Allison Williams (actress)

Allison Howell Williams[1] (born April 13, 1988)[2] is an American actress, who played Marnie Michaels on the HBO comedy-drama series Girls and received critical acclaim for her performance in the 2017 horror film Get Out.

This article is about the American actress. For the American sportscaster, see Allison Williams (reporter). For the 2003 pageant titleholder, see Allison Williams (Miss West Virginia).
Allison Williams
Williams in July 2012
Born (1988-04-13) April 13, 1988
New Canaan, Connecticut, U.S.
Alma materYale University
OccupationActor
Years active2004–present
Spouse(s)
Ricky Van Veen
(m. 2015; div. 2019)
Parent(s)Brian Williams
Jane Stoddard

Early life

Williams was born and raised in New Canaan, Connecticut,[3] the daughter of former NBC Nightly News anchor and managing editor Brian Williams[4] and TV producer Jane Gillan Stoddard. She has a brother, Doug, three years her junior.[5] She attended New Canaan Country School and Greenwich Academy.[6]

Williams attended Yale University, where she was a member of Morse College and St. Elmo secret society.[7] At Yale, Williams was also a member of the improv comedy troupe Just Add Water for four years and acted in the YouTube series College Musical.[8][9] The project featured Sam Tsui and was directed by Kurt Hugo Schneider, both of whom attended Yale.[9] She graduated with a degree in English in 2010.[4][10]

Career

In 2010, Williams performed a mashup of "Nature Boy" set to RJD2's "A Beautiful Mine", the theme song for the television series Mad Men.[11] The YouTube video of the performance received widespread praise on the Internet,[12] and convinced Judd Apatow that she should be given a part in the HBO series Girls.[4] She was cast shortly after and credited her experience at Just Add Water for passing the audition.[8][13] Girls premiered on April 15, 2012.

Williams wrote a series of Funny or Die sketches, in which she starred as newlywed Kate Middleton,[4] with English actor and model Oliver Jackson-Cohen as Prince William, Duke of Cambridge.[14] Williams appeared as Danielle in an episode of the third season of The League titled "The Guest Bong".

Williams has appeared as a recurring character, Cheryl, in the CollegeHumor series Jake and Amir.[15][16]

On December 4, 2014 she starred in the title role on NBC's live television presentation of the musical Peter Pan Live!, opposite Christopher Walken as Captain Hook.[17] In November 2016, Williams appeared in Past Forward, a short film collaboration between David O. Russell and Prada.

In 2017, Williams starred in the hit horror film Get Out, directed by Jordan Peele, who became convinced she was right for the role of Rose after seeing her performance in Peter Pan Live![18] In the same year, Williams was cast in the role of Charlotte on the Netflix horror film, The Perfection.[19] The film was released on May 24, 2019.[20]

In 2018, Williams was cast in a recurring role as Kit Snicket throughout the second and third seasons of the Netflix comedy drama series A Series of Unfortunate Events.[21]

Personal life

Williams began dating Ricky Van Veen, co-founder of CollegeHumor, in 2011. They became engaged in 2014[22] and married on September 19, 2015 in a private ceremony in Saratoga, Wyoming.[23] Tom Hanks officiated the ceremony.[24] She and her husband lived in Chelsea, New York.[25][26] On June 27, 2019, they issued a joint statement that they will be splitting up.[27]

Advocacy

Williams is an ambassador for Horizons National. She led the 2016 "10 Days of Giving" campaign to raise awareness and funds for the organization's educational goals and is expected to revisit this role in 2017.[28] She has also done work with Product Red to fund HIV/AIDS programs in Africa, and is currently involved with the Transformational Prison Project as an advocate for criminal justice reform. Williams recently talked about her political views, advocacy, millennial activism, and women in Hollywood on the Politico podcast, Women Rule.[29]

Filmography

Film
Year Title Role Notes
2016 Past Forward Woman #1 Short film
2017 Get Out Rose Armitage
2018 The Perfection Charlotte
2020 Horizon Line Sara Post-production

Television
Year Title Role Notes
2004 American Dreams Deborah 2 episodes
2011 Will & Kate: Before Happily Ever After Kate Middleton 4 episodes; also writer
2011–2012 Jake and Amir Cheryl 2 episodes
2011 The League Danielle Episode: "The Guest Bong"
2012–2017 Girls Marnie Michaels Main cast; 55 episodes
2013 The Mindy Project Jillian 3 episodes
2014 Peter Pan Live! Peter Pan Television special
2015 The Simpsons Candace's friend (voice) Episode: "Every Man's Dream"
2018–2019 A Series of Unfortunate Events Kit Snicket 8 episodes
2018 Patrick Melrose Marianne Episode: "Bad News"
2019 Sesame Street Sanitation Worker Episode: "Oscar Uncanned"

Awards and nominations
Year Award Category Nominated work Result Ref(s)
2016 Critics' Choice Television Award Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series Girls Nominated [30]
2017 MTV Movie & TV Awards Best Villain Get Out Nominated [31]
National Board of Review Best Cast Won [32]
San Diego Film Critics Society Best Ensemble Nominated [33]
Seattle Film Critics Society Best Ensemble Won [34]
Florida Film Critics Circle Best Cast Nominated [35]
Online Film Critics Society Best Ensemble Nominated [36]
[37]
2018 Georgia Film Critics Association Best Ensemble Nominated [38]
Screen Actors Guild Award Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Nominated [39]

References
  1. Adam Sachs (February 8, 2017). "Allison Williams on Her Brand-New Blonde, Daily Doughnuts, and Her Pal Katy Perry". Retrieved November 2, 2017. I think if I'd used my middle name professionally—Howell Williams—I'd have a totally different career.
  2. "Celebrity birthdays on April 13". The Miami Herald. April 13, 2014. Archived from the original on April 16, 2014. Retrieved July 6, 2014. Actress Allison Williams ('Girls') is 26.
  3. Kaufman, Amy (February 17, 2017). "How Allison Williams mined the horrors of white privilege for 'Get Out'". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California: Tronc. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
  4. Schuster, Dana (August 5, 2011). "Anchor's away". New York Post. New York City: News Corp. Retrieved July 6, 2014.
  5. Koblin, John (July 20, 2017). "Another Williams Takes His Turn Before the Camera, at SNY". The New York Times. New York City: New York Times Company. Retrieved February 5, 2018.
  6. "Allison Williams flies high". New Canaan Advertiser. New Canaan, Connecticut: Hearst Communications. December 4, 2014. Archived from the original on March 8, 2017. Retrieved March 7, 2017.
    • "I went to the New Canaan Nature Center for preschool," she said. "I was so into that world, and still think about it all the time. It established my love for nature and animals." "New Canaan Country School and Greenwich Academy followed."
  7. Klein, Alex (May 5, 2010). "WEB EXCLUSIVE: Every Yale Secret Society, 2009–2010 (or, A Tribute to Rumpus)". IvyGate. Archived from the original on 2012-04-20. Retrieved April 26, 2012.
  8. Serna, Danny (January 11, 2011). "HBO picks up new television series starring Allison Williams '10/". Yale Daily News. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University. Retrieved November 16, 2017.
  9. Perlman, Jake (September 2, 2014). "'Girls' meets 'Glee'? Watch the trailer for 'College Musical' with Allison Williams". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2020-05-11.
  10. Yager, Sarah (2010-01-29). "Kurt Schneider re(de)fines formula for YouTube success". The Yale Herald. Yale University. Archived from the original on 2010-09-05. Retrieved 2010-09-14.
  11. Shea, Danny (October 13, 2010). "Allison Williams, Brian Williams' Daughter, Sings 'Mad Men' Theme Song (VIDEO)". The Huffington Post. New York City: Huffington Post Media Group. Retrieved December 28, 2011.
  12. Sklar, Rachel (October 14, 2010). "Allison Williams, This Week The Biggest Star In Her Family (Sorry, BriWi)". Mediaite. Retrieved December 28, 2011.
  13. Andreeva, Nellie (October 28, 2010). "Trio Cast In Lena Dunham's HBO Pilot, Including Brian Williams' Daughter Allison". Deadline Hollywood. Los Angeles, California: Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved December 28, 2011.
  14. "Allison Williams". Funny or Die. Los Angeles, California: Gary Sanchez Productions. Retrieved April 16, 2013.
  15. "Jake and Amir / Cheryl". CollegeHumor. December 1, 2011. Retrieved April 16, 2013.
  16. "Jake and Amir / Cheryl Part 2 (starring Allison Williams)". CollegeHumor. August 14, 2012. Retrieved April 16, 2013.
  17. Sneticker, Marc (July 30, 2014). "Allison Williams to play Peter Pan in NBC's 'Peter Pan Live'". Entertainment Weekly. New York City: Meredith Corporation. Retrieved July 30, 2014.
  18. Hipes, Patrick (November 4, 2015). "Allison Williams To Star In Jordan Peele's Horror Movie 'Get Out'". Deadline Hollywood. Los Angeles, California: Eldridge Industries. Retrieved May 27, 2016.
  19. Busch, Anita (October 27, 2017). "Allison Willliams Toplines Horror Thriller 'The Perfection' For Director Richard Shepard". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 16, 2019.
  20. Hasty, Katie (December 30, 2018). "Here's every 2019 movie release date so far". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved April 16, 2019.
  21. Otterson, Joe (March 20, 2018). "Allison Williams Joins 'A Series of Unfortunate Events' at Netflix". Variety. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
  22. Blumm, K.C.; Jordan, Julie (February 26, 2014). "Allison Williams Engaged to Ricky Van Veen". People. Time. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
  23. Kimble, Lindsay; Mizoguchi, Karen (September 19, 2015). "Allison Williams and Ricky Van Veen Are Married". People. New York City: Meredith Corporation. Retrieved September 19, 2015.
  24. "Allison Williams and Ricky Van Veen's honeymoon was 'heavenly'". HELLO! US. Hello. 2015-10-06. Retrieved 2015-10-16.
  25. "Chelsea 'Girl': Allison Williams makes her home on Manhattan's West side". Brick Underground. February 18, 2015.
  26. Sargeant, Jordan (February 11, 2015). "Allison Williams Might Be the Most Boring Person in New York". Gawker. New York City: Gawker Media.
  27. "Allison Williams & CollegeHumor founder Ricky Van Veen files for divorce, Here's why". Union Journalism. June 28, 2019.
  28. "Allison Williams Sets the Stage for Horizons Giving Day". Horizonsnational.org. Horizons National. May 4, 2016. Retrieved June 24, 2017.
  29. "Allison Williams re-imagines 'Girls' in the Trump era". Politico. Arlington, Virginia: Capitol News Company. June 6, 2017. Retrieved June 24, 2017.
  30. Lincoln, Ross (November 14, 2016). "Critics' Choice TV Nominations Unveiled". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved November 15, 2016.
  31. Bell, Crystal (April 6, 2017). "Here Are Your 2017 MTV Movie & TV Awards Nominations: See The Full List". MTV. Retrieved April 6, 2017.
  32. National Board of Review Editors (November 29, 2017). "National Board Of Review Announces 2017 Award Winners". National Board of Review. Retrieved December 9, 2017.
  33. Murray, Rebecca (December 9, 2017). "San Diego Film Critics 2017 Nominees: 'Three Billboards,' 'Shape of Water,' and 'Dunkirk' Top the List". Showbiz Junkies. Retrieved December 9, 2017.
  34. Seattle Film Critics Society Editors (December 11, 2017). "'Blade Runner 2049' Leads the 2017 Seattle Film Critics Society Nominations". Seattle Film Critics Society. Retrieved December 11, 2017.
  35. "'The Shape of Water' Leads 2017 Florida Film Critics Awards Nominations". Florida Film Critics Circle. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
  36. Neglia, Matt. "The 2017 Online Film Critics Society (OFCS) Nominations". NextBigPicture. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
  37. Hipes, Patrick (December 28, 2017). "'Get Out' Named Best Picture By Online Film Critics Society". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 28, 2017.
  38. "2017 Awards". Georgia Film Critics Association. January 8, 2018. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
  39. Vanity Fair Editors (December 13, 2017). "2018 SAG Awards Nominations: See the Full List". Vanity Fair. Retrieved December 13, 2017.
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