William Jackson Harper
Harper in 2018
Born	William Fitzgerald Harper (1980-02-08)February 8, 1980 (age 46) Dallas,Texas, U.S.
Alma mater	College of Santa Fe
Occupations	Actor, playwright
Years active	2007–present

William Fitzgerald Harper (born February 8, 1980), known professionally asWilliam Jackson Harper, is an American actor and playwright. He gained acclaim for his role as Chidi Anagonye in theNBC comedy seriesThe Good Place (2016–2020), for which he was nominated for thePrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.^[1][2]

Harper started his career as a main cast member of thePBS Kids Go! seriesThe Electric Company (2009–2011). As a playwright, he wroteWe Live Here (2010)^[3] andTravisville (2018).^[4] He made hisBroadway acting debut portrayingcivil rights activistStokely Carmichael in the playAll the Way (2013). Harper's other notable roles on stage includeRomeo & Juliet (2012),After the Blast (2017), andPrimary Trust (2023). For his role as Astrov in theLincoln Center Theatre revival ofUncle Vanya (2024) he earned a nomination for theTony Award for Best Actor in a Play.

He has starred in theAmazon limited seriesThe Underground Railroad (2020), thesecond season of theHBO Max comedy seriesLove Life (2021) and in thePeacock comedy mystery seriesThe Resort (2022). Harper has taken supporting roles in films such asPaterson (2016),Midsommar (2019), andDark Waters (2019). He portrayedQuaz in theMarvel Cinematic Universe filmAnt-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023).

William Fitzgerald Harper^[5] was born on February 8, 1980, inDallas,Texas.^[6] Harper grew up inGarland, Texas, and attendedLakeview Centennial High School.^[7] He graduated from theCollege of Santa Fe in 2003.^[8] Harper chose the stage name "William Jackson Harper" when registering for theActors' Equity Association; most variations of "William Harper" were already in use, and he thought that "Fitzgerald" was too long. He then decided to honor his mother by using her maiden name, "Jackson", as his stage middle name.^[5]

Harper made hisNew York theatre debut in the 2006 Vital Theatre Company production ofFull Bloom, a play about teenagers coming to terms with their sexuality.^[9][10] In 2008 he performed in Manhattan Theatre Club's production ofLynn Nottage's play,Ruined, which won the 2009Pulitzer Prize for Drama.^[11][12] From 2009 to 2011, he played Danny Rebus in thePBS seriesThe Electric Company.^[13] In 2010 he appeared in thePublic Theater's mobile unit production of Shakespeare'sMeasure for Measure,^[14] and in 2011 returned forTitus Andronicus, this time at the Anspacher Theater.^[15] He starred as Marty Boy in debut ofThe Total Bent, a musical composed byStew and Heidi Rodewald, that premiered atThe Public Theater in 2012.^[16][17] The show was later reworked around Ato Blankson-Wood.^[18] Harper made his Broadway debut in 2014 portrayingStokely Carmichael in theRobert Schenkkan playAll the Way starringBryan Cranston as PresidentLyndon B. Johnson. The play revolved around the passing of theCivil Rights Act of 1964.^[19] The production went on to win theTony Award for Best Play. Harper andCarrie Coon co-starred together in the 2015Melissa James Gibson play,Placebo atPlaywrights Horizon Theater.^[20][21][22] Marilyn Stasio ofVariety praised him writing, "Harper inhabits the difficult role as comfortably as someone who lives in robe and slippers".^[23] The following year he took a supporting role in theJim Jarmusch dramaPaterson (2016) starringAdam Driver.^[24]

In 2016, Harper was cast on theNBC comedyThe Good Place created byMichael Schur.^[25] Before landing the role of Chidi Anagonye, he considered quitting acting.^[26][27] Harper did not learn about the show's real premise until after he was cast.^[28] His performance has received critical praise and he was nominated for thePrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 2020.^[29][30] In 2017, in between filming the show's first and second seasons, he had a leading role alongsideCristin Milioti inZoe Kazan's futuristic romantic dramaAfter the Blast atLincoln Center's Claire Tow Theatre.^[31][32] Frank Scheck ofThe Hollywood Reporter wrote, "[Kazan] has...elicited superb performances from the lead actors, with Harper quietly persuasive as the husband desperately trying to keep his marriage intact".^[33] Also in 2017 he had a supporting role in theVH1 drama seriesThe Breaks.

In 2018, Harper's playTravisville had its world premiere atEnsemble Studio Theatre.^[34] In an interview withBloomberg News, he revealed that the play was inspired by the displacement of a poor Black community that was situated near the grounds of the Texas State Fair in Dallas.^[35] The same year, he appeared in the sci-fi filmThey Remain.^[36] In 2019, he starred in two critically acclaimed films, playing Josh in theAri Aster directed horror filmMidsommar and James Ross in theTodd Haynes legal thrillerDark Waters.^[37][38] Also that year, he voicedJohn Mercer Langston in season one of the Airship podcast1865, which details the weeks immediately following the assassination ofUS PresidentAbraham Lincoln.^[39]

It was announced in April 2020 that he would narrate theMarvel audio book seriesBlack Panther: Sins of the King,^[40] and in November 2020, that he would star in season 2 of the HBO Max anthology seriesLove Life.^[41][42] In 2021 he acted in theBarry Jenkins directedAmazon Prime Video miniseriesThe Underground Railroad adapted from thePulitzer Prize-winning2016 historical novel of the same name byColson Whitehead.^[43] For his performance Harper was nominated for theCritics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Movie/Miniseries.^[44] In October 2022, it was revealed that Harper joined the cast ofAnt-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, set in theMarvel Cinematic Universe. The film was released in theaters on February 17, 2023.^[45]

In 2023 he starred as Kenneth in the Eboni Booth playPrimary Trust at theRoundabout Theatre CompanyOff-Broadway. The play ran from May 4 to July 2 at theLaura Pels Theatre.^[46] Naveen Kumar ofThe New York Times praised his performance writing, "Harper, who is onstage for nearly all of the production’s 95 minutes, performs with astonishing ease and vulnerability, particularly given the depths he is asked to plumb in monologues directly to the audience; he lends the currents flowing through Kenneth's interior life extraordinary subtlety and immediacy".^[47] For his performance Harper won the 2023Obie Award for Outstanding Performance. Harper is set to return to Broadway playing Astrov in the 2024 revival of theAnton Chekhov playUncle Vanya starringSteve Carell,Alison Pill,Jayne Houdyshell andAlfred Molina atLincoln Center.^[48] For his performance he received a nomination for theTony Award for Best Actor in a Play.^[49] In January 2026 it was announced that Harper was cast inCry Wolf, a limited series onFX inspired by the Danish series Ulven Kommer.^[50]

Harper is in a relationship with actressAli Ahn, who co-starred with him in an outdoor production ofRomeo + Juliet in New York in 2012.^[51][52]

• William Jackson Harper atIMDb
• William Jackson Harper onTwitter

• Living people
• 1980 births
• American male television actors
• Male actors from Dallas
• Santa Fe University of Art and Design alumni
• American male film actors
• 21st-century African-American male actors
• 21st-century American male actors
• 20th-century African-American male actors
• 20th-century American male actors
• Lakeview Centennial High School alumni

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