• Faith: Christian
• Career: Actress
• Birthday:  September 09, 1980

Michelle Williams is an actress known primarily for starring in small-scale independent films with tragic or dark themes. She’s received various accolades, including two Golden Globe Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award, in addition to nominations for five Academy Awards and a Tony Award. She started her career with television guest appearances and made her film debut in the family movie “Lassie” in 1994.

She gained emancipation from her parents at 15 years old and soon achieved recognition for her leading role as Jen Lindley in the teen drama TV series “Dawson's Creek," followed by low-profile films before having her breakthrough with the drama movie "Brokeback Mountain," which earned Williams her first Academy Award nomination. She received critical acclaim for playing emotionally troubled women coping with loss or loneliness in the independent dramas "Wendy and Lucy,” "Blue Valentine," and "Manchester by the Sea." She won two Golden Globes for portraying Marilyn Monroe in "My Week with Marilyn" and Gwen Verdon in the miniseries "Fosse/Verdon," in addition to a Primetime Emmy Award for the latter.

Her highest-grossing releases came with the thriller "Shutter Island," the fantasy movie "Oz the Great and Powerful," the musical "The Greatest Showman," and the superhero films "Venom" and "Venom: Let There Be Carnage." Williams also led major studio films like "All the Money in the World" and "The Fabelmans." On Broadway, she starred in revivals of the musical "Cabaret" in 2014 and the drama "Blackbird" in 2016, for which she received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play. Consistently private about her personal life, Williams has a daughter from her relationship with actor Heath Ledger and was briefly married to musician Phil Elverum. She has two children with her second husband, theater director Thomas Kali.

Williams was born in 1980 in Kalispell, Montana. In Kalispell, she lived with her three paternal half-siblings and her younger sister. Although she’s described her family as “not terribly closely knit,” she shared a close bond with her father, who taught her to fish and shoot and encouraged her to become a keen reader. She’s recounted fond memories of growing up in Montana. When she was nine, her family moved to San Diego, California. She’s said of the experience, “It was less happy probably by virtue of it being my preteen years, which are perhaps unpleasant wherever you go.” She’s mostly kept to herself and was self-reliant.

What religion is Michelle Williams?

Michelle Williams identifies as a Christian. By 1995, Williams had completed ninth grade at Santa Fe Christian Schools in San Diego. She disliked going there as she didn’t get along well with other students. To focus on her acting pursuits, Williams left the school and enrolled in in-home tutoring. When she was 15, with her parents’ approval, she filed for emancipation from them so she could better pursue her acting career with less interference from child labor work laws.

Although Williams is a Christian, she says she and her husband plan to raise their infant and 2-year-old partly in the Jewish faith. The actress has a synagogue picked out for the family, and she has plans to study Judaism herself.