Michelle Williams to be Honored by the Hollywood Film Festival

Michelle Williams in My Week with Marilyn
Michelle Williams in My Week with Marilyn - © The Weinstein Company
Two-time Oscar nominee Michelle Williams (Blue Valentine, Brokeback Mountain) has been named as this year’s recipient of the 15th Annual Hollywood Film Festival and Hollywood Film Awards’ “Hollywood Actress Award” as announced today by the festival’s founder, Carlos de Abreu. The award will be presented at the Hollywood Film Awards Gala Ceremony to be held on October 24, 2011 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, CA.
 
Williams will next be seen starring as Marilyn Monroe in the dramatic film, My Week with Marilyn, opening in theaters on November 4, 2011.
 
In addition to Williams, the 2011 Hollywood Film Festival will honor Christopher Plummer (‘Hollywood Supporting Actor Award’ for Beginners), Joseph Gordon-Levitt (‘Hollywood Breakthrough Actor Award’ for 50/50), Jessica Chastain (‘Hollywood Breakthrough Actress Award’ for The Tree of Life, Coriolanus, The Debt, The Help and Take Shelter), Felicity Jones (‘New Hollywood Award’ for Like Crazy), and the cast of The Help.
 
More on Michelle Williams [Courtesy of the Hollywood Film Festival]:
 
Michelle Williams’ performances have established her as one of Hollywood’s most sought-after and respected actors earning her two Academy Award® nominations.
 
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.
 
This fall, Williams takes on the iconic Marilyn Monroe in My Week with Marilyn opposite Kenneth Branagh and Judi Dench. The film will be released by The Weinstein Company on November 4, 2011. She will star opposite Seth Rogan in Sarah Polley’s Take This Waltz, which made its world premiere 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.
 
Williams’ 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.” Following, Williams was 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.” In 2005, Williams was honored by the Motion Picture Club as “Female Star of Tomorrow.”
 
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, Williams 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.
 
On stage, Williams received glowing reviews for her portrayal of Varya in Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard at the Williamstown Theatre Festival. She also achieved critical acclaim for her run in Mike Leigh’s Smelling a Rat at the Samuel Beckett Theatre and her off-Broadway debut in Killer Joe.
 
Source: The Hollywood Film Festival – Sept 28, 2011