Jessica Williams Featured in “People” Magazine’s 2023 “Beautiful” Issue

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Jessica Williams (Eulalie “Lally” Hicks, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore) was featured in People magazine’s annual “Beautiful” issue this April, where she delivered an empowering message to her younger self.

Williams’s letter begins with a vote of confidence for her grade-school self, seen in a school photo also shared on her Instagram.

For the record, I think your outfit looks great. I love that you want to dress yourself now even if you put your shirt on backwards like you did in this photo.

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
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A post shared by Jessica Renee Williams (@msjwilly)

 

In People, Williams added more about what she would say to her younger self.

I just want you to know that it’s always OK to be who you are even if it’s different. Your voice matters, your thoughts matter, you matter.

She also mentioned a childhood love of reading, something her Fantastic Beasts character would certainly appreciate.

It’s so wonderful that you’re such a big reader and love Clue mystery books so much.

Williams first appeared as Ilvermorny professor Lally Hicks with a cameo appearance in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, reprising her role in Secrets of Dumbledore.

Williams is no stranger to the importance of mental health and self-care, as she has detailed in past interviews with Vanity Fair and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. She says her own experiences with grief and therapy informed her role as therapist Gaby in the Apple TV+ series Shrinking. “I think I’d be a great therapist,” she told Colbert. “I love therapy.”

You can find her complete thoughts on the importance of self-love and confidence in the full People feature.

Abby E

I’ve been writing ever since I was a kid, but I like to think I’ve improved some since the third grade. I’m a big believer in the power of fictional worlds and characters to change lives, and you can usually find me writing some sort of ill-advised self-insert fanfiction, or encouraging others to do so! When I’m not writing about people who don’t exist, I’m reading, listening to (or writing!) fanmusic, or participating in fan-led activism.