Best-known for playing the philosophically-minded Chidi Anagonye on the NBC hit, The Good Place, William Jackson Harper has become a familiar face on the small screen. Currently, he stars on the HBO Max anthology series Love Life, in which he plays a newly single man trying to navigate the dating scene after the end of a long-term relationship. In real life, the 41-year-old performer is happily coupled with a fellow actor who he’s been dating for a number of years. Here’s what we know about William Jackson Harper’s girlfriend, Ali Ahn.
William Jackson Harper Is Dating Ali Ahn
Like many Hollywood stars, Harper prefers to keep his private life out of the spotlight. So we don’t have too many details about the origins of his relationship with Ali Ahn. We do know they’ve been dating for a while—Ahn made her first appearance on Harper’s Instagram feed all the way back in 2016, in a sweet photo with the adorable caption, “I like this person.”
But it’s possible they’ve been dating even longer—the pair have known each other since at least 2012, when they starred together in an imaginatively reconceived production of the play Romeo and Juliet in Greenwich, Connecticut. Some people speculate that’s when they met, but unless Harper or Ahn spill the deets about how they got together themselves, we’ll probably never know.
What we do know is that it probably wasn’t love at first sight, as Harper says he doesn’t really believe in the concept of soul mates. “When I think of a soul mate or the one, it’s like lightning strikes,” he explained in an October 2021 interview with Parade. “As soon as you see this person, that’s it, you just know from the moment you see them. And I don’t think that that’s necessarily the way it works for me.”
The Midsommar actor went on to explain that in his experience, he needs time to cultivate a deep, romantic relationship. “I think it’s more of a you find a person that does something to your guts, where you’re just like, ‘Oh, I’m really drawn to you. I’m not 100 percent sure what this is exactly, but there’s something that draws me to you more than other people. I’m not sure exactly what that feeling is, but I’m attracted.’ And then you want to spend the time to develop that relationship with that person and to figure out if that’s something that can change into a lifelong partnership.”
Ahn Also Works In The Entertainment Industry
If Harper’s lady love looks familiar to you, it’s because she’s also in the acting biz. The Asian-American actress has been working steadily since 2010, appearing on popular shows such as Louie, Blue Bloods, Nurse Jackie, Supernatural, Billions, and Orange Is the New Black. Most recently, she played Suzanne on the Netflix superhero drama, Raising Dion.
Ahn also has a number of theater credits to her name, including a starring role in a 2015 Broadway production of The Heidi Chronicles. The actress says she was shocked when she landed the part, as she was still struggling to make ends meet while living in New York. “When I auditioned, I thought, ‘I’m never going to get this job,’” she told Broadway.com. “As an Asian-American woman, I can count on two hands the plays in New York I’ve auditioned for. When I got the call, I was living in an illegal basement with no light. It was literally like the heavens opened up: ‘Here’s a gift for you!’”
The California-born performer also admitted that despite her success, making ends meet as an actor in New York City was not easy. “Even though I’m on Broadway, I still have a day job,” she said. “The reality of living in this city is pretty grim. I teach and tutor writing, and it’s great. I have wonderful students and it exercises a different part of my brain.”