Michelle Williams was born Michelle Ingrid Williams on September 9, 1980 in Kalispell, Montana. She is the youngest of five siblings, and became interested in acting at an early age. When her family moved to San Diego, California, she was five years old and wanted to perform. She was 15 when she emancipated herself from her parents because of their disapproval of her acting aspirations. She completed the ninth grade at the Upper School of Santa Fe Christian Schools and left it to pursue her best known role in Dawson’s Creek.

One of Michelle Williams’ earliest big screen exposures was as the young alien, Sil, on the 1995 film, Species. Her next film roles were in A Thousand Acres, Halloween H20: 20 Years Later and Dick. She then came to prominence when she landed the role of Jen Lindley on the series, Dawson’s Creek. Her character had a mysterious and troubled past which makes her older for her age and more experienced. She became more mature while caring for her ill grandmother and found lasting friendship with Dawson, Joey and Pacey. Michelle Williams followed up her career with movie roles in the Watergate Scandal satire, Perfume, Me Without You, Prozac Nation and her breakout performance in 2005’s Brokeback Mountain, for which she earned a BAFTA, Golden Globe and Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She also won a Critic’s Choice Award for her performance. She became involved with her co-star, Heath Ledger, off-camera as well. The next year, she appeared in The Hawk Is Dying, alongside Paul Giamatti. She was cast in several highly anticipated films in 2007, like The Hottest State with Ethan Hawke and the Todd Haynes-directed I’m Not There. The next year, she starred with Hugh Jackman and Ewan McGregor in Deception, directed by Marcel Langenegger.

Michelle Williams was engaged to actor Heath Ledger, and gave birth to their daughter, Matilda, in 2005. Ledger’s death was a devastating experience for her, even though they had split beforehand. Williams remains a single mother to Matilda, who she describes as “the most tender-hearted, high-spirited, beautiful little girl who is the spitting image of her father.”





(Photo courtesy of Andrew Eccles)