Tribute to Marilyn Monroe

Michelle Williams as Marilyn Monroe in My Week With Marilyn

Countless actresses have portrayed Monroe on film or for TV (NBC's Smash or HBO's Norma Jean and Marilyn, for example), but former Dawson's Creek actress Michelle Williams made the role her own in 2011's My Week With Marilyn. In fact, Williams earned her third Oscar nomination for playing the former Norma Jeane Baker. Williams, who was 31 when she played Monroe, confessed to plastering photos of the late actress on her bedroom wall while growing up in San Diego. "I had one of her in a field of trees in Roxbury, Connecticut," Williams told the L.A. Times. "She's wearing a white dress and she's barefoot and she's got her arms spread and she's laughing. There was just something about that image of her — so lovely and joyful and free. I've always thought of her as that woman-child, not an icon, which is probably why I let myself approach the role." When Williams was cast in the Marilyn movie, she immediately began trying to master the way she walked and talked. "Is it too pretentious to say I feel I have a relationship with her?" she asked. "The more time I spend with her, the closer I feel to her."