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Michelle Williams reflected on her breakout role as Jen Lindley in Dawson’s Creek during an appearance on Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard
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The actress was just 16 when she landed the role — one year after she became legally emancipated and was living on her own in Los Angeles
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Williams said she’s grateful she had the freedom to explore other projects and still have Dawson’s Creek to return to
Michelle Williams is reflecting on her time as Jen Lindley.
The actress, 44, appeared on Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard on May 19, where she shared insight into her career’s early years. In 1998, Williams secured her role as Jen Lindley in Dawson’s Creek — and her big break couldn’t have come at a better time, she said.
Williams joined the cast of Dawson’s Creek as Jen Lindley at age 16 — just one year after she was legally emancipated and living on her own in Los Angeles. Shepard recalled that Williams once said “there’s a lot of scary people or dangerous people in L.A., and I met many of them” during her first few months emancipated.
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Michelle Williams on ‘Dawson’s Creek’ in 1998
“I thank God that I got that show, and that it plucked me out and landed me on this sleepy southern coastal town, and that I had a job to go to and a place to be responsible to and met a few people there that are still in my life, that I love very much, that are so much a part of me, and had some kind of stability,” Williams said of filming in North Carolina.
So many child actors endure heartbreak, too, Williams continued, as constant auditions and “mass rejections” pile up emotionally. For that reason, Dawson’s Creek was a gift, she noted — she “really wanted it.”
At the time, Williams was completing the rest of high school — a feat she accomplished in the span on nine months, though she recognized that’s significantly harder to do on sets now.
Williams was both grateful for the consistent work on Dawson’s Creek and that she was able to explore other projects. While she filmed 2001’s Me Without You in the United Kingdom — a movie she was “dying to do” — the show helped move her schedule around so she had the freedom to do both, she said.
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Michelle Williams on ‘Dawson’s Creek’ in 1998
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“I guess there was room for both,” she said, adding, “It’s also not like I was getting a million offers to go do other things. There was enough for me.”
At that point, Williams didn’t view herself as “career-focused,” but rather she was drawn to things and chased them accordingly.
The actress, who was with Dawson’s Creek until its 2003 finale, is currently starring in Dying for Sex.
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