Ryan Piers Williams (born May 13, 1981) is an American actor, director, and writer.

Early life

Williams was raised in

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the county seat, seat of El Paso County, Texas, El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau w ...

, where he attended J. M. Hanks High School. From age 13 he wanted to be a director and took theater and video production classes in both middle school and high school. He went to study film at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

for 2 1/2 years before transferring as a junior to the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

and eventually being accepted into its School of Cinematic Arts.

Career

Williams wrote and directed the films ''

The Dry Land ''The Dry Land'', or ''American Tragic'', is an American drama film, directed and written by Ryan Piers Williams. It opened worldwide on July 30, 2010. Plot James returns from Iraq to face a new battle readjusting to small-town life in Texa ...

'' (2010) and '' X/Y'' (2014). He was a producer of writer-director Walter Strafford's ''

Kilimanjaro Mount Kilimanjaro () is a dormant volcano in Tanzania. It has three volcanic cones: Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira. It is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain above sea level in the world: above sea level and ab ...

'' (2013). Williams additionally has performed as an actor, in the 2007 short ''Muertas'', which he directed, wrote and produced; and the features ''Blues'' (2008), ''Tomorrow Comes Today'' (2013), his own ''X/Y'' (2014), and ''1985'' (2018).

Personal life

Williams married

America Ferrera America Georgina Ferrera (; born April 18, 1984) is an American actress. Born in Los Angeles to Honduran parents, Ferrera developed an interest in acting at a young age, performing in several stage productions at her school. She made her featur ...

on June 27, 2011.Matt Donnelly
"America Ferrera marries Ryan Piers Williams, longtime beau"
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'', June 28, 2011. He directed her in the 2010 film ''

'', which received

Imagen Awards The Imagen Awards are administered by the Imagen Foundation, an organization dedicated to "encouraging and recognizing the positive portrayals of Latinos in film, Latinos in the entertainment industry." To be considered for an Imagen Award, a medi ...

nominations for best feature film and for Ferrera's performance as best actress. The couple had son Sebastian in May 2018, and daughter Lucia on May 4, 2020.

Filmography

*''

'' (2010) *''

'' (2013) *'' X/Y'' (2014)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Ryan Piers American male film actors American film directors American male screenwriters Living people 21st-century American screenwriters 1981 births 21st-century American male writers