- Michelle Williams won best lead actress in a limited series for her role on FX's "Fosse/Verdon" at the 2019 Emmys.
- Williams used her speech to say that she was paid equally to her costar Sam Rockwell on the FX series and to ask for other women, and women of color, to be paid equal and be listened to on set.
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Michelle Williams won the Emmy for best lead actress in a limited series for FX's "Fosse/Verdon" Sunday night at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.
She used her speech to ask that women, and women of color, be paid equally to their male costars and be listened to when they ask for something.
"I want to say thank you so much to FX and Fox 21 studios for supporting me completely and paying me equally, because they understood because they understood that when you put value into a person, it empowers that person to get in touch with their own inherent value," said Williams.
Williams played actress and dancer Gwen Verdon on the limited biographical miniseries, which was based on the biography "Fosse" from Sam Wasson.
"The next time a woman, and especially a woman of color, because she stands to make 52 cents on the dollar compared to her white male counterpart, tells you what she needs in order to do her job, listen to her, believe her, because one day she might stand in front of you and say thank you for allowing her to succeed," Williams continued.
On "Fosse/Verdon," Williams said she felt comfortable enough to ask for more dance classes, voice lessons, for a different wig and a different pair of fake teeth that weren't made of rubber.
Williams has previously spoken out about pay disparity in Hollywood.
The actress was paid eight times less than her male costar Mark Wahlberg for the movie "All the Money in the World" despite having equal screen time.
At the time, Williams said the news of Wahlberg's pay left her "paralyzed."
"There won't be satisfaction for me until I can exhaust my efforts ensuring that all women experience the elevation of their self-worth and its connection to the elevation of their market worth," Williams said in April when she advocated for the Paycheck Fairness Act on Equal Pay Day.
You can read Williams' full Emmys speech below:
"I see this as an acknowledgment of what is possible when a woman is trusted to discern her own needs, feels safe enough to voice them, and respected enough that they'll be heard. When I asked for more dance classes, I heard yes. More voice lessons? Yes. A different wig, a pair of fake teeth not made out of rubber? Yes. And all these things they require effort and cost more money. But my bosses never presumed to know better than I did about what I needed in order to do my job and honor Gwen Verdon.
I want to say thank you so much to FX and fox 21 studios for supporting me completely and paying me equally, because they understood because they understood that when you put value into a person, it empowers that person to get in touch with their own inherent value. And then where do they put that value? They put it into their work. The next time a woman, and especially a woman of color, because she stands to make 52 cents on the dollar compared to her white male counterpart, tells you what she needs in order to do her job, listen to her, believe her, because one day she might stand in front of you and say thank you for allowing her to succeed because of her workplace environment and not in spite of it."
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