All the Celebrity Couples Who Met Working Together on Set
We all have a celebrity couple we not-so-secretly wish would happen. And more often than not, that’s because we’ve seen the two would-be lovebirds acting out a gorgeous love story onscreen. Naturally, we assume the actors met on set and fell in love, and that’s why the story was so realistic — right? With stars like Kelly Preston and John Travolta, Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively, and Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, there’s no denying that some stars got together by working together, and that means we’ll never stop rooting for our favorite movie couples to do the same.
Of course, we’re not saying that every beloved on-screen couple has a set of actors lusting for each other behind it. Outlander‘s Caitríona Balfe and Sam Heughan have denied rumors for years that their TV chemistry points to anything more, for example. And A Star Is Born‘s Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper faced an almost feverish fandom theorizing about their romance — despite the fact that Cooper was still with Irina Shayk at the time.
Finally, it must be said that these met-on-set couples can be as scandalous as they are swoonworthy. When Brad Pitt met Angelina Jolie on Mr. & Mrs. Smith, their love story began — and his marriage to Jennifer Aniston swiftly ended. We love fantasizing about our favorite stars locking eyes and falling in love at first sight — but there’s more to a lot of these stories than meets the eye.
Read on for a look at all the celebrity couples who met while working together on set.
A version of this story was originally published July 2020.
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Jennifer Love Hewitt & Brian Hallisay
Jennifer Love Hewitt and Brian Hallisay met while filming the Lifetime drama series The Client List back in 2012. Since tying the knot in Nov 2013, they welcomed three children named Autumn James, born Nov 2013, Atticus James, born June 2015, and Aiden James, born Sept 2021.
Justin Long & Kate Bosworth
In early 2022, it was reported that Justin Long and Kate Bosworth started dating after co-starring together in the indie film House of Darkness. You can see them looking so cute on social media together, gushing about each other in interviews! We love them together, to be honest.
Tom Holland & Zendaya
Tom Holland and Zendaya met and fell in love on the set of Spider-Man, and started dating in 2021.
Rob McElhenney & Kaitlin Olson
Rob McElhenney and Kaitlin Olson started secretly dating during the second season of the hit show It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. They fell in love super quickly, but no one knew until after two more seasons of the show had passed. They ended up marrying in Sept 2008 and welcoming two sons named Axel and Leo.
Kevin Bacon & Kyra Sedgwick
Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick married on Sept 4, 1988; after meeting on the set of the 1988 film Lemon Sky. They began their relationship in Feb 1987, and have been so in love since. Along with that, they later welcomed two children named Travis, born in 1989, and Sosie Ruth, born in 1992.
Michael Fassbender & Alicia Vikander
Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander met and fell in love while playing a married couple in The Light Between Oceans, tying the knot only two years later in 2017 and later welcomed a son in 2021.
Jennifer Connelly & Paul Bettany
Jennifer Connelly and Paul Bettany first met in 2001 on the set of A Beautiful Mind, and Bettany knew very quickly that she was the one for him. After the events of 9/11, he told Larry King he felt so many emotions and decided to propose to Connelley, despite never even officially dating! He said, “I got her on the phone and said, ‘I’m coming over, let’s get married,'” he said. “And that’s really what happened. We had never dated.” They married two years later in 2003,
Leslie Mann & Judd Apatow
Back in 1996, it was love at first sight for Judd Apatow when he met his future wife Leslie Mann while she auditioned for The Cable Guy. Soon after their first encounter, they married in 1997 and have two daughters named Maude and Iris Apatow.
Gwen Stefani & Blake Shelton
Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton met as judges on The Voice back in 2014, they were married to other people and later confided in one another when their marriages were ending. They ended up dating only two years later and marrying in 2021.
Jessica Alba & Cash Warren
One of our favorite couples, Jessica Alba and Cash Warren, actually met on the set of Fantastic Four, where Warren worked as a production assistant. They ended up falling in love super quickly, marrying in 2008 and welcoming three children named Honor, Haven, and Hayes.
Peter Krause & Lauren Graham
Peter Krause and Gilmore Girls star Lauren Graham actually met back in 1995 on Caroline in the City, but they didn’t start dating until 2010, when they played siblings on the set of Parenthood. They dated until 2021.
Kurt Russell & Goldie Hawn
One of Hollywood’s best love stories is between Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn. They met in 1966 on the set of The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band, but they reconnected years later on the set of Swing Shift in 1983. They’ve been together ever since.
Beanie Feldstein & Bonnie Chance Roberts
Booksmart star Beanie Feldstein and Bonnie Chance Roberts met on the set of How to Build a Girl, where Feldstein was starring and Roberts was producing. And it was love at first sight, with them getting engaged in June 2022.
Mariska Hargitay & Peter Hermann
Mariska Hargitay and Peter Hermann met on season two of Law & Order: SVU, and they were instantly attracted to one another. They ended up marrying in 2004 and have three children; and as they say, the rest is history.
Alexis Denisof & Alyson Hannigan
Alexis Denisof and Alyson Hannigan met while filming the ever-so iconic show Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and to say sparks flew immediately is an understatement. The two ended up marrying in 2003, welcoming two daughters named Satyana and Keeva.
Ginnifer Goodwin & Josh Dallas
Not only did Ginnifer Goodwin and Josh Dallas play a fairytale couple on the show Once Upon a Time, but the two became a fairytale-like couple soon after meeting on the show. They met in 2011 on the first season of the show, marrying soon after!
Lauren Morelli & Samira Wiley
Everyone adores Lauren Morelli and Samira Wiley’s romance that bloomed on the set of Orange Is the New Black, where Morelli worked as a writer and Wiley starred as Poussey Washington. Now Morelli was actually married to a man when they first met, but she realized quite quickly that she had strong feelings for Wiley. Morelli and Wiley dated for a few years before tying the knot in 2017.
Ewan McGregor & Mary Elizabeth Winstead
Ewan McGregor and Mary Elizabeth Winstead met while working on the anthology series Fargo in 2017. By that point, McGrego filed for divorce from his first wife, Eve Mavrakis, which was finalized in 2018. McGregor and Winstead welcomed their son, Laurie, in June 2021. They officially tied the knot in April 2022.
Megan Fox & Machine Gun Kelly
Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly met while filming the independent movie Midnight in the Switchgrass. A few months later, Kelly had asked Fox to star in his music video for “Drunk Face” — and Brian Austin Green was announcing his split from her. They’re now engaged, and everyone is so excited to see what kind of wedding they’ll have.
Kelly Ripa & Mark Consuelos
Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos rose to fame on the soap opera All My Children. They also started dating while working on the daytime series, and later eloped! Oddly enough, their characters also got married.
Zooey Deschanel & Jonathan Scott
Zooey Deschanel and Jonathan Scott started dating in 2020 after meeting during an episode of Carpool Karaoke: The Series, and started dating in 2019.
Javier Bardem & Penélope Cruz
Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz first met on the set of 1992 film Jamón, Jamón, but it was their 2008 reunion on the set of Vicky Cristina Barcelona that led them to fall in love, tying the knot a few years later in 2010.
Will Smith & Jada Pinkett Smith
Will and Jada Pinkett Smith first met when she was auditioning for the role of his girlfriend on his breakout show The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. While she ultimately wasn’t cast, they reconnected on A Different World — and the rest is history.
Anneliese van der Pol & Johnno Wilson
Raven’s Home co-stars Anneliese van der Pol and Johnno Wilson may have played divorced parents on the show, but they fell in love with one another after meeting on the show. They got engaged in 2023.
Chrissy Teigen & John Legend
Chrissy Teigen and John Legend didn’t meet while filming a TV show or movie, but a music video — Legend’s 2007 video for “Stereo,” in which she plays his love interest (watch here). The couple went on to hook up that night, but it was several months of long-distance texting and playing it cool before their relationship got more serious.
Adam Brody & Leighton Meester
Adam Brody and Leighton Meester found each other on the set of the 2011 film The Oranges, and it didn’t take them long to realize they’d found the one, dating the following year and getting married in 2014.
Julia Roberts & Danny Moder
Julia Roberts met cinematographer husband Danny Moder while filming The Mexican and the couple has enjoyed a private happy family life ever since, welcoming sons Phinnaeus and Henry and daughter Hazel, who made her red carpet debut at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival.
Sarah Michelle Gellar & Freddie Prinze Jr.
Teen horror classic I Know What You Did Last Summer brought Sarah Michelle Gellar face to face with future husband Freddie Prinze Jr. for the first time in 1997, but they weren’t *official* until 2000. By 2002, they had married, and they’ve since welcomed two kids together.
Ryan Reynolds & Blake Lively
Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively met on the set of The Green Lantern in 2010, when Reynolds was still married to ex Scarlett Johansson. Two years later, they were saying their I do’s at the end of 2012.
John Travolta & Kelly Preston
John Travolta and Kelly Preston met on a screen test for 1989’s The Experts — when Preston was still married to Kevin Gage. Preston and Gage divorced later that year, and she married Travolta in 1991.
Eva Mendes & Ryan Gosling
Eva Mendes and Ryan Gosling met on 2011’s The Place Beyond the Pines — and it seems neither has had a second of doubt since. They’ve been highly private about both their relationship and their two daughters, born in 2014 and 2016, but it’s clear they knew they’d met the one from early on.
Kit Harington & Rose Leslie
We all know Kit Harington and Rose Leslie had a hot on-screen romance as Jon Snow and Ygritte on HBO’s Game of Thrones. These actors got together in real life too, confirming their relationship in 2016 and marrying in 2018.
Jennifer Lopez & Ben Affleck
Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck shot two movies together in 2002, the year they fell in love and started their two-year romance. The first was Gigli, and the second was Jersey Girl.
Stephen Moyer & Anna Paquin
Stephen Moyer and Anna Paquin met on hit HBO vampire drama True Blood, in which their characters are just as besotted with each other as they are in real life. Moyer describes meeting her in 2007 as love at first sight, and they were married by 2010.
Gwyneth Paltrow & Brad Falchuck
In 2010, Gwyneth Paltrow played a role on Glee, which Falchuk produced. Their romance grew over the following decade and they married in 2018.
Daniel Craig & Rachel Weisz
While Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz’s 2010 movie Dream House was definitely more horror than romance, it brought these two lovebirds together. They tied the knot in 2011 and have been the gorgeous, low-profile couple of our dreams ever since.
Kirsten Dunst & Jesse Plemons
Kirsten Dunst met her actor husband on the set of TV series Fargo in 2014. By 2018, the two were welcoming a son together.
Ashton Kutcher & Mila Kunis
While Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis weren’t dating at the same time as their That 70s Show counterparts Kelso and Jackie, that is where the couple first met. The show ended in 2006, and Kutcher and Kunis made their debut as a couple in 2012, marrying and starting a family just a few years later.
Tom Hanks & Rita Wilson
Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson actually worked together twice before Cupid’s arrow struck. They first shot Bosom Buddies together and then 1985 comedy Volunteers — but didn’t marry until 1988.
Claire Danes & Hugh Dancy
Romantic drama Evening brought Claire Danes and Hugh Dancy together, but they maintain that the relationship didn’t start until after they’d finished the 2006 film. By 2009, they were happily married.
Stephen Ringer & Aly Michalka
Stephen Ringer and Aly Michalka have been together since 2013 after they met on the set of Sequoia. By 2015, they were married, and as of April 2024, they’re expecting their first child together.
Kimberly J. Brown & Daniel Kountz
Kimberly J. Brown and Daniel Kountz met as kids on Halloweentown II in 2001, but they reconnected and started dating in 2016. They later got engaged in 2022, and married in 2024.
Tracy Pollan & Michael J Fox
Lovebirds Tracy Pollan and Michael J Fox have been in love since 1986, when she played his girlfriend on the show Family Ties.
Josh Bowman & Emily VanCamp
Josh Bowman and Emily VanCamp met on the set of Revenge, and started dating soon after. They later married in 2018.
Renée Zellweger & Ant Anstead
Renée Zellweger and Ant Anstead met filming Celebrity IOU: Joyride back in 2021, and have been smitten since.