Michelle Williams on screen and stage

Michelle Williams is an American actress who has appeared in film, television, and on stage. Her first screen appearance was at the age of 13 in a 1993 episode of the television series Baywatch, and she made her film debut as the love interest of a teenage boy in Lassie (1994).[1][2] She subsequently had guest roles in the television sitcoms Step by Step and Home Improvement, and played the younger version of Natasha Henstridge's character in the science fiction film Species (1995).[3][4] Greater success came to Williams when she began starring as the sexually troubled teenager Jen Lindley in the teen drama series Dawson's Creek (1998–2003).[1][3] In 1999, she made her stage debut with the Tracy Letts-written play Killer Joe, in which she played the naive young daughter of a dysfunctional family.[1]
In the 2000s, Williams eschewed parts in big-budget films in favor of roles with darker themes in independent productions such as Me Without You (2001) and The Station Agent (2003).[5][6] Despite positive reviews, these films were not widely seen.[7][8] This changed in 2005 when Williams played the neglected wife of Heath Ledger's character in Brokeback Mountain, a drama about star-crossed gay lovers, which became a critical and commercial success; Williams gained a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.[9][10][11] She did not find success in the dramas The Hottest State (2006) and Incendiary (2008), but Kelly Reichardt's Wendy and Lucy (2008), in which she featured as a drifter searching for her missing dog, was critically acclaimed.[7][8][12]
Martin Scorsese's thriller Shutter Island (2010), starring Leonardo DiCaprio, in which Williams had a supporting part, became her most widely seen film to that point.[8][11] She went on to receive two consecutive Oscar nominations for Best Actress for her roles in Blue Valentine (2010) and My Week with Marilyn (2011); she also won a Golden Globe Award for the latter.[13][14][15] In the former, she played a woman struggling with an unhappy marriage, and in the latter, she portrayed the actress Marilyn Monroe.[16][17] Williams' highest-grossing release came in 2013 with the role of Glinda in the $493 million-grossing fantasy feature Oz the Great and Powerful.[18][19] She made her Broadway debut with the role of Sally Bowles in a revival of the musical Cabaret in 2014, and played a victim of sexual abuse in a revival of the play Blackbird in 2016.[20] For the latter, she gained a Tony Award for Best Actress nomination.[21] Also in 2016, Williams took on the role of a grieving mother in Manchester by the Sea, for which she received her fourth Academy Award nomination.[22] The 2017 musical The Greatest Showman and the 2018 superhero film Venom emerged as two of her most commercially successful releases.[8][23] She returned to television in 2019 to portray Gwen Verdon opposite Sam Rockwell's Bob Fosse in the FXbiographical miniseries Fosse/Verdon.[24]
== Film ==
Title 	Year[a]	Role 	Director(s) 	Notes 	Ref
Lassie 	1994 	April Porter 	Daniel Petrie 	 	[2]
Timemaster 	1995 	Annie 	James Glickenhaus 	 	[25]
Species 	1995 	Young Sil 	Dennis Feldman 	 	[26]
A Thousand Acres 	1997 	Pammy 	Jocelyn Moorhouse 	 	[27]
Halloween H20: 20 Years Later	1998 	Molly Cartwell 	Steve Miner 	 	[28]
Dick 	1999 	Arlene Lorenzo 	Andrew Fleming 	 	[29]
But I'm a Cheerleader 	1999 	Kimberly 	Jamie Babbit 	 	[30]
Perfume 	2001 	Halley 	Hunter Carson
Michael Rymer	 	[31]
Me Without You 	2001 	Holly 	Sandra Goldbacher 	 	[6]
Prozac Nation 	2001 	Ruby 	Erik Skjoldbjærg 	 	[32]
The United States of Leland 	2003 	Julie Pollard 	Matthew Ryan Hoge 	 	[33]
The Station Agent 	2003 	Emily 	Tom McCarthy 	 	[34]
Land of Plenty 	2004 	Lana 	Wim Wenders 	 	[35]
Imaginary Heroes 	2004 	Penny Travis 	Dan Harris 	 	[36]
A Hole in One 	2004 	Anna Watson 	Richard Ledes 	 	[37]
The Baxter 	2005 	Cecil Mills 	Michael Showalter 	 	[38]
Brokeback Mountain 	2005 	Alma Beers del Mar	Ang Lee 	 	[39]
The Hawk Is Dying 	2006 	Betty 	Julian Goldberger 	 	[40]
The Hottest State 	2006 	Samantha 	Ethan Hawke 	 	[41]
I'm Not There 	2007 	Coco Rivington 	Todd Haynes 	 	[42]
Deception 	2008 	S 	Marcel Langenegger	 	[43]
Incendiary 	2008 	Young Mother 	Sharon Maguire 	 	[44]
Synecdoche, New York 	2008 	Claire 	Charlie Kaufman 	 	[45]
Wendy and Lucy 	2008 	Wendy Carrol 	Kelly Reichardt 	 	[46]
Mammoth 	2009 	Ellen Vidales 	Lukas Moodysson 	 	[47]
Blue Valentine 	2010 	Cindy 	Derek Cianfrance 	Also executive producer	[16]
Shutter Island 	2010 	Dolores Chanal 	Martin Scorsese 	 	[48]
Meek's Cutoff 	2010 	Emily Tetherow 	Kelly Reichardt 	 	[49]
My Week with Marilyn 	2011 	Marilyn Monroe 	Simon Curtis 	 	[17]
Take This Waltz 	2011 	Margot 	Sarah Polley 	 	[50]
Oz the Great and Powerful 	2013 	Annie / Glinda[b] 	Sam Raimi 	 	[52]
Suite Française 	2015 	Lucille Angellier 	Saul Dibb 	 	[53]
Manchester by the Sea 	2016 	Randi 	Kenneth Lonergan 	 	[54]
Certain Women 	2016 	Gina Lewis 	Kelly Reichardt 	 	[55]
Wonderstruck 	2017 	Elaine 	Todd Haynes 	 	[56]
The Greatest Showman 	2017 	Charity Barnum 	Michael Gracey 	 	[57]
All the Money in the World 	2017 	Gail Harris 	Ridley Scott 	 	[58]
I Feel Pretty 	2018 	Avery LeClaire 	Abby Kohn
Marc Silverstein	 	[59]
Venom 	2018 	Anne Weying 	Ruben Fleischer 	 	[60]
After the Wedding 	2019 	Isabel 	Bart Freundlich 	 	[61]
== Television ==
Title 	Year 	Role 	Notes 	Ref(s)
Baywatch 	1993 	Bridget 	Episode: "Race Against Times: Part 1"	[62]
Step by Step 	1994 	J.J. 	Episode: "Something Wild" 	[63]
Home Improvement 	1995 	Jessica Lutz 	Episode: "Wilson's Girlfriend" 	[64]
Raising Caines 	1995 	Trish Caines 	Main role; season 1 	[65]
My Son Is Innocent 	1996 	Donna Winston 	Television movie 	[66]
Killing Mr. Griffin 	1997 	Maya 	Television film 	[67]
Dawson's Creek 	1998–2003	Jen Lindley 	Main role; 6 seasons 	[68]
If These Walls Could Talk 2	2000 	Linda 	Television film 	[69]
Cougar Town 	2013 	Laurie's foster sister	Episode: "Blue Sunday" 	[70][71]
Fosse/Verdon 	2019 	Gwen Verdon 	Miniseries; also executive producer 	[72]
== Stage ==
Production 	Year	Role 	Theater 	Ref
Killer Joe 	1999	Dottie 	SoHo Playhouse 	[73]
Smelling a Rat 	2002	Melanie-Jane	Samuel Beckett Theatre 	[74]
The Cherry Orchard	2004	Varya 	Williamstown Theatre Festival	[75]
Cabaret 	2014	Sally Bowles	Studio 54 	[76]
Blackbird 	2016	Una 	Belasco Theatre 	[77]
== Music video ==
Title 	Year	Performer(s)	Director 	Album 	Ref
"Paradise"	2012	Wild Nothing	Matt Amato	Nocturne	[78]