| Michelle Williams, like her character Jennifer Lindley on Dawson's Creek, made the transition from big city to small town life. The 21-year-old actress moved from Los Angeles to Wilmington, North Carolina, the production location for the series. Williams says that "having the experience of moving from a big city to a small town made it easier to relate to Jen."
Williams explains that her character "is an outsider who came to Capeside from a fast-paced New York lifestyle. Ostensibly, she's come to help her strict grandmother, but she's hiding a troubled past that everyone soon found out about. More sophisticated and worldly than the other teen characters, she's an old soul, having done a lot and grown up fast. I think that a part of Jen is really looking to regain her innocence and she wants to fit in with these more carefree kids. She made some mistakes, and got sent to Capeside by her parents in hopes that she'd begin to realize she should slow down and change her ways, but it's an ongoing battle for her to do so. Falling in love with Henry, a freshman, last year has softened her a lot and helped her to let herself open up, but it's a struggle that's far from over for her."
Williams recently wrapped production on Sandra Goldbacher's "Me Without You," the story of two best friends growing up in the outskirts of London in the 1970's and 1980's, co-starring Kyle MacLachlan and Anna Friel. Williams will also co-star with Christina Ricci in the screen adaptation of Elizabeth Wurtzel's "Prozac Nation," and Omar Epps and Jeff Goldblum in "Perfume," an improv digital film directed by Michael Rymer.
While Williams may be a bit homesick for big city life herself, she is no stranger to the country, having grown up in an idyllic spot in Montana. After her family moved to San Diego, she took advantage of the proximity of Hollywood to explore an acting career, which quickly took off. At 16, after obtaining an accelerated high school degree, she moved to Los Angeles full time to pursue her craft. Williams was last seen in the Emmy-nominated HBO presentation "If These Walls Could Talk 2," a three-part film also starring Sharon Stone and Ellen DeGeneres. Williams starred in the "Women Only" portion of the film, portraying a gay, feminist co-ed opposite Chloe Sevigny. On the big screen, she appeared most recently in "Dick," co-starring Kirsten Dunst; and along side Jamie Lee Curtis in the hit horror film "Halloween: H2O." Previously she portrayed Michelle Pfeiffer's daughter in Propaganda Film's "A Thousand Acres" and other feature film credits include "Species," "Lassie" and "Time Master." Williams appeared in the critically acclaimed Off-Broadway production of "Killer Joe." While living in Wilmington to shoot Dawson's Creek, Williams enjoys reading as many books as she can in her spare time.
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