Dawson's Creek star wants to be taken seriously as an actor... BEVERLY HILLS, California - She's wearing a denim jacket and jeans. Her dark curly hair is in a state of tousled rebellion. In brief, Michelle Williams looks like your typical teenager. But, of course, she isn't. She enjoys a huge teenage following -- as well as some notoriety -- because of her portrayal of the wild, sexually available Jen on the hit TV series Dawson's Creek. She recently stripped to the buff on stage in New York when she appeared in a controversial off-Broadway play. She's currently filming a new cable movie about lesbianism. And she has a major movie opening Wednesday -- this time playing a teenage innocent in Dick, a satirical comedy about Washington's infamous Watergate scandal. All these assignments reflect the determination of a bright, ambitious 18-year-old to hone her acting skills. But they also carry some unwelcome baggage -- and this she hates. It's the fame thing that bugs her. She may not be a superstar, but there are still times when she feels that the whole world is aware of her because of Dawson's Creek. "It creates awkwardness and it sort of stilts your life because it interrupts the natural flow of things," she explains. By this she means that because she now gets recognized in public, it's less easy to pursue activities other people take for granted. She cites two examples: "It interrupts your grocery shopping and your eating out. It requires a strange adjustment and then you sort of integrate it into your life and take it for what it is and then get back on track." What worries her more is the effect on her family. "I was talking to my parents the other day about what a hard adjustment it is for them when all of a sudden they have a daughter who is famous. It's really hard to put the situation into words, but all of a sudden your family is being scrutinized for what you do and isn't really safe anymore." "I did a play that was very controversial and their friends were criticizing them for it. My younger sister goes to high school and has to deal with the fact that her sister plays Jen, the drunken slut on Dawson's Creek. That can't be fun -- it's gotta be really hard for her." She's been acting professionally since she was 12 but it's only recently that she has started realizing that her career "has a huge impact on family and friends." Even Dick -- an amiable spoof that operates from the premise that two teenage girls, played by Williams and Kirsten Dunst, were the real architects of President Richard Nixon's downfall 25 years ago -- will cause some family embarrassment. "My father is a hard-core Republican and he ran for the U.S. Senate twice when he was younger," Williams explains. "I don't think he's a big Nixon fan per se -- although like most Republicans he gives him the benefit of the doubt." But she can still imagine what her dad's party cronies will be saying. Meanwhile, her own political views have "evolved" somewhat from those held by her father, but she says she will always be grateful to him for teaching her the importance of being politically informed and aware of past history. So even though the Watergate scandal occurred seven years before she was born she came into Dick "with a pretty good knowledge of the events that took place." In the film, Williams and Dunst play a pair of Washington teenagers who accidentally discover some embarrassing presidential secrets relating to a Republic-sanctioned break-in of Democratic National headquarters at Washington's Watergate Hotel. The president, played by Dan Hedaya, attempts to ingratiate himself with the girls by appointing them official White House dog walkers. Williams loved playing someone who was such a total innocent. "She's really unaware of the details of what's going on around her. I think it was important to keep that innocent outlook." At one point Michelle's character becomes infatuated with Nixon but her worship is short-lived when she discovers that the president utters racial slurs in private and is mean to his dog, Checkers." In retaliation, the two girls contact Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein and start feeding them information about nefarious dealings in the White House. The movie's mischievous conclusion is that these two ditsy teenagers were the mysterious and still-unidentified "Deep Throat" who fed the Post reporters information that led to Nixon's resignation. Three Canadians have major supporting roles in Dick, which was filmed mostly in Toronto. Two veterans of Canada's Kids In The Hall series, Bruce McCulloch and David Foley, respectively, play Carl Bernstein and and White House Chief of Staff Bob Haldeman. A guttural-voiced Saul Rubinek plays Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. Williams says that the film will obviously appeal to older moviegoers who remember the scandal. But she also thinks Dick will attract Hollywood's crucial teenage audience. "I don't think you have to be in on all of the jokes to appreciate the movie." Dawson's Creek and Dick provide Williams with a pair of vividly contrasting young roles, and she's grateful for them. But for her it's not enough. She talks of a burning need to prove her acting abilities on a more substantial level -- which is why she recently turned down lucrative film offers to instead star off-Broadway as an innocent called Dottie in the controversial black comedy, Killer Joe. It was a taxing assignment. "The play takes place in a white-trash trailer park in the middle of Texas and my character has grown up with violence, abuse and emotional neglect." Williams took it on because of a need to prove herself. "It was the best thing I've ever done. I'd gone years without feeling the kind of joy I did when I went into my first play as a kid. I wanted to strip away all the things I've come to know, all the things that come with being the star of a teen show -- the makeup, the wardrobe, the people tending to you." "I really wanted to get back to what I love to do most -- which is the work. This play really made me strip away all those extraneous things that I've become. It was a crucial time for me. For the first time in my life, it made me feel I could be an actor and say it without any second guessing or hesitation. I finally feel I've earned that title." Now, she's involved in another risky project -- this time for the Home Box Office cable network where she's filming a segment of an ongoing HBO drama series, If These Walls Could Talk, which examines feminist issues. Like Dick, If These Walls Could Talk also has a `70s setting, but the issues it examines are a million light years away from the satirical frivolities of Dick. The subject matter is lesbian politics on campus. "It's all jeans and peasant shirts and clogs," Williams laughs. "I'm going to college and am part of this feminist group. My friends and I get kicked out and I fall in love with this woman who is very butch ..." She anticipates more flak over this role, but she's not worrying. Besides, she adds sweetly, she has a boyfriend who's "very patient and very accepting."