Early life

Williams was born in Westchester County, New York, the daughter of Linda Barbara (née Payne), a fundraiser for The Michael J. Fox Foundation, and Gurney Williams III, a freelance health and science writer. She is the younger sister of Kimberly Williams-Paisley, who is also an actress, and is sister-in-law to country music star Brad Paisley.

Williams attended Rye High School in Rye, New York. In May 2001 she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Boston University College of Fine Arts School of Theatre.

Williams married producer Neal Dodson on May 29, 2011. Williams gave birth to their first child, a boy, Gus Williams Dodson, on October 5, 2014.

Career

Williams made her big-screen acting debut in a non-speaking role in the 1993 ensemble comedy-drama Indian Summer, which also featured her sister. She then spent from 1994 to 1996 playing teenage Danielle Andropoulos on the soap opera As the World Turns.

Williams had a role in the television series Good Morning, Miami (2002-2004). Since then she has also appeared in episodes of Psych, How I Met Your Mother, E-Ring, Huff, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Side Order of Life, The Mentalist and Warehouse 13. In May 2003, she had a guest starring role on American Dreams, playing singer Sandie Shaw and performing Shaw's 1964 hit "(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me" on American Bandstand.

In 2006, she starred in the Off Broadway play Burleigh Grime$. and appeared as Victoria, a cupcake baker, on six episodes of the television series How I Met Your Mother; a role reprised in the concluding seasons of the show.

In 2010, she starred in the made-for-TV Lifetime movie, Patricia Cornwell's The Front, which premiered on the channel on April 17, 2010. She also won an on-line straw poll conducted by the How I Met Your Mother production staff as to which ex-girlfriend of Ted Mosby, the show's main character, is the fans' favorite. Her character, Victoria, won 128 to 117 over "Robin Scherbatsky", with a smattering of votes for other candidates.

In 2011 and 2012, she played the role of Claire in a film adaptation of Something Borrowed and reprised her role as Victoria on How I Met Your Mother.

She made her Broadway debut in John Grisham's A Time To Kill playing law student Ellen Roark, on September 28, 2013, with opening night on October 20, 2013.

Beginning in 2015, Williams stars as a fictionalized version of Jim Gaffigan's real life wife in The Jim Gaffigan Show, a sitcom about a couple raising their five children in a two-bedroom New York apartment.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1993	Indian Summer	Ida Heinken
2004	List, TheThe List		Short film
2007	Numero Dos	Ashleigh	Short film
2009	Eight Percent, TheThe Eight Percent	Laura	Short film
2010	Heterosexuals	Rhonda
2011	Scents and Sensibility	Elinor Dashwood
2011	Margin Call	Heather Burke
2011	Something Borrowed	Claire
2012	Hearing Voices		Short film
2013	Sequin Raze	Rebecca	Short film
2013	Christmas in the City	Wendy Carroll
2014	Lovesick	Felicia
2014	A Most Violent Year	Lange

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1994-1996	As the World Turns	Danielle Andropoulos	Recurring role
2002	Dawson's Creek	Lory Glory	"Swan Song"
2002-2004	Good Morning, Miami	Dylan Messinger	39 episodes
2003	American Dreams	Sandie Shaw	"High Hopes"
2004	Snow	Sandy Brooks	TV movie
2005	Monk	Darlene Coolidge / Theresa Scott	"Mr. Monk Goes to a Wedding"
2005-2006	E-Ring	Beth Wilkerson	6 episodes
2006	Amy Coyne	Amy Coyne	TV movie
2006	Huff	Alyssa	8 episodes
2006	Him and Us	Nina	TV movie
2006-2014	How I Met Your Mother	Victoria	Seasons 1, 7-9 (recurring; 16 episodes)
2007	Imperfect Union	Ronnie	TV movie
2007	Making It Legal	Julie	TV movie
2007	Psych	Trish Connors	"Forget Me Not"
2007	Montana Sky	Willa Mercy	TV movie
2007	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Laura Kozlowski	"Haystack"
2007	Side Order of Life	Becca	10 episodes
2008	Night Life	Jenny	TV movie
2008	Snow 2: Brain Freeze	Sandy Brooks	TV movie
2008	Novel Adventures	Lizzie McKenzie	8 episodes
2009-2010	Saving Grace	Amanda Dewey	5 episodes
2010	New Adventures of Old Christine, TheThe New Adventures of Old Christine	Store Clerk Amy	"Sweet Charity"
2010	At Risk and The Front	Stump	TV movies of Patricia Cornwell's Win Garano novels
2010	Untitled Adam Carolla Project		TV movie
2011	Retired at 35	Lilah Fabricant	"Stuck in the Meddle"
2011	Bird Dog	Gail McGrath	TV movie
2011	Love Bites	Bridget	"Too Much Information"
2011	Protector, TheThe Protector		"Rats"
2011	Warehouse 13	Sally Stukowski	4 episodes
2011	Mentalist, TheThe Mentalist	Anna Dugan	"The Redshirt"
2012	Wedding Band, TheThe Wedding Band	Denise	"End of the World as We Know It" and "99 Problems"
2012	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Debbie Hicks	"Stealing Home"
2012	Royal Pains	Sydney Bartlett	"You Give Love a Bad Name" and "About Face"
2014	The Good Wife	Christina Barrett	"We, the Juries"
2015-present	The Jim Gaffigan Show	Jeannie Gaffigan	Lead role
2015	October Kiss	Poppy Summerall	Hallmark TV movie

[ Source: Wikipedia ]