Michelle Williams Is “Soaking Up the Joy” With Her Four Private Kids—All About Them

Despite starring in some of the biggest television and film projects, from Dawson’s Creek to The Greatest Showman and Dying for Sex, Michelle Williams has managed to keep a tight lid on her home life.

After a year of dating, she and the late Heath Ledger welcomed a daughter, Matilda Rose, in 2005. Fourteen years later, Matilda played matchmaker for Williams and Thomas Kail, who secretly wed and welcomed a son, Hart, in 2020. The couple welcomed two more kids in 2022 and 2025, respectively—the latter of whom was a complete surprise to the public. The Venom star also kept the names, sex, and birthdays for both babies private.

However, one thing is clear: Williams’s children are her world. “My heart obviously belongs to my children. They tug at it the most,” she said during a January 2023 interview with Entertainment Weekly. In November 2022, a source told Us Weekly, Williams is “soaking up the joy” of her family life. Although the actress keep her children largely out of the spotlight, here is everything we know about her four bundles of joy.

Matilda Rose Ledger

Williams officially entered motherhood on October 28, 2005, when she and then-boyfriend Heath Ledger welcomed their daughter, Matilda Rose Ledger, in New York City. A few weeks following Matilda’s arrival, Williams offered some insight into Matilda’s name while chatting with USA Today and the Boston Herald. “I came up with it on the subway one day,” she explained. “It just fell from the sky and into my head. And I love, love the Roald Dahl book Matilda. I didn’t think about it at the time, but then afterwards, I was like, ‘Yeah, that’s the girl I want: reads lots of books and makes things move with her eyes.’ That’ll be my daughter, for sure.”

Williams and Ledger called it quits after three years together, when Matilda was just two years old. A few months later, the Dark Knight actor passed away from an accidental overdose. The actress told People in a 2016 interview that raising Matilda without Ledger “just won’t ever be right,” though she noted she has had lots of support from her loved ones. In fact, Williams told Variety in May 2022 that her longtime friend Jeremy Strong moved in with her and her daughter after Ledger’s death. “Jeremy was serious enough to hold the weight of a child’s broken heart and sensitive enough to understand how to approach her through play and games and silliness,” she said.

Matilda keeps her father alive in other ways, including through her bonds with his family. In September 2008, The Ledger family decided to give the actor’s entire estate to Matilda. “That was the plan from the moment my boy passed away. There was never any question about the fact that Heath’s estate would go to Matilda,” the actor’s father Kim told People at the time.

Williams has chosen to keep Matilda largely out of the spotlight to maintain normalcy. “I parent to let Matilda feel free to be herself,” she told Vanity Fair in July 2018. In January 2020, Williams had her daughter on her mind while accepting the SAG Award for outstanding performance by a female actor in a miniseries or television movie for her work in Fosse/Verdon. “Matilda, it’s one thing to be completely honest as an actor—it’s another thing to be completely honest as a human being,” she said. “And that’s just who you are and how you live, and you teach me just by being you. I love you and I’m coming home.”

Hart Kail

After secretly tying the knot in March 2020, Williams and Thomas Kail quickly entered parenthood together in June of that year with the birth of their first son, Hart Kail. While the couple exchanged their nuptials in private, Hart’s arrival was no surprise. People revealed that the actress was expecting in December 2019 and Williams put her baby bump on display, draped in a gorgeous black silk Louis Vuitton gown, at the 2020 SAG Awards.

In a May 2020 interview with Variety, Williams shared her experience becoming a mother again during the Covid-19 pandemic. “It was a reminder that life goes on,” she said. “The world we brought a baby into is not the world we thought we were bringing a baby into, but the baby is ignorant of that. He experiences the unmitigated joy of discovery and the happiness of a loving home. There’s nothing that makes you committed to a better world than raising a great kid. It’s the ultimate creative act.”

Baby Number Three

Williams and Kail welcomed their second baby in 2022. The couple was spotted walking around New York City with a newborn baby in October of that year, but neither of their reps commented on the news at the time. They have yet to reveal their child’s name, sex or birthday, though Williams spoke about expanding her family in May 2022. “It’s totally joyous. As the years go on, you sort of wonder what they might hold for you or not hold for you,” she told Variety. “It’s exciting to discover that something you want again and again, is available one more time. That good fortune is not lost on me or my family.” The same month, Williams showed off her bump at the Cannes Film Festival.

Baby Number Four

Williams and Kail have secret births down to a tee. In April 2025, a source confirmed to People that the couple welcomed a third child together via surrogate six weeks prior. The family of six had been spotted walking around New York shortly before the news broke. “They couldn’t be happier to expand their family, and Matilda has been doting on her younger siblings,” a source told the publication.