Michelle Williams is a storyteller first and foremost. While she’s already known for her acting skills, it didn’t take long for the internet to fall in love with her latest performance: the audiobook narration of Britney Spears’s new memoir, “The Woman In Me.” The project makes Williams eligible for a Grammy in the best audiobook, narration, and storytelling recording category, meaning she could soon be halfway to EGOT status. After listening to her work for themselves, fans are convinced there’s no one more deserving.
Following the book’s Oct. 24 release, excerpts of the audiobook began circulating on social media, with Williams’s impression of an early-2000s-era Justin Timberlake in particular going viral on X (formerly Twitter). “One day J and I were in New York, going to parts of town I had never been to before. Walking our way was a guy with a huge, blinged-out medallion. He was flanked by two giant security guards,” Williams reads. “J got all excited and said so loud, ‘Oh yeah, fo’ shiz fo’ shiz, Ginuwine, what’s up homie?'”
Other audiobook storytellers might’ve read Spears’s anecdote verbatim, foregoing any audible embellishments or personality, but Williams didn’t shy away from JT’s awkward colloquialisms. People are applauding her for adding so much entertainment value, swearing to listen to the rest of the audiobook if it’s anything like the Timberlake clip. “If #MichelleWilliams doing an impression of #JustinTimberlake speaking in black inner city patois whilst talking to #Ginuwine isn’t Grammy worthy, then I don’t know what is,” one user summed it up on X.
Spears previously told People that while she would narrate “The Woman In Me” introduction, it was ultimately too emotional to read the rest herself. She enlisted Williams to tell the entirety of her story – the good, the bad, and the cringe. Having nailed the narration, Williams is one step closer to a well-deserved Grammy, and we love the sound of that.
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