Melanie Kay Williams was born in
Miami,
Florida and grew up in
Tennessee. She began performing in high school and later moved to
New York City for work as a model. In New York, Williams studied acting at
Larry Moss Studio In 2017, she won
Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Digital Daytime Drama Series as a producer of web-series
The Bay. and alongside
Bruce Willis in the 2019 thriller
10 Minutes Gone. She next played the role of
Mildred Gillars in the drama film
American Traitor: The Trial of Axis Sally opposite
Al Pacino. Williams'
American Traitor co-star
Al Pacino criticized her acting performance in the film, as well as her professionalism as a producer on the project. In a 2019 email to producer
Randall Emmett, Pacino suggested adding another shooting day to the film "to help [Williams] give a better performance". "Let's do this Randall. I'm not going for the A's or the B's. I’m going for something between C and B. I don't like Ds," wrote Pacino, "And, as long as you put the effort in with what you know about filmmaking and Michael too I'm sure we'll get to a B−. And that's good enough for me, if it's good enough for you." Pacino also complained that Williams was interfering with director
Michael Polish's editing process. "My thought Randall is very simple. She is not a professional. ... Someone has to say 'back off a second dear, we're completing the film still, take a look when it's ready'," Pacino wrote to Emmett. == Personal life ==