These Directors Married Their Lead Actresses Right After Filming
Some casting calls were written in the stars. Surprisingly, a lot of marriages jump right from the film set down the aisle. You may have watched SNL or Resident Evil not knowing that love flared behind the camera. From James Cameron to Charlie Chaplin to Ben Stiller, learn which directors wed their actresses after the curtain fell. Some marriages lasted a lifetime, while others lasted less than two years. Can you predict most of these Hollywood couples?
Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw After Indiana Jones
Steven Spielberg chose beautiful and fun-loving Kate Capshaw over 100 other actresses for a leading role in Indiana Jones in the Temple of Doom (1984). Though Spielberg was married to the actress Amy Irving at the time, the two hit it off.
They married in 1991, with Capshaw even converting to Judaism to marry Spielberg. The marriage is still going strong to this day. They have seven children, two from previous marriages, three between the two of them, and two adopted.
Sam Mendes and Kate Winslet After Revolutionary Road
The pair met on the set of Revolutionary Road in 2001, where Kate Winslet co-starred with Leonardo DiCaprio. They married on a whim in May 2003 while vacationing in Anguilla. Winslet said they "hadn't been planning to do it" before then.
Both the director and actress won Oscars in the coming years. Unfortunately, in 2010, they split up on amicable terms. Winslet went on to have her third marriage made official with Ned Rocknroll in 2012.
Taylor Hackford and Helen Mirren After The Devil's Advocate
When actress Helen Mirren met Taylor Hackford on the set of The Devil's Advocate in 1997, she wasn't planning on getting married. But after being together with Hackford for 11 years, the two finally decided to tie the not.
Mirren and Hackford spent their honeymoon in the historic Castle Stewart in Scotland. Mirren later told the British daytime show This Morning that their stay involved some hair-raising ghost hauntings. Despite the less romantic honeymoon, the pair is still married to this day.
Len Wiseman and Kate Beckinsale After Underworld
Len Wiseman fell in love with Kate Beckinsale while directing her performance in Underworld back in 2003. The two married only a year later, and Wiseman continued to produce many of Beckinsale's roles.
Though the two never had any children, although Beckinsale had a daughter Lily from her previous romance with Michael Sheen. Unfortunately, the couple divorced in 2016, claiming that they had secretly separated months before in 2015. Supposedly, the separation stemmed from conflicting schedules and gradually growing apart.
Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson After Henry V
Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson met when Thompson played the gorgeous princess in Henry V. The pair married that year in 1989. In 1995, they split after Thompson alleged that Branagh had an affair with Helena Bonham Carter.
Thompson claimed that the experience ultimately informed her role in Love Actually (2003), where her character discovered that her husband was cheating. Fortunately, both director and actress found love after that. Branagh married director Lindsay Brunnock, and Thompson married actor Greg Wise.
Judd Apatow and Leslie Mann After The Cable Guy
Judd Apatow worked on producing The Cable Guy in 1996 when he met the hilarious Leslie Mann. After Mann walked off stage during the audition, Apatow joked, "There goes the future Mrs. Apatow." They married one year later in 1997.
Despite Mann later joking that Apatow "isn't funny," Apatow still cast her in comedies such as The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, and Funny People. Having been together for over 20 years, these two are one of the cutest couples in Hollywood.
James Cameron And Suzy Amis After Titanic
Though this relationship started out rocky, today it's still going strong. Before meeting Szy Amis, James Cameron started dating Treminator actress Linda Hamilton. However, after meeting Amis on the set of Titanic, he had an affair with her.
Despite the affair, Cameron married Hamilton in 1997. But after only eight months, he left Hamilton for Amis. The two married in 2000. Though this is Cameron's third marriage, it has lasted far longer than any of his previous marriages.
Vincente Minnelli and Judy Garland After Meet Me in St. Louis
When Minnelli and Garland met on the set of Meet Me in St. Louis in 1944, both of them were married to different people. Despite that, the two began dating while filming. Both left their spouses within the year and married each other in 1945.
Sadly, after six years of marriage and five years of raising their daughter Liza, the two split. After Garland developed extreme symptoms of postpartum depression and had an affair, she and Minnelli filed a divorce. Garland went through three more marriages before her death in 1969.
Stanley Kubrick and Christiane Susanne Harlan After Paths Of Glory
After two marriages, Kubrick married his final wife in 1958 after casting her for the World War I epic Paths of Glory. The German actress Christiane Susanne performed in the final scene, giving the movie its dramatic, memorable ending.
At the time, Kubrick was married to actress Ruth Sobotka. But after the movie released in 1957, he left Sobotka for Harlan. The two remained happily married until Kubrick's death over 40 years later.
Elia Kazan And Barbara Loden After Wild River
Like Minnelli and Garland, director Elia Kazan and actress Barbara Loden were both married to different people when they met on the set of Wild River. The movie released in 1960, but the director and actress didn't marry each other until 1968. In the meantime, Kazan would work with Loden in another film, Splendor in the Grass.
Despite the 23-year-old age gap, the pair stayed together until Loden tragically died of breast cancer in 1978. The director did rub off on her, however, since Loden wrote directed her own hit film, Wanda.
Michel Hazanavicius and Bérénice Bejo After OSS 177
French director and screenwriter Michel Hazanavicius met French-Argentinian actress Bérénice Bejo on the set of the movie OSS 117: Le Caire, nid d'espions in 2006. Though you might know them better from their 2011 movie, The Artist.
Hazanavicius and Bejo got together in 2006 and eventually married in 2008. Eleven years later, they are still married and making movies. Bejo also starred in Hazanavicius's The Search in 2014 and Redoubtable in 2017. They have two children, Lucien and Gloria.
Luc Besson And Milla Jovovich After The Fifth Element
Milla Jovovich had already claimed fame before turning 19--she was a supermodel and even released an acclaimed Ukrainian rock album. When Jovovich auditioned for The Fifth Element, she stole the part from 8,000 other actresses who auditioned.
During the shoot, Besson and Jovovich developed a connection quickly. They married in 1998, one year after The Fifth Element released. They even went skydiving after the ceremony. Unfortunately the marriage didn't last, as they divorced only a year later.
Paul W.S. Anderson and Milla Jovovich After Resident Evil
Fortunately, Jovovich's relationship luck skyrocketed after starring in Resident Evil in 2002. After two marriages, she finally married producer and director Paul Anderson. Anderson initially proposed in 2003, but supposedly the pair broke up for a while before marrying in 2009.
Jovovich said their relationship began when Anderson came over to her hotel to discuss the script with her. Since the marriage, their love has remained rock solid. They're still married and care for two children.
Joel Coen And Frances McDormand After Blood Simple
Joel Coen and Frances McDormand met when McDormand auditioned for Coen's first movie, Blood Simple. At the time, however, McDormand was dating another man. She even skipped her callback because she wanted to see her boyfriend's soap opera debut.
Regardless, Coen cast her and two began dating. They married even before the movie released in 1984. McDormand has since starred in many Coen brothers films, most notably Fargo for which she won the Best Actress Academy Award. The two are still married over thirty years later, and even adopted a son from Paraguay.
John Carpenter And Adrienne Barbeau After Someone's Watching Me!
Accredited horror film director John Carpenter met actress Adrienne Barbeau on the set of Someone's Watching Me! in 1978. While the film didn't bring in as much as his other classics, it did lead to the couple's marriage in 1979.
Within their five-year marriage, Carpenter and Barbeau collaborated on two more movies--The Fog in 1980 and Escape from New York in 1981. They later divorced in 1984. Barbeau moved on to marry actor Billy Van Zandt in 1992, only to divorce again in 2018.
Charlie Chaplin And Lita Grey After The Gold Rush
Charlie Chaplin cast actress Lita Grey in his movie The Gold Rush. It was his second marriage. Chaplin married Grey in 1924, but their marriage ended three years later on dramatic terms.
Grey claimed that Chaplin was "cruel and inhumane" in their divorce filing. Grey was almost twenty years younger than Chaplin at 16. Chaplin had promised her marriage before trying to convince her to have an abortion, confiding in his friends that union was better than prison. The story became one of the biggest Hollywood mishaps of the twentieth century.
Charlie Chaplin and Paulette Goddard After Modern Times
Though the two had met before the movie, Modern Times kicked it off for Charlie Chaplin and Paulette Goddard. The famous silent film actor directed and acted in this 1936 movie. After the film premiered, the pair traveled around the Pacific Rim, where they ultimately were married.
The two parted ways 1942, but not before Goddard also starred in Chaplin's first talkie (The Great Dictator in 1940). Despite their separation, Goddard continued to star in films throughout the 1970s.
Paul Thomas Anderson and Maya Rudolph After SNL
Despite not being legally married, Paul Thomas Anderson and Maya Rudolph have been together for over 20 years and have raised four children together. Though they remain quiet about their relationship, most suspect that they met on the set of Saturday Night Live when Anderson directed a short there in 2000.
Recently, Rudolph told The New York Times that she started calling Anderson her "husband" since they had their first daughter in 2009. "People know what it means," Rudolph said. "He's the father of my child, and I live with him, and we are a couple, and we're not going anywhere."
Ben Stiller And Christine Taylor After Heat Vision And Jack
When Ben Stiller finally stepped behind the camera to direct, he cast his soon-to-be wife, Christine Taylor. In 1999, they shot the show Heat Vision and Jack, which soon faded into an internet cult video when it turned out to be too weird for Fox to air.
On the bright side, Stiller and Taylor married the next year. After 17 years of marriage, though, the pair broke up in May 2017. The two remain friendly and devoted to their two children.
Ridley Scott And Giannina Facio After White Squall
Sir Ridley Scott first met Costa Rican actress Gianna Facio while shooting White Squall in 1996. Unlike the other cases, the two wouldn't marry until 19 years later. They finally wed in June 2015 and remain together.
Since White Squall, Facio has appeared in nearly every Ridley Scott film except for American Gangster and The Martian. Facio also co-produced Tristan & Isolde with Ridley Scott and has produced her own movies such as Matchstick Men.
Orson Wells And Rita Hayworth After The Lady From Shanghai
Actress Rita Hayworth married acclaimed director Orson Welles on September 7, 1943, while Hayworth was acting in and Welles was producing The Mercury Wonder Show. Hayworth didn't tell anyone about their plan to get married.
The two returned to work just hours after they were married. In 1947, Hayworth would act in The Lady from Shanghai, a film that Welles was directing as well as acting in. Unfortunately, their marriage didn't work out and the two were divorced in 1948.
Sam Esmail And Emmy Rossum After Comet
During his directorial debut, Comet, director Sam Esmail worked with Shameless star Emmy Rossum. The two began dating in 2014 and dated for around two years before becoming engaged in 2015.
They are both Jewish and were married on May 28, 2017, at a reform synagogue in New York City. The pair have been married since, and have continued to work on their separate careers. It is unknown whether they will work together again in the future.
Robert Rodriguez And Rose McGowan After Planet Terror
Robert Rodriguez is the director of Sin City and began dating actress Rose McGowan when they were working together on the set of Planet Terror in 2007. Prior to the release of Grindhouse, there were rumors that the two were dating.
However, the speculations were revealed to be true when they appeared hand-in-hand at the Cannes Film Festival that same year. The couple announced in 2007 that they were getting engaged, however, they split up in October 2009.
Tim Robbins And Susan Sarandon After Numerous Films
Best known for playing the character Andy from The Shawshank Redemption, Tim Robbins is also an accomplished actor having directed films such as Bob Roberts, Dead Man Walking, and The Cradle Will Rock to name a few.
Robbins met actress Susan Sarandon on the set of Bull Durham, and the two sparked up a relationship. The couple had two children named Jack and Miles and were together for 21 years. They announced the end of their relationship in December 2009.
Martin Scorsese And Isabella Rossellini After Blue Velvet
Best known for her role in the film Blue Velvet, Isabella Rossellini began dating renowned actor Martin Scorsese, only to marry him in 1979. Considering that Scorsese had already been married numerous times before meeting Rossellini, it's no surprise that the two were divorced by 1983.
Both Scorsese and Rossellini ended up re-marrying not long after their own relationship had failed. The two have not worked together since and most likely don't plan on it anytime soon.
Darren Aronofsky And Rachel Weisz After The Fountain
Although the couple had already met before, Darren Aronofsky and Rachel Weisz first worked together on the film The Fountain, with Aronofsky directing and Weisz acting in a lead role. The two began dating in the summer of 2001 and were eventually married in 2005.
They share a son together who was born in 2006 and the family lived in East Village, Manhattan. While it was later revealed the two were no longer together, they remained nearby one another to raise their child.
Ingmar Bergman And Liv Ullmann After Persona
Although Norwegian actress Liv Ullmann and Swedish director Ingmar Bergman originally met in Stockholm in 1964, the two worked together on the film Persona in 1966. Their romance between one another lasted for a whole five years, and they share a daughter named Linn Ullmann.
Ullmann is currently best known for being a writer. However, even though the two broke up, they remained close friends up until Bergman's unexpected death in 2007.
Tim Burton And Helena Bonham Carter After Planet Of The Apes
Director Tim Burton and actress Helena Bonham Carter met while filming Planet of the Apes back in 2001, which didn't go over well with his girlfriend Lisa Marie. Burton and Carter have two children named Carter and Drew.
The couple worked together on countless films throughout the years although they announced in 2014 that they had broken up. However, it was later discovered that the two hadn't only broken up but had actually gotten a divorce.
Woody Allen And Mia Farrow After Several Films
Actress Mia Farrow and Woody Allen met in 1979 and began dating in 1980. Mia then went on to star in 13 of Allen's films between the years 1982 and 1992. Although Farrow already had seven children, the two tried to have one of their own under the agreement that Allen would not be in charge of the child's care.
After they failed to get pregnant, Farrow adopted one on her own and Allen played a fatherly role in the child's life. Farrow eventually gave birth to their son Ronan in 1987 although she and Allen broke up in 1992.
Woody Allen And Diane Keaton After Play It Again
In 1969, Allen cast actress Diane Keaton in his Broadway show titled Play it Again, Sam. During the show's period on Broadway, the two became romantically involved although they separated just a year later.
That didn't stop Allen from casting her in his films, and she spent the next several years starring in many of his movies. As of 2019, Allen and Keaton have remained close friends, with Allen presenting Keaton with an AFI Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017.
Rupert Sanders And Kristen Stewart After Snow White and the Huntsman
While filming for Snow White and the Huntsman in 2012, it was discovered that Sanders and actress Kristen Stewart were having a romantic affair. This was happening at the same time that Sanders was married to Liberty Ross and Stewart was dating her Twilight co-star Robert Pattinson.
Images of them were released of the two sharing a romantic embrace, leading both of them to issue separate public apologies. However, Stewart and Sanders' relationship never went any further than a fling.
Jennifer Lawrence And Darren Aronofsky After Mother!
Actress Jennifer Lawrence and director Darren Aronofsky found themselves in a romantic relationship while filming the 2017 movie Mother! Although there is a 21-year age gap between the two, apparently, this wasn't an issue at all. Larence's co-star on the film, Javier Bardem, claims that it was the pair's sense of creativity that brought them together.
He commented, "Creatively speaking, both are very willing to go as deep as is necessary without being contaminated by it. To create means to go from a place of neutrality to a place of imagination, where you build up something that didn't exist, and then go back to neutrality. Both are able to do that, which makes the experience much more pleasant."
Tony Scott And Donna Wilson After Days Of Thunder
Surprisingly, Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise wasn't the only couple to find love on the set of the 1990 NASCAR film, Days of Thunder. Director Tony Scott also met his future wife, Donna Wilson, who was 24 years his senior.
The couple married in 1994 and Wilson gave birth to their twin boys Frank and Max in 2000. The two remained together up until Scott's devastating suicide in 2012. He was survived by his wife, children, and brother Ridley Scott.
Sam Taylor-Wood And Aaron Taylor-Johnson After Nowhere Boy
Director Sam Taylor-Wood met her future husband Aaron Taylor-Johnson on the set of Nowhere Boy. While filming about John Lennon's youth, the two fell in love even though Aaron was 19 and Sam was 42.
Although this raised some eyebrows, they didn't mind the age gap and went on to have two daughters together. They were married in 2012, each taking a hyphenated version of their last names. They've been together ever since.
Angelina Jolie And Brad Pitt After Many Movies
Although the two had been dating for years, the two became an official director/actor couple when Angelina directed Pitt in By the Sea, just a few weeks before their marriage in 2014. On top of that, the two also co-starred in the film which was released in 2015.
This was yet another reason why it was so shocking that the two split up in 2016. People assumed they would work together on at least a few more projects.
Danny Boyle And Rosario Dawson After Trance
Danny Boyle and Rosario Dawson began dating after they finished production of their 2013 crime drama Trance. They have kept their relationship out of the eyes of the public.
Rosario noted, "It's not like we announced our relationship, so it's not like we're going to announce our breakup [...] "I love Danny. He's wonderful and we dated longer than people think we did. … I respect Danny's privacy, so it's not something we really talk about."
Danny DeVito And Rhea Perlman After The Sound Sleeper
Danny DeVito met Rhea Perlman back in 1971 after she went to see a play that he had starred in. Just two years later, Perlman wrote the script for a short film which DeVito directed called The Sound Sleeper. The two were married in 1982 but split up in 2012.
They got together once again in 2013, but things had once again turned sour by 2017. So far, it appears they will remain separated.
Jenna Fischer And James Gunn After Gilmore Girls
After moving to Los Angeles, her childhood friend, Sean Gunn, introduced Jenna Fischer to his bother James Gunn, a director on the show Gilmore Girls. Fischer ended up marrying James in October 2000, although the two were separated by 2007 and were divorced in 2008.
In 2010, Fischer helped convince her ex-husband to cast her fellow Office co-star Rainn Wilson in Gunn's upcoming film Super. So, it appears that the two might still be on good terms.
Peter Bogdanovich And Cybill Shepherd After The Last Picture Show
In 1971, Peter Bogdanovich cast Cybill Shepherd, a then-unknown actress in the film The Last Picture Show. Bogdanovich had seen her picture in Glamour magazine in 1969. At the time, he was married to producer Polly Platt, but began having an affair with Shepherd and eventually left his wife to be with her.
However, the two never married and even after their relationship ended after just a few years, the two remain close to this day.
Roger Vadim And Brigitte Bardot After ...And God Created Women
Throughout his career, Roger Vadim dated numerous actresses, including Brigitte Bardot in 1952 when she was just 18 years old. The two married the same year she was in her first feature film and four years later acted in her husband's directorial debut, ...And God Created Woman.
After a tumultuous relationship, the two ended their relationship in 1957. But they didn't stop working together and continued making movies for years after they went their separate ways.
