Who Is Ashley Williams' Husband? All About Neal Dodson (2024)

Ashley Williams doesn't pass up an opportunity to celebrate her husband, Neal Dodson.

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

"He grounds me. He allows me to laugh at myself and calms me down," Williams told PEOPLE exclusively before their Nashville wedding. "He puts things in perspective."

The pair expanded their family in October 2014 when their son Gus arrived. He was then joined by brother Odie in May 2017.

“He’s dreamy. He’s also a rockstar 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. “Thanks @nealdodson17 for leading our nomadic family through the trenches with humor, bright ideas and unwavering energy. Every day is a ride and I’m ever grateful.”

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

He grew up in Pennsylvania

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, where he graduated from in 2000.

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

“The hall of fame is intended to recognize and honor Central York High School alumni, teachers and others who have achieved a high level of excellence in the performing arts,” reported the York Daily Record.

Williams and Dodson met in 2003

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

He “was coaching actresses on their 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, looking back on 16 years since their first meeting.

“He started handing me plays he thought I’d like: 'just take this. Read it.' 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 in me the way 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 are arguing about what’s not recyclable I look at his face and am distracted by how gobsmacklingly good looking he is,” Williams concluded.

He is a producer

After graduating from Carnegie Mellon’s drama program in 2000, Dodson had dreams of becoming an actor. He settled in New York City and did some theater and commercial work before making a move into production.

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

"We wanted a name that would tie us all together," 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's the heart," he added.

His producer and executive producer credits include Another Cinderella Story (2008), Love on a Limb (2016) and Run This Town (2019). In addition to frequently working with Quinto and Moosa, he has also worked on several J.C. Chandor films, including Margin Call (2011), All Is Lost (2013), A Most Violent Year (2014) and Triple Frontier (2019).

Williams and Dodson got married in 2011

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-frills day. “We basically planned an upscale keg party!”

The Something Borrowed star wore a classic ivory Augusta Jones gown and blue sandals for her special day, and exchanged wedding bands with her husband purchased from Overstock.com.

Their 50 guests were also given flip-flops at the reception, which was held in the sandpit where Paisley trains his horses. Though the country musician hosted the nuptials, a four-member local country band provided tunes for the evening.

Attendees were fed a “small and simple” family-style menu including a signature whiskey co*cktail, pulled pork, biscuits, macaroni ‘n’ cheese and banana pudding in lieu of a wedding cake.

He is a father of two

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

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

The How I Met Your Mother star announced in January 2017 that she was expecting the couple’s second child. Son Odie 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.

“It’s been a crazy year, and that’s where I felt best giving birth this time around. It was very different than a home birth, but the confidence and ease of my doctor, Jay Goldberg, was truly awesome,” she added.

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

He’s worked with Williams

Dodson and Williams have had the opportunity to work together professionally on the connected Hallmark Channel TV films Sister Swap: A 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 that makes everything possible,” the mom of two wrote in an Instagram post dedicated to her husband, who served as an executive producer on both movies.

Both holiday movies, which star 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 movie focuses on Jennifer’s return to her hometown, while the other shows Meg traveling to help Jennifer’s restaurant staff prepare for a competition.

She added in the caption, “This movie 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 worked as an executive producer on the 2016 Hallmark movie Love on a Limb starring his wife, and co-produced her directed short MEATS, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2020.