Born and raised in San Mateo, California, he graduated from Santa Clara University with a BA in Theatre Arts and was quickly headed to Los Angeles to pursue his dream of a career in Film and Television. He didn't have to wait long. A recurring role on Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990) brought Michael the recognition he sought and he followed that with a starring role on the CBS Series Pensacola: Wings of Gold (1997) opposite James Brolin for two seasons. After that, he landed notable recurring roles on shows such as Arli$$ (1996), Sabrina the Teenage Witch (1996), One Tree Hill (2003), Castle (2009), How I Met Your Mother (2005), Revenge (2011), and the animated series Young Justice (2010) as Adam Strange. Some of his most memorable guest appearances include The Bath Item Gift Hypothesis (2008), Smut (2008), Angels (2014), John May (2010), Dead Man's Curveball (2011), and Baby Made a Mess (2014). He can be seen recurring on Grandfathered (2015) on the FOX network. But he is perhaps best known for his portrayal of Samuel T. Anders on the critically acclaimed Sci-Fi series Battlestar Galactica (2004) and for Justin Patrick on the USA Network series Fairly Legal (2011). He can be seen in the thriller/horror films Hush (2016), The Bye Bye Man (2017), and Hunter Killer (2018). He is currently starring in Rutherford B. Haze (2017) as Tae Kwon Doug. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, actress Sandra Hess and their two dogs and two cats.

Williams first began her acting education in New York, earning a B.A. in Theatre Performance from Fordham University and later studying Shakespeare at Oxford University and at the British American Drama Academy in London.

Williams has performed for two years on One Life to Live as Lorna and As the World Turns as Brandy. With this experience she parlayed her talents into several primetime roles, including the leading role of Bianca on Lifetime's Monarch Cove, Claudia on five episodes of the hit series How I Met Your Mother, Shelley Long's daughter who was snubbed at the altar in the film Honeymoon with Mom, and two seasons on Comedy Central's Strangers with Candy.

Williams has performed guest starring roles and recurring characters on more than two dozen shows, including The Mentalist, Rules of Engagement, Better Off Ted, Lie to Me, In Plain Sight, Two and a Half Men, My Wife and Kids, Jack & Bobby, As the World Turns, Veronica Mars and Drop Dead Diva. She has also held lead roles on numerous television pilots for every major network.[1] In 2011, she began portraying the role of Lauren Reed on the USA Network series Fairly Legal.