Julia Lester, known for playing Ashlyn on High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, shared that she’s engaged to writer Ilana Wolpert after four years together. Co-stars and members of the show’s extended community flooded the comments with congratulations
Julia Lester didn’t just drop an announcement—she made it feel like a celebration from the start. The 26-year-old actress. best known for playing Ashlyn on High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. revealed she’s engaged to writer Ilana Wolpert in a joint Instagram post that paired engagement photos with a simple. direct promise of what’s next.
“I love you Ilana Lee Wolpert and I can’t wait to marry you,” Lester captioned the photos, adding a white heart and a pink flower emoji. The post marked a milestone for the couple, who have been together for four years.
The news hit the fandom and the show’s community immediately. Larry Saperstein commented, “OMG CONGRATULATIONS ANGELSSSS,” along with three red heart emojis. Dara Renee wrote, “YESSSSSS!!!” with two fire emojis. Olivia Rose Keegan added, “I CRYYYYYYYYY CONGRATULATIONS YOU ANGELS,” while HSMTMTS creator Tim Federle simply posted, “Sobbing.”.
Joe Serafini followed with three crying emojis and three floating heart emojis. and Matt Cornett—who played Julia’s cousin on the series—wrote. “JUJIIIIIIIIIIII. ” with heart and fire emojis. Kerri, who also appears in the Netflix series The Four Seasons, commented on Lester’s engagement post with: “Sweetpea!!!!!!!!!!!. Congratulations!!!!!!!” and several heart emojis.
Lester’s screen life has kept her busy beyond HSMTMTS. She also appears on Netflix’s The Four Seasons, playing Steve Carell and Kerri Kenney-Silver’s daughter.
There’s also a Broadway connection behind the actress’s momentum. Back in 2023, Julia Lester was nominated for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical for her Broadway debut in the revival of Into the Woods at the Tony Awards.
Ilana Wolpert brings her own Hollywood track record to the relationship. Listed as a writer, she has worked on several episodes of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, and she wrote the hit rom-com Anyone But You, starring Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell.
For now, the biggest detail everyone seems to share is the same: the congratulations keep coming, and the couple’s next chapter is officially on the way.
Julia Lester Ilana Wolpert engagement High School Musical: The Musical: The Series HSMTMTS Tim Federle Broadway Into the Woods Tony Awards The Four Seasons Anyone But You
Okay but why did I think Ilana was like… a director? Congrats anyway I guess.
Soo sweet!! I love when the show people marry writers?? Also the caption sounds exactly like Julia, like very “I’m done waiting” energy lol.
Wait are they engaged because of the show or because of that “Anyone But You” movie? I’m confused on the timeline, four years together doesn’t mean four years filming right?
Congrats to them but I swear I saw a post like this last year? Maybe it got deleted or I’m mixing it up with someone else’s engagement. Still, Broadway + Netflix connections is wild… like how do they have time between Into the Woods and writing rom-coms??