Michelle Williams Through the Years: From ‘Dawson’s Creek’ to Award-Winning Actress

Credit: ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images

Michelle Williams Through the Years: From ‘Dawson’s Creek’ to Award-Winning Actress

Michelle Williams may have gotten her start on a teen drama — but her time on Dawson’s Creek created the “stabilizing force” that helped her launch her career.

“[Dawson’s Creek] taught me how to be responsible, it taught me how to get to work on time, it taught me how to prepare at night for the next day,” Williams said during a March 2023 appearance on Sunday Today With Willie Geist. “It taught me sort of, like, the basics of how to take care of myself.” 

Williams starred on The WB hit from 1998 to 2003 as Jen Lindley, the New York City girl who moves to the small town of Capeside, Massachusetts. Williams shared that it was costar Mary Beth Peil, who portrayed Jen’s Grams, that gave her the most inspiration while filming in Wilmington, North Carolina.

"She told me stories about New York City and plays and playwrights. She invited me to come stay with her, she took me places, and she told me about this place where I could go and make a life and have a career and do really fun and exciting work, and she told me that that was possible for me," Williams explained. "Even though I was on, like, a teen soap opera, she would talk to me about, like, the future and what that could look like for me."

Williams would go on to become a critically acclaimed actress, scoring multiple Golden Globes, Emmys, Critics Choice and SAG Awards throughout her career. She has also nabbed five Academy Award nominations since her first nod for Brokeback Mountain in 2006. 

That’s not to say her life hasn’t seen tragedy. Two years after she and then-boyfriend Heath Ledger welcomed daughter Matilda in 2005, Ledger died of an accidental overdose. 

“Every time I really miss him and wonder where he’s gone, I just look at her,” Williams told Vogue in September 2009. “I can talk about grief, because that’s mine, about single parenting, about trying to balance work and kids. But what I don’t have to talk about is what happened between Heath and me in our relationship. Brokeback Mountain was an unrepeatable moment in time, a very charmed time in my life. I was in love. I was in a movie I was proud to be a part of and with a beautiful, brand new baby. Everything was good in that moment.” 

Keep scrolling for a look back at Williams’ life through the years:

Credit: ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images

Michelle Williams Through the Years: From ‘Dawson’s Creek’ to Award-Winning Actress

Michelle Williams may have gotten her start on a teen drama — but her time on Dawson’s Creek created the “stabilizing force” that helped her launch her career.

“[Dawson’s Creek] taught me how to be responsible, it taught me how to get to work on time, it taught me how to prepare at night for the next day,” Williams said during a March 2023 appearance on Sunday Today With Willie Geist. “It taught me sort of, like, the basics of how to take care of myself.” 

Williams starred on The WB hit from 1998 to 2003 as Jen Lindley, the New York City girl who moves to the small town of Capeside, Massachusetts. Williams shared that it was costar Mary Beth Peil, who portrayed Jen’s Grams, that gave her the most inspiration while filming in Wilmington, North Carolina.

"She told me stories about New York City and plays and playwrights. She invited me to come stay with her, she took me places, and she told me about this place where I could go and make a life and have a career and do really fun and exciting work, and she told me that that was possible for me," Williams explained. "Even though I was on, like, a teen soap opera, she would talk to me about, like, the future and what that could look like for me."

Williams would go on to become a critically acclaimed actress, scoring multiple Golden Globes, Emmys, Critics Choice and SAG Awards throughout her career. She has also nabbed five Academy Award nominations since her first nod for Brokeback Mountain in 2006. 

That’s not to say her life hasn’t seen tragedy. Two years after she and then-boyfriend Heath Ledger welcomed daughter Matilda in 2005, Ledger died of an accidental overdose. 

“Every time I really miss him and wonder where he’s gone, I just look at her,” Williams told Vogue in September 2009. “I can talk about grief, because that’s mine, about single parenting, about trying to balance work and kids. But what I don’t have to talk about is what happened between Heath and me in our relationship. Brokeback Mountain was an unrepeatable moment in time, a very charmed time in my life. I was in love. I was in a movie I was proud to be a part of and with a beautiful, brand new baby. Everything was good in that moment.” 

Keep scrolling for a look back at Williams’ life through the years:

Credit: Cover Images

1998

Williams got her start as Jen Lindley on The WB’s Dawson’s Creek opposite James Van Der Beek, Joshua Jackson and Katie Holmes. The show ran for six seasons before wrapping up in 2003. 

In a March 2023 appearance on Sunday Today With Willie Geist, Williams opened up about how being on the teen drama allowed her to have a “childhood.” 

"We were in like, a very sleepy Southern town, and the crew really felt like they looked out for us,” she said. “They knew how young we were and they kind of put, like, bumpers around us, just made sure that we were safe and taken care of, that I went to the dentist, things that didn't really come naturally to me.” 

Credit: Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images

2004

After working with him in Brokeback Mountain, Williams began dating Ledger, who played her husband in the critically acclaimed romantic drama. 

Credit: Cover Images

2005

Williams and Ledger welcomed their daughter, Matilda, in October. 

Credit: Cover Images

2006

Williams received her first Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress as Alma in Brokeback Mountain.

Credit: Jim Spellman/WireImage/Getty Images

2008

Williams and Ledger called it quits in 2007 after three years of dating. In January 2008, Ledger died from an accidental overdose of prescription medications. 

“I never gave up on love,” Williams told Vanity Fair in 2018 while reflecting on life after Ledger’s death. “I always say to Matilda, ‘Your dad loved me before anybody thought I was talented, or pretty, or had nice clothes.’”

Williams later reflected on the loss of Ledger during a November 2016 interview with Porter, noting the struggle of Matilda growing up without her father.  

“In all honesty, for pretty much everything else, I feel like I’m a believer in not fighting circumstances, accepting where you are and where you’ve been. In pretty much all senses but one, I would be able to go totally down that line of thinking were it not for Matilda not having her dad,” she told the outlet. “You know, that’s just something that doesn’t … I mean, it just won’t ever be right.”

Credit: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

2011

Williams nabbed her second Oscar nod in 2010 for Blue Valentine, in which she stars as Cindy, an aspiring doctor. The film follows the tumultuous and gradual decline of her marriage to husband Dean, played by Ryan Gosling. 

The following year, Williams was nominated again for Best Actress at the Academy Awards for her portrayal of Marilyn Monroe in My Week With Marilyn. While she lost to Natalie Portman for Black Swan, she took home a Golden Globe win for the role. 

Credit: Walter McBride/WireImage

2014

Williams made her Broadway debut as Sally Bowles in Cabaret before returning to the stage in 2016 for Blackbird. The latter role earned her a Tony nomination for Best Actress in a Play.

Credit: Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic/Getty Images

2016

Willams’ fourth Oscar nomination came in 2016 for Best Supporting Actress in Manchester by the Sea. She received the nod for her portrayal of Randi, a young mother dealing with her children's death. 

After brief romances with Spike Jonze, Cary Joji Fukunaga, Jason Segel, Dustin Yellen and Jonathan Safran Foer, Williams found love again in 2016 with Andrew Youmans. The pair got engaged in 2017 but ultimately called it quits one year later. 

Credit: Steve Granitz/WireImage/Getty Images

2018

After a return to the screen in The Greatest Showman in 2017 — where she sang two songs on the musical’s soundtrack — Williams showed off her comedic chops in Amy Schumer’s I Feel Pretty and entered the superhero world opposite Tom Hardy in Venom. She returned for the film’s sequel, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, in 2021. 

Williams announced in July that she secretly married Philip Everlum. While she spoke highly of the musician during their time together — telling Vanity Fair that she was “finally loved by someone who makes me feel free” — news of their separation broke in April 2019.

Credit: Terence Patrick/Getty Images for Turner

2019

Williams scored an Emmy award, Golden Globe and SAG Award for her role in FX’s Fosse/Verdon, where she met now-husband Thomas Kail.

“Tom, I share this with you,” she said in her SAG acceptance speech in January 2020. “Matilda, it is one thing to be completely honest as an actor, it is another to be completely honest as a human being. That is just who you are and how you live. You teach me by being you. I love you and I am coming home.”

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2020

Us confirmed in January that Williams was pregnant and engaged to Kail. The couple tied the knot three months later and welcomed son Hart shortly after. 

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2022

Williams confirmed in May 2022 that she was pregnant with her and Kail’s second child together. The twosome welcomed the little one in November 2022.

Credit: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

2023

The actress was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in The Fabelmans. Williams' character, Mitzi, is based on Steven Spielberg's mother, Leah Adler.

“I loved being her. I loved loving my family through her,” Williams told Town & Country in January, adding that she gave a resounding “yes” when Spielberg asked her to play the part. She later told People that the role was “beyond a dream come true” and the “honor of a lifetime.”  

“To take this movie here, and to take this character here, this woman, this real woman, who he loved so much that he wanted to make a movie about her so that she could live forever, to take her on this journey here is really meaningful,” she told the outlet in March 2023.