Michelle Williams Wants to Make a ‘Greatest Showman’ Sequel: ‘That Movie Brought So Much Joy’

Michelle Williams Variety Cover Story
Celeste Sloman for Variety

Michelle Williams harbors a deep desire to lace up her dancing shoes again.

The actress is best known for her intense performances in searing dramas like “Blue Valentine” and “Manchester by the Sea,” but she particularly loved her change-of-pace work in the ebullient musical “The Greatest Showman.”

“I would make another one of those in a heartbeat,” Williams told Variety during an interview for a recent cover story. “I wish they’d make a sequel.”

“The Greatest Showman” became a theatrical blockbuster when it opened in 2017, grossing $434.9 million globally thanks in part to its mega-selling album. It was a soundtrack filled with infectious anthems such as “This Is Me,” “The Greatest Show” and “Rewrite the Stars.” Williams, who played the wife of Hugh Jackman’s P.T. Barnum in the heavily fictionalized look at the circus baron, sang such songs as “Tightrope” and “A Million Dreams.” And she wasn’t immune to the album’s ubiquity.

“That movie brought so much joy to so many people and to make people that happy, man that is a worthwhile thing to spend your time doing,” says Williams. “I really love that movie. My daughter Matilda sang those songs. My mom is still listening to that soundtrack.”

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“I love making things for kids that are full of joy and positivity,” Williams added.

Williams is also hoping to return to another film franchise. The actress has played Eddie Brock’s estranged fiancee in both “Venom” and “Venom: Let There Be Carnage,” a role she’s hoping to reprise the next time the symbiote graces the screen.

“I have every intention of continuing with the series,” she says. “I certainly hope they bring me back.”

And those films present unique acting challenges. “Venom: Let There Be Carnage,” for instance, includes a scene where Williams is possessed by an alien symbiote.

“Pretending that a monster is getting into your body and then taking over and leaving your body, that’s hard,” she says.

“The stuff Tom [Hardy] does is really challenging,” Williams adds. “They’re big movies and he’s climbing a lot of mountains in them.”