Ashley Williams is one of Hollywood’s most versatile actresses and continues to bring her talents to comedies and dramas in film, television and theatre. She most recently starred in the Hallmark Channel original movie “Holiday Hearts,” and in the TV Land series “The Jim Gaffigan Show,” in which she played Jeannie Gaffigan, Jim’s TV wife, who was the grounding, yet zany, wind beneath his wings.
Williams also appeared alongside Jessica Chastain and Oscar Issac in the critically acclaimed film A Most Violent Year. In past years she starred in the Warner Bros. film Something Borrowed, alongside Kate Hudson and Ginnifer Goodwin. Her other film credits include the Oscar®-nominated indie Margin Call, which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival and starred Kevin Spacey, Jeremy Irons and Zachary Quinto.
Williams first won over audiences as a teenager when she played Meg Ryan’s daughter, Danielle Andropoulos, on “As the World Turns.” Later, she starred alongside Mark Feuerstein in the NBC series “Good Morning Miami” and in the Lifetime telefilm “Montana Sky.” Williams also had a memorable recurring role on the comedy “How I Met Your Mother” as Victoria, “the one that got away” from Ted, played by Josh Radnor. She was so popular on the show that she won an online poll conducted by the production staff as to the character fans would most like to see the as “The Mother.” Her other television credits include recurring roles on the Holly Hunter series “Saving Grace,” “Warehouse 13” and “Huff,” as well as guest-starring roles on “FBI,” “Instinct,” “The New Adventures of Old Christine,” “Monk,” "The Mentalist,” “The Good Wife,” “Psych,” “Girls” and “Law & Order: SVU,” to name just a few.
In recent years, Williams began producing movies for Hallmark Channel, debuting with “Love on a Limb,” which aired as part of the network’s “Fall Harvest” Programming Event in 2016 to record breaking ratings and stunning reviews. She loves working with the executives at Hallmark who have empowered her creatively in ways she never could have imagined as an actress. In addition to her ongoing behind-the-camera work for Hallmark Channel, Williams has starred in the Hallmark Channel Original Movies “Northern Lights of Christmas,” “Christmas in the City,” “October Kiss,” “Love on a Limb,” “Christmas in Evergreen: Letters to Santa,” “Christmas in Evergreen: Bells Are Ringing,” “Holiday Hearts,” “Never Kiss a Man in a Christmas Sweater” and most recently, “Sister Swap: A Hometown Holiday” and “Sister Swap: Christmas in the City.”
Last year Williams made her directorial debut with MEATS, a short film she wrote, produced and starred in and also recently directed the television movie “Circle of Deception.”
Born in Westchester, New York, Williams studied at Boston University’s renowned School of Theatre Arts and spent a year abroad at LAMDA and RADA in London. She was a member of the acting company at the prestigious Williamstown Theatre Festival at Williams College. Her first job out of college was understudying both Rachel Weisz and Gretchen Mol in the Off-Broadway play The Shape of Things, written and directed by Neil LaBute. At various times during the run of the play, Williams performed both roles. She also starred alongside Wendie Malick in the Off- Broadway production of Burleigh Grime$ and opposite Tom Skerritt and Sebastian Arcelus in the Broadway production of A Time to Kill , based on the best-selling John Grisham novel.
With a natural skill for writing, Williams has penned several moving and personal pieces about her miscarriage and her mother’s longtime battle with Alzheimer’s disease for People.com and Medium.com. In addition to these other passions, Williams is a birth doula, offering emotional, physical and informational support to mothers and their partners leading up to labor, through childbirth, and throughout postpartum.
She currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two young sons.
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