Who Is America Ferrera's Husband? All About Ryan Piers Williams

America Ferrera's real-life husband Ryan Piers Williams made a cameo as her on-screen husband in 'Barbie'

America Ferrera and her husband, Ryan Piers Williams, have been together for over 15 years.

After dating for five years, the Barbie star and the director got engaged in June 2010. A year later, the pair married in Chappaqua, New York, at the home of her Ugly Betty costar Vanessa Williams.

They went on to welcome a son, Sebastian, in 2018 and a daughter, Lucia, in 2020. Though the couple typically don’t share much about their kids, they frequently express their love for each other online.

To mark their 12th wedding anniversary and 18 years together in 2023, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants actress shared an adorable throwback photo from their wedding day.

“Happy Anniversary to my emergency contact. My person and home for 18 years,” she wrote on Instagram. “Damn we look young here @ryanpierswilliams ❤️#12married.”

Related: America Ferrera Pens Sweet 12th Wedding Anniversary Tribute to Husband Ryan Piers Williams: 'My Person'

Despite being apart during their special day while Ferrera was traveling to promote Barbie, Williams still surprised her with a gift when she arrived at her destination.

"And of course I arrive in Australia to gorgeous anniversary flowers because you are a King @ryanpierswilliams," she shared on her Instagram Story along with a selfie of herself posing with the colorful bouquet.

So, who is America Ferrera’s husband? Here’s everything to know about Ryan Piers Williams and his relationship with the actress.

He met Ferrera when casting his short film

Williams met Ferrera in 2005 when he was casting his first film after grad school, and she was an undergraduate student attending the University of Southern California. Muertas is a short film about the ongoing murders of women and young girls in Juarez, Mexico.

“First and foremost, I want to bring awareness to the issue. I'm trying to put a face to one of the girls who's been murdered, to give people a better idea of what's going on in Juarez,” Williams told El Paso Inc. in 2005. “You can't predict how people are going to respond, you can only hope that you're going to inspire somebody to want to learn more about the issue.”

He and Ferrera got married in 2011

After five years together, Ferrera and Williams got engaged in June 2010.

On June 27, 2011, the couple tied the knot at the Chappaqua, New York, home of Ferrera’s Ugly Betty costar Vanessa. Her rep told PEOPLE it was “an intimate setting amongst close friends and family,” and that the bride wore “a dress by Amsale’s Christos label and Fred Leighton earrings.”

Judith Light officiated the ceremony, which was attended by Vanessa and fellow Ugly Betty stars, including Mark Indelicato and Rebecca Romijn. Ferrera’s The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants costars Blake Lively, Alexis Bledel and Amber Tamblyn were also in attendance.

He’s a director

Williams has written and directed The Dry Land (2010) and X/Y (2014), both of which Ferrera appeared in, in addition to his first short film Muertas (2007).

He has also performed as an actor in his own projects, Muertas and X/Y, plus Blues (2008), Tomorrow Comes Today (2013) and 1985 (2018).

He founded a non-profit with Ferrera

Ferrera, Williams and Wilmer Valderrama founded Harness shortly after the 2016 presidential election. The nonprofit aims to create gatherings as a way for artists, influencers and organizers to make a political impact.

“Nothing changes in just one election,” the actress told Vogue in 2019. “We won some important races, but there’s a deeper issue here, which amounts to a crisis of civics in this country: how politicians on both sides are all too ready to have people not be engaged until it serves them.”

Following one Harness event, NBC asked the couple and their colleagues to spend time with their showrunners. A Sikh activist in attendance suggested that a man wearing a turban in the background of a scene would be a positive thing. A showrunner from This Is Us was in the room and, moved by the story, created a Sikh character for the family drama.

“That’s sixteen million viewers,” Williams said. “That can shape the way we view these communities.”

He’s a dad of two

Ferrera and Williams are parents of two. On New Year’s Eve in 2017, Ferrera announced she was pregnant with their first baby. She gave birth to their son, Sebastian, in May 2018.

"When 2 becomes 3 … Welcome Sebastian Piers Williams – aka Baz! Mom, Dad and Baby are happy, healthy and totally in love!” Ferrera wrote on Instagram along with a sweet shot of their baby boy’s toes.

Two years later, on New Year’s Eve in 2019, Ferrera revealed she and Williams were expecting their second child together. “Welcoming Baby #2 in 2020!” the Superstore alum shared on Instagram. “Happy New Year from our wild & growing bunch.”

In the since-deleted post, Williams and then-9-month-old Sebastian looked in awe at the expectant mom and her growing bump. The family was surrounded by snow and held each other close.

The actress announced the birth of her second child, daughter Lucia Marisol, on Instagram on Mother's Day.

"LUCIA MARISOL WILLIAMS arrived on May 4th to give me my Mother’s Day hugs and kisses herself,” Ferrera wrote alongside a photo of her daughter’s hand. “Mama, Dada & Big Brother are over the moon to welcome her bright light to our family."

Ferrera and Williams typically do not share much about their kids publicly, but the Barbie star did reveal that her kids are blissfully unaware of her role in the Greta Gerwig-directed film.

"They don't really have any context for it," she revealed to PEOPLE. "So one day [they might care]. But not now, they're still too young."

He’s an artist

In addition to his work in the film industry and at Harness, Williams is also an artist. He “uses his artwork to examine both the serene and caustic sides of human nature,” according to his website.

These themes can be seen in his Monsters & Landscapes series, which debuted at his first solo art show in New York City in January 2015.

Williams’ “multitude of internal schisms outwardly expressed on canvas” could be seen in his second solo art show, Schismatix, which opened in Los Angeles in November 2015.

He’s supportive of his wife

While handling the anxiety of being pregnant during a global pandemic in 2020, Williams went above and beyond to make his wife feel special. In honor of her 36th birthday in April 2020, the director threw Ferrera a surprise birthday party on Zoom so she could be with her loved ones while staying physically apart.

Related: Happy Anniversary! America Ferrera Posts Sweet Throwback Photo to Celebrate 15 Years with Her Husband

"My sneaky and dear husband @ryanpierswilliams surprised me with a zoom birthday party yesterday!" the actress wrote on Instagram. "I have to be honest, I've seen a million of these posted and thought 'how could that be fun?' But as you can see from these pictures, I was completely overwhelmed with joy & love!"

"I had no idea how much I wanted to be with my community and to see the faces I love so much!" she added. "@ryanpierswilliams you turned my quarantine birthday into one of the most joyous and memorable! You filled me with love and cake and ended it with a virtual dance party!! You are the best."

He made an appearance in Barbie as Ferrera's husband

In a brief appearance in Barbie, Williams makes a cameo as the unnamed husband of Ferrera's character, Gloria. At the beginning of the movie, he is introduced as slowly attempting to learn Spanish through Duolingo courses. Toward the end, he appears again as the pair drive Margot Robbie's Barbie to the gynecologist.

The script even snuck in an Easter egg when Williams tells Barbie "Si se puede," meaning "Yes, you can" in Spanish. The phrase is a callback to Ferrera's 2002 Disney Channel original movie Gotta Kick It Up! which followed a school dance team who used their Latin roots to find success in a dance competition.

While talking to PEOPLE in January 2024, Ferrera explained how Williams' cameo came to be. During her first Zoom meeting with the Barbie director, she mentioned that the Duolingo scene made her laugh because her real-life husband was "literally in the other room doing his Spanish lessons."

"Right away she was like, 'Oh my God, does he want to play your husband?' And I was like, 'I don't know, you'll have to ask him,' " Ferrera said. "When it came time, she was like, 'Remember when I asked you if your husband would play your husband?' And he said yes."

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