Allison Williams (actress)

Allison Howell Williams (born April 13, 1988) is an American actress. Following several minor roles in television, she played Marnie Michaels in the HBO comedy-drama series ''Girls'' (2012–2017), which earned her a Critics' Choice Award nomination, and the title role in ''Peter Pan Live!'' (2014). She rose to widespread recognition for starring as Rose Armitage in the horror film ''Get Out'' (2017), for which she received a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination. She subsequently appeared as Kit Snicket in the series ''A Series of Unfortunate Events'' (2017–2019).

Early life

Williams was born and raised in New Canaan, Connecticut, the daughter of former ''NBC Nightly News'' anchor and managing editor Brian Williams and TV producer Jane Gillan Stoddard. She has a brother, Doug, three years her junior. Williams attended New Canaan Country School and Greenwich Academy.
*"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." She also attended Yale University, where she majored in English and was a member of Morse College and St. Elmo secret society.

Career

Williams was also a member of the improv comedy troupe Just Add Water for four years and acted in the YouTube series ''College Musical.'' The project featured Sam Tsui and was directed by Kurt Hugo Schneider, both of whom attended Yale. She graduated with a degree in English in 2010.

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''. The YouTube video of the performance received widespread praise on the Internet.

Judd Apatow cast Williams in the HBO series ''Girls'', which premiered on April 15, 2012, generating mixed reviews. Williams received praise for her role in the series, and in 2016 she received a nomination for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.

From 2011 to 2012, Williams appeared as Cheryl in the CollegeHumor series ''Jake and Amir''. 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.

In November 2016, Williams appeared in ''Past Forward'', a short film collaboration between David O. Russell and Prada. Williams wrote a series of Funny or Die sketches, in which she starred as newlywed Kate Middleton, with English actor and model Oliver Jackson-Cohen as Prince William, Duke of Cambridge.

In 2017, Williams starred in the horror film ''Get Out''. Director Jordan Peele was convinced she was right for the role of Rose after seeing her performance in ''Peter Pan Live!.'' Peele had cast her in a role made to "disorient audiences", and Williams later said "I was looking for a role that would weaponize everything that people take for granted about me. So I instantly signed on to it." The film received critical acclaim, and the performances of the acting ensemble and Williams were praised, earning her several awards and nominations, including being nominated for the MTV Award for Best Villain and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.

Williams was cast in the role of Charlotte on the Netflix horror film, ''The Perfection'', which was released on May 24, 2019, to positive reviews, and her performance was called "compelling". She was cast in the role of Kit Snicket throughout the second and third seasons of the Netflix comedy-drama series ''A Series of Unfortunate Events''. Williams next appeared in the Swedish thriller film ''Horizon Line'', which released in 2020.

In 2020, Williams Reteamed with Blumhouse Productions to star and executive produce ''M3GAN''.

Personal life

Williams began dating Ricky Van Veen, co-founder of CollegeHumor, in 2011. They became engaged in 2014, and married on September 19, 2015, in a private ceremony in Saratoga, Wyoming. Tom Hanks officiated the ceremony. She and her then-husband lived in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. On June 27, 2019, Van Veen and Williams issued a joint statement of their separation.

In late 2019, Williams began dating German actor Alexander Dreymon. They met while filming ''Horizon Line''. In late 2021, they welcomed a son, Arlo.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Allison
1988 births
Living people
21st-century American actresses
Actresses from Connecticut
American child actresses
American film actresses
American television actresses
American voice actresses
People from New Canaan, Connecticut
Yale College alumni