During Williams’ four ‘Late Shows’ appearances, the pair have discussed parenthood, poetry, and the time a famous actor was arrested during one of her Broadway shows.

Every time *Late Show hosted *Michelle Williams, who Stephen Colbert says he was ‘wildly attracted’ to

During Williams’ four ‘Late Shows’ appearances, the pair have discussed parenthood, poetry, and the time a famous actor was arrested during one of her Broadway shows.

By Marina Watts

Marina Watts

Marina Watts is a news writer for with seven years experience covering entertainment, pop culture and celebrity news. Her previous work appears in PEOPLE, Bustle and Newsweek.

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May 14, 2026 12:41 p.m. ET

Stephen Colbert at Hollywood Reporter's Most Powerful People event on May 7; Michelle Williams. Credit:

- Stephen Colbert recently admitted that he was "wildly attracted" to Michelle Williams when she made her first appearance on his talk show 10 years ago.

- "I could not— I didn't know what to do with my eyeballs when Michelle Williams was on for the first time," Colbert said on Monday.

- *The Late Show With Stephen Colbert *concludes May 21.

Stephen Colbert and Michelle Williams have a history. Well, sort of.

As *Late Show With Stephen Colbert** *comes to a close on May 21, the host isn't holding much back, including revealing which guest he wasn't expecting to feel "wildly attracted to."

On Monday, Colbert admitted that Williams was "so beautiful" and he didn't know "what to do with my eyeballs" while speaking with fellow late-night hosts Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, John Oliver, and Seth Meyers on their *Strike Force Five *podcast.**

Michelle Williams first appeared on 'The Late Show With Stephen Colbert' in 2016.

"She sat down across from me and I went, 'Oh f---, what is wrong with my head? I better not look directly at her for this entire interview,'" Colbert continued. "There was something about her vibe, her face, everything. She's so beautiful."

Williams has stopped by the Ed Sullivan Theater to chat with Colbert four times throughout the show's tenure. Here's what the pair spoke about during each visit, including parenthood, poetry, Steven Spielberg, and that time Shia LaBeouf got arrested during one of her performances on Broadway.

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Williams' first appearance on *The **Late Show** *was in 2016 during her run in *Blackbird** *on Broadway. She also talked about her starring role in *Cabaret*, in 2014, including when Shia LaBeouf was arrested for drunken behavior during one of the musical's performances.

"I thought he was the best audience member we ever had," Williams quipped. "He was so excited, he was so effusive with his applause and his shouting and cheering."**

Williams' second appearance on 'The Late Show,' in 2019.

She returned to the show in 2019 in support of miniseries *Fosse/Verdon*, in which she played actress and dancer Gwen Verdon, the wife of choreographer Bob Fosse.

Upon greeting her, Colbert said it was nice to see her "not on a movie screen." While talking about her latest role, Colbert also brought up the fact that she doesn't like to watch her own work.

"Why don't you do that, Michelle Williams? You're very good. People enjoy your work. Oscar nominations and all that," Colbert said.

"I love what I do, and I love being inside of it, and the experience of watching it takes me to the outside of the thing that I did. And my relationship with that is not as healthy," Williams responded.

Williams' third visit with Colbert, in 2022.

During her 2022 appearance, Williams chatted with Colbert about her role in Steven Spielberg's *The Fabelmans**. *She welcomed her third child six weeks before her appearance on the show and compared notes with Colbert about parenthood, quipping that there's "no pictures" of baby no. 3.

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She also revealed what it was like having her second child during the pandemic, calling it "a great time to have a baby."

"That really livens up a quarantine," she said. "You drop a baby in, and nobody wants to come over. Nobody wants to see the baby. You don't have to feed people. You don't have to pretend to be able to carry on a conversation. You can just, like, stare at your baby."

Colbert gifted Williams a *Late Show *onesie for her child.

Williams, who portrayed a character based on director Spielberg's mother in *The Fabelmans*, discussed his directing style and how his childhood continues to inspire his filmmaking.

Michelle Williams made her fourth, and final, appearance on 'The Late Show With Stephen Colbert' in 2025.

Williams and Colbert reunited once more in 2025 for her final *Late Show *appearance to chat about her role in the series *Dying for Sex*. The actress had taken a break from acting for over two years, but when the script for the dramedy series came her way, she knew pretty quickly that it was the right project to pull her back.

Williams added that her character, Molly, taught her a lot. In the show, Molly leaves her husband after she receives a second terminal cancer diagnosis and embarks on a sexual journey to experience all she can before she becomes too sick to do so.

During their conversation, she and Colbert also spoke about their mutual love of poetry. Williams said she likes to "think about poetry" before she goes to work, and adores how it can be "pocket-sized and very digestible."

The final episode of *The Late Show With Stephen Colbert *airs on Thursday, May 21 at 11:35 p.m. ET/PT.

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