Who Is Ashley Williams’ Husband? All About Neal Dodson

Ashley Williams does not miss an opportunity to celebrate her husband Neal Dodson.

The Jim Gaffigan Show the star met him in 2003 in the office of an acting coach. The producer popped the question on Thanksgiving Day 2009, and the couple tied the knot in May 2011.

“He grounds me. He lets me laugh at myself and he calms me down,” Williams told PEOPLE exclusively before their wedding in Nashville. “He puts things into perspective.”

The couple expanded their family in October 2014 with the arrival of their son Gus. He was then joined by his brother Odie in May 2017.

“He is dreamy. He’s also a rock star dad and we don’t know what we’d do without him,” Williams once wrote in an Instagram caption dedicated to the father of two. “Thank you @nealdodson17 for leading our nomadic family through the trenches with humor, bright ideas and unwavering energy. Every day is a ride and I am always grateful.”

So who is Ashley Williams’ husband? Here’s everything you need to know about Neal Dodson and his relationship with the Hallmark actress.

He grew up in Pennsylvania

Ashley Williams and Neal Dodson.

Ashley Williams Instagram

Dodson grew up in York, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Central York High School in 1996 and went on to attend the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, graduating in 2000.

He was honored in his hometown in October 2023 as a member of the inaugural class of the Central York Performing Arts Hall of Fame.

“The Hall of Fame aims to recognize and honor former Central York High School students, teachers and others who have achieved a high level of excellence in the performing arts,” he reported York Daily Record.

Williams and Dodson met in 2003

Ashley Williams and Neal Dodson.

Ashley Williams Instagram

Williams and Dodson first met in 2003 in the office of acting coach Warner Loughlin. At the time, she was starring in a sitcom Good morning, Miami and Dodson worked as an assistant.

He was “teaching actresses how to do accents for auditions and I was on a sitcom and that day he was wearing a big red @Carnegiemellon hoodie and I just wanted to hug him,” the actress revealed in a 2019 Instagram post, referring to 16 years since their first meeting.

“He started handing me plays he thought I’d like: ‘just take this. Read.’ He seemed nervous,” she added. “I was delighted. He talked a lot…but everything he said was interesting, funny, and somehow rang true or resonated with me in a way that only the sound of a cello ever had before.”

“Sometimes even today when both kids are screaming and the house is a mess and we’re fighting about not being able to recycle, I look at his face and I’m distracted by how amazingly good he is,” Williams concluded.

He is a producer

Ashley Williams and Neal Dodson at Robert Redford’s ‘All is Lost’ After Party on May 22, 2013 in Cannes, France.

Dave M. Bennett/Getty

After graduating from Carnegie Mellon’s drama program in 2000, Dodson had dreams of becoming an actor. He settled in New York and worked in theater and commercials before moving into production.

In 2008, he founded the production company Before the Door Pictures with friends and fellow Carnegie Mellon graduates Zachary Quinto and Corey Moos. The name comes from one of the first acting exercises in the drama program at the University of Pittsburgh.

“We wanted a name that would connect us all,” Dodson told the school’s website. “Obviously, we all had Pittsburgh and CMU in common, and here we are together again, starting a new thing.”

“Zach jokes about it, but really, he’s the face of the company, I’m the brains, and Corey is the heart,” he added.

His credits as a producer and executive producer include Yet another story about Cinderella (2008), Love on a limb (2016) and Run this city (2019). Apart from frequently working with Quinto and Moosa, he also worked on several JC Chandor films including Margin Call (2011), All is lost (2013), The most violent year (2014) and Triple limit (2019).

Williams and Dodson married in 2011

Ashley Williams and Neal Dodson visit the Pizza Hut x Legion M Lounge during the Sundance Film Festival on January 24, 2020 in Park City, Utah.

Presley Ann/Getty

The couple said “I do” on May 29, 2011, in an outdoor ceremony at the Nashville home of the bride’s sister, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, and her husband, Brad Paisley.

“We wanted an intimate, farm-inspired wedding,” Williams told PEOPLE of their no-nonsense day. “We’ve got a fancy barrel party planned!”

The Something borrowed star wore a classic ivory Augusta Jones dress and blue sandals for her special day, and swapped wedding bands with her husband, which she bought on Overstock.com.

Their 50 guests were also given flip-flops at the reception, which was held in the sandbox where Paisley trains his horses. Although a country musician hosted the wedding, a four-piece local country band provided the evening.

Attendees were fed a “small and simple” family-style menu, including a signature whiskey cocktail, pulled pork, biscuits, macaroni and cheese and banana pudding instead of wedding cake.

He is the father of two children

Ashley Williams and Neal Dodson at the 2014 Film Independent Spirit Awards on March 1, 2014 in Santa Monica, California.

Jeff Vespa/WireImage

In July 2014, Williams announced that she was pregnant with their first child. She gave birth at home to their son, Gus Williams, on October 5, 2014. He weighed 8 lbs., 8 oz. and was 20.5 inches long, and arrived while an Alexi Murdoch song was playing.

“He is beautiful and healthy. So far he is soothing and calm. Let’s knock on wood!” the new mom shared with PEOPLE. She added about the inspiration for his name: “His name is Gus. For no other reason than: Who doesn’t love a guy named Gus?”

The How I Met Your Mother the star announced in January 2017 that she was expecting the couple’s second child. Odie’s son Sal was born in Los Angeles on May 17, 2017, sharing a birthday with his dad. “This time we had a hospital birth at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center,” Williams told PEOPLE.

“This was a crazy year and this time I felt the best when I gave birth. It was very different from a home birth, but the confidence and ease of my doctor, Jay Goldberg, was really amazing,” she added.

The parents-of-two also revealed that Odie’s name comes from great-grandfather Dodson. His middle name also has a special family connection and is a nod to the protagonist of children’s books, Blueberries for Sal and One morning in Maine Robert McCloskey, both of whom were favorites of Williams’ late mother, Linda, and Dodson’s mother, Jane.

He worked with Williams

Ashley Williams and Neal Dodson.

Ashley Williams Instagram

Dodson and Williams had the opportunity to work together professionally on related Hallmark Channel TV movies Swap Sisters: Hometown Holiday and Sister Swap: Christmas in the City.

“Here he is. My @nealdodson17. The greatest producer I’ve ever worked with and the man who makes everything possible,” the mom of two wrote in an Instagram post dedicated to her husband, who was an executive producer on both films.

Both holiday movies, starring Williams and her real-life sister Williams-Paisley as sisters Meg and Jennifer Swift, premiered in December 2021 as part of the network’s original Christmas lineup. One film focuses on Jennifer’s return to her hometown, while the other shows Meg traveling to help Jennifer’s restaurant staff prepare for the competition.

In the caption, she added: “This film was a true labor of love and would not have happened without Neal Dodson. Thank you for your mind, your heart, your care, your everything, always.”

Dodson also served as an executive producer on the 2016 Hallmark film Love on a limb playing his wife, and co-produced her short film MEATwhich premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival.

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education