Ashley Williams stars opposite Niall Matter in Hallmark Channel’s new movie Much About Love, a film that has a special connection to Ashley‘s real life because she conceived and co-wrote the project with her husband, producer Neal Dodson!
Ashley and Neal have been together for more than two decades and share two children. Their date-night conversations Shakespeare would go on to inspire the film.
Who is Ashley‘s husband, and how did they turn their shared interest in Shakespeare into a Hallmark movie? We have all the details!
Who is Ashley Williams’ husband Neal Dodson?
Neal is a film producer and a former actor who attended Carnegie Mellon’s School of Drama. He briefly worked as an actor, appearing on Broadway, before pivoting to producing roles. Some of his notable credits include Margin Call, All Is Lost, A Most Violent Year, and Triple Frontier.
Neal also happens to be the brother-in-law of Ashley‘s sister Kimberly Williams-Paisley and country star Brad Paisley.
RELATED: Ashley‘s story about meeting brother-in-law Brad Paisley for the first time!
Credit: Getty
How did Ashley and Neal meet?
The couple met in 2003 at the office of acting coach Warner Loughlin, per People. Ashley was starring in Good Morning, Miami at the time and Neal was working as an assistant. They dated for about eight years before marrying.
When did they get married?
They married in May 2011 and their wedding took place at Brad and Kimberly‘s Nashville farm. They’ve been married for 15 years now and divide their time between New York and Los Angeles.
“We wanted an intimate, farm-inspired wedding,” Ashley told People. “We basically planned an upscale keg party!”
They share two sons, Gus, 11, and Odie, 9. Gus actually contributed some original artwork that appears in Much About Love, according to Ashley‘s most recent People interview about the Hallmark film. She said he created mock-ups for the production designer before making the finished artwork.
Ashley and Neal created Much About Love together
Ashley co-wrote and executive produced the movie with Neal after the pair developed the idea based on their date-night conversations about The Bard.
Neal participated in an adaptation of The Taming of the Shrew at the Utah Shakespeare Festival after college, a production directed by Peggy Shannon, who reinterpreted the famously complicated play as a story of female empowerment.
Ashley and Neal reconnected with Peggy decades later to discuss her vision and she helped inspire Ashley‘s movie character, Bea Bishop. She says she was even able to give Peggy and her husband and son a shoutout in the film’s “tablecloth scene.”
The resulting movie combines a modern version of the Beatrice/Benedick romance from Much Ado About Nothing with a production of The Taming of the Shrew.
She also shared that she’d be interested in making more Shakespeare adaptations for Hallmark!
“I think the canon is full of perfect structural Hallmark movies. One of the things that was so much fun was setting it at a Shakespeare festival, so the Shakespeare nerds among us are going to love this movie, but the non-nerds are going to not really need to know. Getting to be overt as I subvert was kind of a gift.”
Ashley stars opposite Niall Matter, who previously worked with her in Never Kiss a Man in a Christmas Sweater.
Much About Love premieres tonight on Hallmark. Here’s how to watch it live and on streaming.
RELATED: Is Niall Matter married? Meet his wife
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