Meet Kim Coates’ wife of 42 years and their two children – including actress daughter who starred alongside Chevy Chase

Diana Chappell met the The Walking Dead: Dead City star when they were both attending the University of Saskatchewan. They have been married for over four decades and tied the knot in 1984. 

Diana later became a teacher and has supported Kim in his acting career. He credits Diana with providing support on figurative “bumpy roads”. He explained in a 2012 interview: “If you love each other, if they can support you until there’s nothing left to support or there’s a star, that’s what it takes. I was lucky Diana did that for me.” The couple have two children together.

Kim Coates isn’t the only actor in the family: daughter Brenna Coates clearly inherited the performance bug. The 2017 Obie award winner has worked on both stage and screen, with several Off-Broadway performances and roles at The Lincoln Center.

During her time on-screen, Brenna has crossed paths with some other well-known faces. Brenna joined comedy stalwarts Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd in Zombie Town (2023) which follows the fall-out of a cursed film reel and a town full of zombies. 

Brenna has a new project in pre-production which would have the actress working alongside her father in an upcoming horror film about a grieving family pursued by a haunting force at a newly inherited vineyard. 

Kyla Coates hasn’t opted for the spotlight, but her work is certainly award-worthy. She first earned a degree from UCLA in Political Science and Statistics, going on to teach with the nonprofit organisation One Heart Source (OHS). Her father’s Sons of Anarchy co-star Charlie Hunnam has shown his support of her work, donating £10,000 to the cause in 2014 where Kyla spoke as the Educational Programs Director and representative of OHS at their annual Hogs for Heart fundraiser.

Kyla expanded OHS’s teaching scheme from Tanzania to South Africa and Jamaica before returning to education for a Master’s in the Art of Teaching, returning to her hometown as a 5th grade teacher with yearly trips to South Africa. She received a fellowship for her second masters at USC and, according to her student page, hopes to “continue working on local policy change that impacts the lives of the most vulnerable”.

Kim grew up in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan as a bit of a jock with a love of hockey and his classic car. He told CBC podcast This is Saskatchewan, “I was going to be a history teacher.” When he took an elective drama class at university, thinking it would be an easy one to pass, he fell in love with acting. 

Speaking to Numéro Netherlands, he said: “When I got to university, I had plans to become a teacher, but then I decided to take an acting class just for fun. That was the first stroke of fate for me and that decision turned out to be a pivotal moment for me.” He got involved with a whopping 25 plays after the acting class and credits his mentors Tom Kerr and Susan Wright as early inspirations. “It’s all worked out and I think a big part of that is because I’ve never been afraid to fail. Maybe that’s why I’ve never really failed.”

Kim Coates is most well-known for his starring role as Alexander “Tig” Trager in Sons of Anarchy, the seven season hit show which follows Jax Teller (Charlie Hunnam) struggling with the responsibility of fatherhood alongside his involvement in an outlaw motorcycle club. Kim worked alongside Pacific Rim and Monster: The Ed Gein Story star Charlie Hunnam and Married with Children’s Katey Sagal. 

His first film was back in the 80s, and was followed by roles in Innocent Blood and The Client. It seems that once he got his start, Kim couldn’t be stopped and has starred in Academy Award-winning films like Ridley Scott’s Black Hawk Down and Michael Bay’s Pearl Harbor. His co-stars include the likes of Sean Bean, Bruce Willis and Kevin Costner. 

His latest project, Solo Mio (2026), explored the story of a heartbroken groom stranded in Rome who finds hope with the help of a few locals and some meddling travellers.