M3GAN 2.0’s Allison Williams Has Grown Up—and Grown Past—’Girls’

There was a time when Allison Williams felt permanently fused to the gloss-coated perfectionism of Girls’ Marnie Michaels. A decade later, the actress, producer, and newly minted podcast host is breaking out of that New York apartment for good. 

With M3GAN 2.0 charging into theaters on June 27, an executive producer credit stamped on every frame, and a HeadGum show called Landlines dropping weekly, Williams proves she isn’t just older—she’s operating on a different frequency.

Leaving Marnie in the rear view

Williams credits Jordan Peele’s modern classic Get Out—and her breakthrough role as the villainous Rose—for the clean break from her infamous HBO character. “What Get Out did for me was it knocked the Marnie loose for me a little bit, which was really hard to shake for all those years,” she recalls on Not Skinny But Not Fat. 

Playing Rose opened the door to thrillers that tackle real-world anxieties with sly genre winks. And once that door swung open, it never closed. The Perfection followed, and TikTok is still dissecting her razor-sharp turn as Gemma in M3GAN. Each role edges farther from the anxious twenty-something who once wondered whether satchels were “over.”

Running the set, not just starring on it

Early in M3GAN’s development, Williams insisted on an executive-producer seat—and then treated it like a second full-time job. “I take that role extremely seriously,” she says, adding that she even begs to be cc’d on every email thread. She doesn’t hide the Type-A streak that first made Marnie so recognizable; she just redirects it. 

On set, “If you’re number one on the call sheet, you have a responsibility…No bullsh*t. Just keep the vibes happy,” she explains. 

That ethos now guides her into casting meetings, tech scouts, and post-production reviews, turning Williams into the de facto department head for the entire acting team.

Allison Williams is crafting smarter scares with M3GAN 2.0

Williams loves thrillers because they smuggle big conversations inside popcorn fun. “This is that thing of taking this issue that people are quietly nervous about and putting it into its most exaggerated, campy, fun form,” she explains of when she first read the script for M3GAN 2.0, pointing to parents’ tech fears. 

The sequel levels up both the satire and the scream factor, and she can’t wait for packed auditoriums when M3GAN 2.0 premieres on June 27. Expect fresh choreography, gnarlier kills, and the same sly commentary, now powered by Williams’ producer brain as much as her performance.

Life beyond the lens

Stepping behind the camera coincided with another milestone—motherhood. “My son turned one, which is f*cking crazy,” she laughs, still processing the time warp of toddlerhood. 

The perspective shift seeps into every career choice. Hours on late-night shoots get balanced against bedtime stories, and wellness discussions land on her new HeadGum podcast as she ponders what her baby boy needs next. Listeners can expect the same candid breakdowns Williams gives friends, minus the studio lights and killer dolls.

The next chapter is self-written

Allison Williams no longer chases roles that look tidy on a résumé. “I am very deliberate, possibly to a fault. I just like to think about things from every single angle, every movie that I do,” she admits. Williams may forever hold space in pop culture memory as Marnie, but Marnie can’t hold her. The actress who once fit neatly inside an HBO apartment now roams studios, edit bays, and podcast booths, steering every aspect of her narrative. She has, unmistakably, grown up—and grown past Girls.