Emmy-winner McCarthy was chosen to receive an Oscar Wilde award for her supporting role in Bridesmaids, a performance which also earned her a SAG nomination as well as a Critics’ Choice Movie Awards nomination. Williams was selected for her outstanding portrayal of Marilyn Monroe in the dramatic film My Week With Marilyn, based on real events.
More on Melissa McCarthy [Courtesy of the US-Ireland Alliance]:
McCarthy’s previous feature film work includes The Back-Up Plan alongside Jennifer Lopez and Alex O Loughlin, Life As We Know It with Katherine Heigl, Pretty Ugly People with Josh Hopkins, Missi Pyle and Allison Janney, Just Add Water with Danny DeVito, director John August’s sci-fi mystery The Nines with Ryan Reynolds and Hope Davis, White Oleander with Michelle Pfeiffer, Pumpkin with Christina Ricci, and Go directed by Doug Liman. Additionally, she starred in John August’s short film God as a young woman having a gossipy phone conversation and short-lived spat with the Almighty, and also appeared in The Life of David Gale starring Kevin Spacey.
On television, she previously starred as the clumsy culinary genius Sookie St. James in Gilmore Girls and as Dena in the series Samantha Who?, which was created by Irish novelist Cecelia Ahern.
McCarthy first made her mark on the comedy stage, performing stand up in New York at The Improv and Stand Up New York. At the same time, she received dramatic training from The Actors Studio in New York and starred in a variety of stage productions throughout the city. In Los Angeles, McCarthy spent nine years as a main-stage member of the world-renowned improv and sketch troupe The Groundlings.
McCarthy and Annie Mumolo (co-writer of Bridesmaids) have sold a pitch to Lorne Michaels and John Goldwyn for Paramount Pictures. The story follows a group of Midwestern women who set out to steal the Stanley Cup. Additionally, she will star in Tammy for New Line Cinema in a script she co-wrote with her actor/writer husband Ben Falcone (What to Expect When You’re Expecting). They will also serve as executive producers. McCarthy is also designing her first clothing line.
In My Week With Marilyn, Williams stars opposite Kenneth Branagh and Judi Dench. For her role as the iconic actress, Williams received the Hollywood Actress Award at the 2011 Hollywood Film Festival. Williams was also nominated for her fifth Independent Spirit Award and will be honored with the Desert Palm Achievement Actress Award at the 2012 Palm Springs Film Festival.
Ms. Williams was last seen in Derek Cianfrance’s Blue Valentine opposite Ryan Gosling. Williams’ captivating performance earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress as well as Golden Globe and Broadcast Film Critics Association nominations and her fourth Independent Spirit Award nomination.
She stars opposite Seth Rogan in Sarah Polley’s Take This Waltz, which premiered at the 2011 Toronto Film Festival. Williams is currently in production on Sam Raimi’s Oz: The Great and Powerful opposite James Franco, where she stars as Glinda the Good Witch.
Her performance in Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain, released in 2005, earned her a Broadcast Film Critics Association Award as well as an Independent Spirit Award, SAG, Golden Globe, BAFTA and Academy Award nomination for “Best Supporting Actress.” She was next nominated for a 2007 Independent Spirit Award for “Best Actress” for her performance in Wim Wenders’ Land of Plenty. In her first collaboration with Kelly Reichardt on her critically acclaimed independent film Wendy and Lucy, Williams’ moving and evocative performance as “Wendy” garnered a Toronto Film Critics Award for “Best Actress” in 2009 and her third Independent Spirit Award Nomination. In 2004, Williams shared a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination with her fellow actors for Thomas McCarthy’s The Station Agent for “Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.”
Williams’ other film credits include her second collaboration with director Kelly Reichardt’s Meek’s Cutoff, Martin Scorcese’s Shutter Island, Sharon Maguire’s Incendiary, Charlie Kaufman’s Synecdoche, New York, Todd Haynes’ I’m Not There, Ethan Hawke’s The Hottest State, Sandra Goldbacher’s Me Without You, and Andrew Fleming’s Dick. On television, she starred opposite Chloë Sevigny in Martha Coolidge’s HBO movie If These Walls Could Talk 2. She also had a six-year run as “Jen Lindley” on the WB’s hit television series Dawson’s Creek. The series premiered in 1998 and remained one of the WB’s top-rated shows throughout its run.
Source: US-Ireland Alliance Non-Profit
