Who Is Justin Hartley’s Daughter? All About Isabella Justice Hartley
Justin Hartley shares daughter Isabella Justice with his ex-wife Lindsay Korman
Justin Hartley’s daughter is all grown up.
The This Is Us star is the proud dad of one daughter, Isabella Justice Hartley, 19, whom he shares with his ex-wife Lindsay Korman. The former couple met on the set of the soap opera Passions in 2003, got married in May 2004 and welcomed Isabella just a few months later.
After eight years of marriage, it was announced on May 6, 2012, that Korman had filed for divorce, citing “irreconcilable differences.” Despite their separation, the exes remain amicable and share joint custody of their teenage daughter.
In the midst of Hartley’s split from Selling Sunset star Chrishell Stause, Korman publicly defended her ex, calling him a “devoted father” to Isabella and a “solid man” in a statement posted to her Instagram.
While Hartley has tried to keep Isabella out of the spotlight, he can’t help but gush about his daughter in the occasional interview.
“Having an adult, it’s like having another friend you can talk to. She’s really wonderful,” the actor told PEOPLE in February 2024. “I don’t think, for me anyway, being a dad really goes away. It’s always dad first. I think when she’s 30, it’ll be dad first.”
Here’s everything to know about Justin Hartley’s daughter, Isabella.
She was born on July 3, 2004
Isabella was born to Hartley and Korman on July 3, 2004, just two months after they wed
Based on his own experience welcoming Isabella to the world, Hartley offered his This Is Us costar Mandy Moore some advice about becoming a first-time parent in February 2021.
“I would tell her, if I did have to tell her something, I’d say, ‘Get your sleep now. Because when the babies come, you’re not gonna sleep much.’ And if you do sleep, it won’t be the same quality of sleep,” he said on The Kelly Clarkson Show.
She’s a student at the University of California, Santa Cruz
Isabella graduated high school in May 2022 and began studying at the University of California, Santa Cruz, the following fall, as her mother announced on Instagram.
Long before Isabella started college, her father was already dreading the day his only daughter left the nest. When Isabella attended the Critics’ Choice Awards with her dad in January 2020, Hartley discussed how he felt about her going off to school.
“My daughter is going to be graduating high school in a couple years, so that’ll be interesting,” he said. “Which means she is going to move away, which is heartbreaking but also totally normal and natural, and I’m just going to tell myself that it’s going to be fine. Yeah, we’ll just continue to be healthy and good.”
In November 2022, the actor opened up to Jennifer Hudson about how it was “tough” seeing Isabella head off to college.
“It’s tough when they leave,” he shared. “You think you’re ready for it because as they get older they gain independence and they’re gone a lot anyway. They have their own friends and their own interests and you can go see them.”
Hartley continued, “When they’re actually gone, it really is a text or a phone call. And you know, she’s 18, so let’s be honest, it’s a text. I’m not getting phone calls, which is normal, but I hate it.”
Though, he admitted jokingly, that one positive was having “more time to party.”
She is supportive of her dad’s career
While Isabella has mainly stayed out of the limelight, she has accompanied her dad to multiple events, lending her support to the actor.
At the 2020 Critics’ Choice Awards, Hartley told PEOPLE Now that he thought it was “awesome” that his daughter accompanied him to the event.
“It’s cool that she wants to come,” he said. “She’s 15 and a half. There’s that thing where you never know the day when you’re going to wake up and she’s like ‘I’m good.’ But it hasn’t happened yet.”
Isabella also accompanied Hartley to the season 3 premiere of This Is Us in 2018.
She is not interested in acting
Despite growing up with two soap opera stars for parents, Isabella hasn’t expressed interest in pursuing a similar career yet, even after being approached by her dad’s agent.
“She came to the This Is Us premiere with me and my whole cast was there. It was really nice,” he said during an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. “My agent came as well — lovely man — and was talking to her. He comes up to me afterward and he goes, ‘Listen, I just want you to know, [I] straight-up offered your daughter representation because she’s got such a great personality, I think she’d be wonderful in this business.’ “
He added of Isabella: “She was like, ‘Yeah, um, well, there are a few things that I’m interested in. I’m not quite sure if I want to go down that road.’ “
“It took me years to get anyone to pay attention to me! But whatever, good for her. She’s too cool for school, man,” the proud dad joked.
She is close with her family
Though Isabella’s parents split in 2012, she remains close to both her mother and father. In honor of her 17th birthday, both of her parents dedicated Instagram posts to their only child.
Along with a black-and-white selfie with the teen, Hartley wrote: “Wishing this kind and beautiful angel a very happy birthday! I’m so very proud of you! Love, Dad”
For Korman’s post, the actress wrote: “This beautiful lady, inside and out, turns 17 today. She is smart, passionate, creative, caring and funny. The truth is, yes, parents can work their hardest to raise the best child/children possible, but ultimately, it’s up to the kid to make the choices, the decisions that define them.”
For Mother’s Day 2023, Korman posted a sweet tribute on Instagram to her own mother, who has had cancer for over a year. In the caption, she shared how the family celebrated Christmas in 2022 and how Isabella made the night special for her grandmother.
“My daughter thought it would be fun to all wear light up headbands for the early light show we were all going to see that night,” she wrote. “My mom was too tired so we just lit up our headbands and had our own light show.”
Her dad is protective of her
During a 2019 appearance on The Tonight Show, Hartley discussed how he felt about his then-15-year-old daughter beginning to date.
“I know it’s a natural thing. She’s wonderful, she’s sweet, she’s responsible … and she’s earned the trust,” he told host Jimmy Fallon, adding with a smile, “but I hate it. I hate all of it.”
“Because I loved her first,” he added.
Hartley went on to say he hasn’t liked any of her suitors yet. “When I meet me, that’s the guy,” he joked.
Her dad taught her how to drive
Even with Hartley’s busy career, he taught Isabella how to drive. However, it didn’t exactly go how he had planned.
“It’s the worst thing in the world. There’s gotta be a better way to do this,” he shared during a September 2021 appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers. “You put them behind the wheel, take them around the street and you keep expanding and we’re kind of at the point where we’re on the freeway and stuff.”
The Noel Diary actor went on to share an anecdote of a time when Isabella was 16, and she accidentally ran a red light.
“I’m in the car, she’s driving, she’s doing great and I’m in the passenger seat,” he said. “I’m kind of feeling loose and I open up these gummy bears and as I’m eating them — I’m shoving them in my mouth like a child — and I look up and we are cruising through a four-way — a red light! Just reckless!”
Hartley added, “She just could not have cared less.”
The star then had his daughter pull over and told her, “That could have been my last gummy bear. You have to be more careful.”
She has a good relationship with her stepmom
After his public divorce from Stause, Hartley began dating his The Young and the Restless costar Sofia Pernas in June 2020. The pair then got married in May 2021.
At PaleyFest’s This Is Us event in April 2022, Pernas opened up to Page Six about her relationship with her stepdaughter.
“She’s so wise. I mean, that girl, she’s got it figured out!” Pernas told the outlet of Isabella. “She knows exactly what she wants. She has a beautiful, wonderful boyfriend. I don’t want to say too much about it because she’s like ‘Ahh!’ but they’re awesome.”
Ahead of Isabella’s 18th birthday, Pernas added that her stepdaughter was “very smart” and “knows what she wants.”
“It’s rare when you get someone 18 being that precocious about what they want in a partner and not messing up and figuring out from your mistakes later. She’s great,” she said.
