal emancipation from her parents, the home-schooled Williams was on her own, pursuing acting work in Burbank at the young age of 16, like a featured turn as Michelle Pfeiffer's daughter Pammy in the "King Lear" inspired drama "A Thousand Acres" (1997).

After a fair amount of television guest work on series including "Home Improvement" and "Step By Step" (both ABC) and appearances in the TV movies "My Son Is Innocent" (ABC, 1996) and "Killing Mr. Griffin" (NBC, 1997), Williams made her TV series regular debut on Kevin Williamson's teen drama "Dawson's Creek" playing the troubled transplant Jen. While she was the youngest member of the ensemble, the alluring, pouty blonde had no problem playing Capeside's newly arrived seasoned but sensitive sophisticate. With looks and presence that seemed beyond her years, Williams also displayed a fragility very indicative of her age, the actress herself embodying the contradiction of contemporary youth. First as the outcast object of Dawson's desire with the shady past and later as a full-fledged member of the gang, Williams' role in the sometimes overwrought but always thoughtful program developed more interesting layers as the series progressed.

Returning to film during the series' hiatus, the young performer did her horror duty as the teen female lead of the "Halloween: H20" (1998, executive produced by Williamson). Not in keeping with the conventions of the genre's early offerings, Williams remained fully dressed throughout her portrayal of Molly, the girlfriend of John (Josh Hartnett), son of original "Halloween" scream queen Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis). Next she tackled comedy in 1999's "Dick", a 1970s set story about two girls (Williams and Kirsten Dunst) who stumble upon President Nixon's Watergate dealings. She was additionally featured in the comedy "But I'm a Cheerleader"(1999), starring Natasha Lyonne as a teen girl sent to a "rehabilitation" facility after her parents suspect she is a lesbian.

Williams soon tackled more challenging and adult roles, such as her performance as a 1970s lesbian college student who struggles with a romance with a butch suitor (Chloe Sevigny) in the HBO telepic "If These Walls Could Talk 2" (2000), followed by a turn as Christina Ricci's alienated roommate in the long-delayed adaptation of Elizabeth Wurtzel's bestseller "Prozac Nation," which was completed in 2001 but unreleased for nearly three years. Williams next delivered her finest performance to date in the drama "Me Without You" (2001) opposite Anna Friel as the long-suffering, co-dependent quotient in a pair of British friends whose relationship is a roller-coaster of emotional ups and downs, romantic betrayals and unhealthy competition, but ultimately buoyed by their unceasing bond. She followed up with an endearing supporting turn in "The Station Agent" (2003), playing Emily, the sweet, lonely girl who finds a bond with the independent dwarf Finbar McBride (Peter Dinklage).

In another long-shelved film, Williams was effective again as the sister of a murdered autistic boy in "The United States of Leland" (2004) before appearing as Penny, the daughter who flees her dysfunctional family, in "Imaginary Heroes" (2005). She next had a memorable, emotional turn as the broken-hearted young wife of closeted gay ranch hand Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) whose marriage slowly disintegrates after she discovers her husband carrying on a years-long secret affair with his closest friend (Jake Gyllenhaal) in director Ang Lee's sensitive, haunting "Brokeback Mountain" (2005). Williams and her co-star Ledger also began a romantic relationship while making the film, and their daughter was born shortly before its release. Her performance earned Williams nominations for Best Supporting Actress at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, Golden Globes and the Academy Awards. Meanwhile, she shared the Broadcast Film Critics’ award with Amy Adams (“Junebug”).

Filmography
2008 Where the Wild Things Are
2008 Synecdoche, New York
2007 The Tourist
2007 I'm Not There: Suppositions on a Film Concerning Dylan
2007 Bronte
2006 The Hottest State
2005 Brokeback Mountain
2005 The Baxter
2005 The Hawk is Dying
2004 A Hole in One
2004 Land of Plenty
2004 Imaginary Heroes
2003 The Station Agent
2002 The United States of Leland
2002 Dawson's Creek: Season 06
2001 Dawson's Creek: Season 05
2001 Prozac Nation
2001 Perfume
2001 Me Without You
2000 If These Walls Could Talk 2
2000 Dawson's Creek: Season 04
1999 Dawson's Creek: Season 03
1999 Dick
1999 But I'm a Cheerleader
1998 Dawson's Creek: Dance
1998 Dawson's Creek: Discovery
1998 Dawson's Creek: Baby
1998 Dawson's Creek: Boyfriend
1998 Dawson's Creek: Double Date
1998 Dawson's Creek: Beauty Contest
1998 Dawson's Creek: Season 02
1998 Dawson's Creek: Season 01
1998 Dawson's Creek: Pilot
1998 Dawson's Creek: Kiss
1998 Dawson's Creek: Hurricane
1998 Dawson's Creek: Detention
1998 Dawson's Creek: Roadtrip
1998 Dawson's Creek: The Scare
1998 Dawson's Creek: Decisions
1998 Dawson's Creek [TV Series]
1998 Halloween: H20
1997 Killing Mr. Griffin
1997 A Thousand Acres
1995 Timemaster
1995 Species
1994 Lassie

Awards
Academy
2005 Best Supporting Actress Brokeback Mountain

British Academy Awards
2005 Best Supporting Actress Brokeback Mountain

Broadcast Film Critics Association
2005 Best Supporting Actress Brokeback Mountain

Chicago Film Critics Association
2005 Best Supporting Actress Brokeback Mountain

Golden Globe
2005 Best Supporting Actress Brokeback Mountain

Independent Spirit Award
2006 Best Actress Land of Plenty
2005 Best Supporting Actress Brokeback Mountain

Online Film Critics Association
2005 Best Supporting Actress Brokeback Mountain

Phoenix Film Critics Association
2005 Best Supporting Actress Brokeback Mountain

Screen Actors Guild
2005 Best Supporting Actress Brokeback Mountain

Trivia
* After applying for a marriage licence in November 2006, Michelle and Heath Ledger got married in secret in January 2007.
* Michelle’s father, Larry, was arrested in Sydney for tax evasion in June 2006. He is currently set to be extradited to the US to face the charges. He has been accused of creating false documents and using multiple bank accounts to hid $AU3.7 million earned from book sales and lectures.
* Michelle used to date Conor Oberst from Bright Eyes. Some of their songs are about her.
* Michelle is in the movie Dick.
* Michelle is currently filming the movie The Hawk Is Dying.
* Michelle is in the movie Species.
* Michelle is in the movie Timemaster.
* Michelle is in the movie A Thousand Acres.
* Michelle is in the movie Halloween H20: 20 Years Later.
* Michelle is in the movie Perfume.
* Michelle is in the movie Prozac Nation.
* Michelle is in the movie Me Without You.
* Michelle is in the movie The United States of Leland.
* Michelle is in the movie The Station Agent.
* Michelle is in the movie A Hole in One.
* Michelle is in the movie Imaginary Heroes.
* Michelle is in the movie Land of Plenty.
* Michelle is in the movie The Baxter.
* Michelle is in the movie Brokeback Mountain.
* Michelle was Jane Magazine's "Girl of the Month" in December 2005.
* Michelle gave birth to a baby girl, Matilda, on October 28th, 2005 in Brooklyn, New York.
* Michelle is engaged to Heath Ledger. They plan to live in Brooklyn, NY.
* Michelle is living with Heath Ledger in Sydney, Australia.
* Michelle is the only member of the four original cast members of Dawson's Creek (James Van Der Beek, Katie Holmes, and Joshua Jackson) who has not hosted an episode of Saturday Night Live.
* Michelle is 5' 4" tall (1.63 m).
* Michelle once starred in a stage production joined by her whole family - father, mother, and sister.
* Michelle was turned down for a part on Northern Exposure.
* Michelle had vocal training for singing when she first began acting and has performed in several musical stage productions.
* Michelle does not like her middle name, which is the same as her mother's.
* Michelle wore braces when she was little.
* Michelle's first pet was a terrier named Terry.
* Michelle one younger sister Paige and three older half siblings from her father's first marriage - Jason, Kelley and Sara.
* Michelle was roommates with Christina Ricci whilst filming Prozac Nation with her.
* Michelle wrote a script called "Don't Blink" which was sold, but never made.
* Michelle attended Santa Fe Christian High School.
* Michelle legally emancipated from her parents at the age of 15.
* Michelle loves reading in her spare time.
* In 1999, Michelle was chosen as one of Teen People Magazine's "21 Hottest Stars Under 21."