Michelle Williams

Michelle Ingrid Williams (born September 9, 1980) is an American actress. She first achieved fame for her role as Jen Lindley on The WB television teen drama, Dawson's Creek, from 1998 to 2003. Williams later graduated to full-length features, including Prozac Nation (2001), Brokeback Mountain (2005), for which she got an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress, as well as I'm Not There (2007), Shutter Island (2010) and Blue Valentine (2010). Williams was born in Kalispell, Montana, the daughter of Carla Ingrid (née Swenson), a homemaker, and Larry Richard Williams, a well-known stock and commodities trader. When Williams was nine, her family moved to San Diego, California, and, at an early age, she became interested in acting. At age 15, faced with her parents' disapproval, she emancipated herself from them. After completing the ninth grade at the Upper School of Santa Fe Christian Schools, in Solana Beach, California, she left school in order to pursue her acting career in Dawson's Creek. In 1997, she won the Robbins World Cup Trading Championship, as her father had done 10 years earlier. She won after turning $10,000 into $110,000 over the course of a year and that gain (as of 2006) is the fourth highest in the history of that competition (her father has the highest).Williams met actor Heath Ledger on the set of the film Brokeback Mountain, in which they played husband and wife. During their time together, they lived in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, New York. Williams was engaged to Ledger and gave birth to their daughter, Matilda Rose Ledger, on October 28, 2005, in New York City. Matilda's godfather is Jake Gyllenhaal, Williams's and Ledger's co-star in Brokeback Mountain, while Matilda's godmother is Busy Philipps, Williams's co-star on Dawson's Creek.