William Fitzgerald Harper (born February 8, 1980), known professionally as William Jackson Harper, is an American actor and playwright. He gained acclaim for his role as Chidi Anagonye in the NBC comedy series The Good Place (2016–2020), for which he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. Harper started his career as a main cast member of The Electric Company from 2009 to 2011. As a playwright he wrote We Live Here (2010) and Travisville (2018). He made his Broadway acting debut portraying civil rights activist Stokely Carmichael in the play All the Way (2013). Harper's other notable roles on stage include Romeo & Juliet (2012), After the Blast (2017), and Primary Trust (2022). He has starred in the Amazon limited series The Underground Railroad (2020), the second season of the HBO Max comedy series Love Life (2021) and in the Peacock comedy mystery series The Resort (2022). Harper has taken supporting roles in films such as ... ()