Michelle Williams is stepping into the spotlight again — and this time, it’s with a smile. The actress was nominated for a Lead Actress Emmy for her powerful role in the FX limited series “Dying For Sex.” The project, which she also executive produced, tells the story of a cancer patient pursuing her desires in the face of death.

But Williams almost didn’t take the role. The series was originally set to film in Los Angeles, and she’s spent years building her life in New York City — as a devoted mom and now as a wife with three small children. New York holds both deep love and painful memories for Williams.

It’s been 17 years since the world lost Heath Ledger, the father of her daughter Matilda. Ledger’s shocking overdose in 2008 left a hole that Williams once admitted would never close. “Nothing will fill in that hole, because what we want back, we can’t get, which is this person,” she told Marie Claire in 2011.

Friends and colleagues who’ve walked alongside Williams say they’re thrilled to see her thriving. Screenwriter Diana Ossana, who worked on “Brokeback Mountain” — the film where Williams met Ledger — said, “She deserves it. Heath would not be surprised if he were here. I’m just so happy to see how successful she is. She has a spine of stainless steel.”

Her co-star in “Dying For Sex,” actress Jillian Mercado, echoed that same admiration: “She picks roles that are tough to play. She does it with such grace. When the character turns off, she’s her bubbly, really sweet self. She’s been through so many things — so many ups and downs, heartbreak, death. [But] she’s such a light person — she’s magical in a way … even with such a heavy role like this she was just such a delight to work with.”

Mercado also noted that Williams’ heart was always with her family: “She was always talking about how she just wanted to go back home and be with her children. I could see the glow in her face — how happy she was.”

For years, Williams longed for a bigger family. She once told GQ, “I really wanted, and I really expected or imagined, that Matilda would have siblings that were close to her age.” While the journey took longer than expected, that dream is now a reality. She and husband Tommy Kail, whom she married in 2020, are raising three young children together, including a daughter welcomed by surrogate.

The couple first met on the set of “Fosse/Verdon” in 2018, where Williams won an Emmy for her performance. Though both were married to others at the time, their connection eventually grew into a new chapter of love and family.

Williams’ journey has been marked by both heartbreak and resilience. After Ledger’s death, she leaned heavily on her community and her role as Matilda’s mother. Actor Jeremy Strong, now known for “Succession,” even moved in for a time to help her daughter heal through “play and games and silliness.”

Today, Williams balances a thriving career with a family life she once only imagined. Later this year, she’ll take the stage again in a revival of Eugene O’Neill’s “Anna Christie,” directed by Kail.