If you’re wanting to give out an award for best acceptance speech at the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards, Michelle Williams’ was it.
The Venom actress received the award for Outstanding Actress in a Limited Series for her role as Gwen Verdon in Fosse/Verdon.
Williams’ speech referenced her own experience working in a supportive environment and used it to encourage other productions to create the same for their actresses.
“I see this as an acknowledgment of what is possible when a woman is trusted and feels safe enough to voice her needs and respected enough to be heard… my bosses never presumed to know better than I did about what I needed in order to do my job and honor Gwen Verdon,” she said. “Thank you so much to FX and Fox 21 studios for supporting me and paying me equally, because they understood that when you put value into a person, it empowers that person to get in touch with their own inherent value. Where do they put that value? They put it into their work.”
The 39-year-old, who was notably paid less than her male co-star on All the Money in the World in the past, further pleaded for pay equity.
“The next time a woman, and especially a woman of colour, because she stands to make 52 cents on the dollar compared to her white male counterparts, 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.”
Hear, hear.
