The Bear star may be famous for intense on-screen roles, but Jeremy Allen White’s real-life role as a father to daughters Ezer and Dolores reveals his tender, family-first side.
Jeremy Allen White, known for his emotionally raw roles as Carmy in The Bear and Lip Gallagher in Shameless, is much softer off-screen — especially when it comes to his two young daughters, Ezer and Dolores.
“Ezer and Dolores,” he said during his heartfelt speech accepting the 2024 Golden Globe for The Bear. “You are my heart. I love you. I love you. I love you.”
Fatherhood has been a grounding force for White, who became a dad at 27. In a 2022 InStyle interview, he admitted he’d been ready to settle down long before. “I learn a lot from them,” White said. “They’re teaching me all the time how to be better.”
Co-Parenting With Addison Timlin
White co-parents with his ex-wife, actress Addison Timlin, whom he met in high school and married in 2019. Although they divorced in 2023, they continue to share custody of their two daughters.
The family also enjoys the support of someone very famous — actress Dakota Johnson, a close friend of Timlin’s, is the godmother to both Ezer and Dolores.
“Happy Birthday to my bright and shiny and to Ezer and Dolly’s godmother,” Timlin once wrote on Instagram alongside a photo of Johnson holding one of the girls. “Here you are looking the most godmotherly of them all.”
Here’s everything that White and Timlin have publicly shared about their daughters:
Ezer Billie White
Born on October 20, 2018, Ezer is White and Timlin’s firstborn. Even before her arrival, White was thrilled about becoming a dad. Speaking to People in 2018, he said, “I just wanna meet her. I’m just excited to have her. I’m excited to take her home… My parents will get to meet her. It’s their first grandchild. Seeing my parents see her will be incredible.”
In fact, the moment White found out about the pregnancy, he got a tattoo in honor of his future daughter. “As my wife was telling me we were pregnant, my eyes were just on this hummingbird darting around the whole time,” he told InStyle. “So I got a little hummingbird for Ezer, our oldest daughter.”
For her first birthday, White posted a photo of Ezer on Instagram, writing, “My heart turned 1.” The following year, Timlin celebrated her daughter’s personality with an Instagram caption: “It’s clear to me that you have lived many lives… The fact that you spend most of your days pretending to be a cat despite having never met one—just confirms it.”
As of 2024, White said his daughter hasn’t really watched The Bear, aside from the very beginning of the pilot episode. “My oldest, Ezzy, actually really enjoys the first like two minutes… me getting scared by a bear and then falling on my butt,” he told Entertainment Tonight. “She’ll ask to watch that a lot, but that’s all of the show she’s seen.”
Dolores Wild White
White and Timlin welcomed their second daughter, Dolores, on December 12, 2020.
Timlin announced the pregnancy with a photo of her, White, and Ezer showing off her baby bump. “I love our little growing family more than words,” she wrote. Dolores’ arrival was celebrated with another Instagram post from the hospital: “She is the answer to 1000 prayers and we are in love with her.”
Dolores hasn’t watched The Bear either, but she’s a fan of her dad’s growing awards collection. After White won the 2023 SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series, he said the trophy would live in his daughters’ bedroom. “They’ve started calling these ‘daddy’s trophy winner cups,’ and they really like them so they can hang onto them for me,” he told People.
Like her sister, Dolores is big on the holidays. In a 2023 interview, White joked that he was living in “Santa World.” He told People: “It’s all Santa Claus all the time. My daughters are very into Santa — the letter and the cookies and the carrots and the reindeer. All that kind of stuff.”
Jeremy Allen White’s Dad Era Is Just Getting Started
Though his career has soared thanks to his award-winning role in The Bear, Jeremy Allen White’s daughters remain his true focus. He continues to speak lovingly about Ezer and Dolores in interviews, keeping their lives mostly private while showing the deep bond he shares with them.
Whether it’s dancing through “Santa World,” handing out “trophy winner cups,” or pretending to be animals, fatherhood has clearly shaped White into more than just a leading man — it’s made him someone better.