When it comes to relationships, these celebrity couples met on the sets of some of their most famous movies. From romantic films such as The Notebook to action movies like Daredevil, through the power of film, many of these couples were brought together. Here are 25 couples who met on the set of a movie but ended up dating in real life.
Ryan Gosling And Rachel McAdams (The Notebook)
While you may know The Notebook as one of the best romance films out there, the two leading stars actually met on the set of the film, Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams. In an interview with GQ in 2007, Gosling confirmed he was thankful for the movie, as he met her through it despite the fact that their relationship ended.
I mean, God bless The Notebook. It introduced me to one of the great loves of my life.
While they did eventually break up in 2007, no one can quite forget this romance, both on and off screen.
Emma Stone And Andrew Garfield (The Amazing Spider-Man Series)
When Andrew Garfield was Spider-Man in The Amazing Spider-Man series, he and his on-screen Gwen Stacy, played by Emma Stone, ended up dating for four years after meeting on the set of the first movie. While they split back in 2015, Garfield recently said that he’s still her biggest fan during an interview with Vanity Fair’s “Little Gold Men” podcast:
We care about each other so much, and that’s a given, that’s kind of this unconditional thing. There’s so much love between us and so much respect…I’m her biggest fan as an artist.
Angelina Jolie And Brad Pitt (Mr. And Mrs. Smith)
On the set of the spy-movie, Mr. and Mrs. Smith (which is getting a reboot), Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt met. In an interview with Vogue (via People) in 2006, Jolie confirmed that they developed feelings for each other while filming, but didn’t start thinking of getting together instantly.
It took until, really, the end of the shoot for us, I think, to realize that it might mean something more than we’d earlier allowed ourselves to believe.
Jolie and Pitt married in 2014, but later filed for divorce.
Robert Pattinson And Kristen Stewart (The Twilight Series)
The Twilight series was a huge hit for Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, who played Edward and Bella in the adaptation of the popular vampire series, and they began dating after the first Twilight film released in 2008, according to an interview Stewart did with The New Yorker. They did eventually break up.
Freida Pinto And Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire)
The 2011 Academy Award-winning film, Slumdog Millionaire, brought together its two stars, Freida Pinto and Dev Patel, after they starred in the film together. In an interview with The Guardian in 2015, Patel talked about his past relationship with Pinto, and how close they were during their time together.
We are incredibly close. She’s just a really generous, patient human being who has been one of the most impactful people on my life. A lot of my motivation has come from her, from being with her and knowing her.
The pair split in 2014.
Michelle Williams And Heath Ledger (Brokeback Mountain)
While filming Brokeback Mountain, co-stars Michelle Williams and Heath Ledger starred as husband and wife, and that love ended up coming off screen when the two began to date. In an interview with GQ in 2012, Williams talked about meeting Ledger for the first time, and how she felt she was always meant to meet him.
Our initial meeting, the circumstances of how we first met, were cosmic or something. Yeah, a lot of things happened at once. It’s a bit like, we had a lot of things to do because we didn’t have a lot of time, or something.
The two had a child together, but later separated.
Blake Lively And Ryan Reynolds (The Green Lantern)
These two are couples goals. Ever since Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively met on the set of The Green Lantern in 2010, these two have been inseparable and eventually ended up getting married. In an interview with Harper's Bazaar in 2021, Reynolds admits they were seeing different people at the time, but their friendship slowly turned into a relationship.
Next thing you know, she was going to Boston, I was going to Boston, and I said, ‘We’ll, I’ll ride with you.’ We got on the train and rode together - I was just begging her to sleep with me.
They’ve been married for several years now, and have four children.
Eva Mendes And Ryan Gosling (The Place Beyond The Pines)
In The Place Beyond the Pines, the stars of the film, Eva Mendes and Ryan Gosling ended up getting together. Rumors of them being together popped up originally when they were spotted going on a date to Disneyland (via Us Weekly) in 2011, and now more than a decade later, they’re still together and have two daughters.
Gosling, in an interview with Harper's Bazaar in 2016, gushed about his family.
Eva’s the dream mother, and they’re dream babies, and it’s like a dream that I’m having right now. I’m dreaming it all.
Elizabeth Taylor And Richard Burton (Cleopatra)
Famed legendary actors Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton had a whirlwind romance after filming Cleopatra, which released in 1963. Their love was highly publicized and even turned into a limited series, called Liz & Dick. It spanned thirteen years, eleven films together, as well as two marriages and two divorces, according to Vogue.
Natalie Portman And Benjamin Millepied (Black Swan)
While filming her Academy Award-winning movie, Black Swan, Natalie Portman met Benjamin Millepied, who is a famous choreographer and co-starred with her. Two began dating and married not that long after in 2012.
In an interview with People, Natalie gushed about her husband and how much she loved working with him again on a new film, called Vox Lux in 2018.
It was really fun because I think he knows me so well, and what my strengths and weaknesses are in dancing, that he was really able to create choreography very seamlessly and quickly because we had very little time.
Matthew Broderick And Jennifer Grey (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off)
While they may have played siblings in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Matthew Broderick and Jennifer Grey were actually entangled in a relationship during their time on set. Jennifer Grey spoke about her relationship with the actor in her memoir, Out of the Corner, and how it was hard to keep it a secret from everyone else.
I was as surprised as anyone when our relationship morphed from on-screen sibling rivalry to off-screen illicit romance…suddenly you're living one of those bedroom farces, padding down the carpeted hallway, barefoot in your robe, or in various stages of undress. The row of peepholes on the other guests' doors can feel like an army of eyeballs watching your every move.
Once filming ended, according to the memoir, they separated temporarily before getting back together, and dated in 1988. They were also briefly engaged but called it off not that long after.
Johnny Depp And Winona Ryder (Edward Scissorhands)
While they originally met in the lobby of a New York theater in 1989, according to Rolling Stone (via Cheat Sheet), Johnny Depp and Winona Ryder’s relationship only grew more after co-starring in Edward Scissorhands in 1990, so much so that Depp proposed to Ryder only five months into dating.
However, in an interview with the Los Angeles Times in 1993, Depp confirmed they had split up due to the privacy the media wouldn’t let them have.
Claire Danes And Hugh Dancy (Evening)
Both Claire Danes and Hugh Dancy met on the set of Evening, according to an interview Dancy did with London Evening Standard in 2013, saying that marriage to the star, as well as fatherhood, is treating him “very well.”
Goldie Hawn And Kurt Russell (The One And Only, Genuine, Original Family Band)
This long-lasting partnership started way back when in 1966. Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell originally met on the set of The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band, but it wasn’t until Swing Shift in 1984 that they began dating. In an interview with People, Hawn admits that the two don’t see a point in marriage.
For people like us, the marriage certificate wasn’t going to create anything that otherwise we wouldn’t have.
The pair have been together for 40 years, and recently starred in The Christmas Chronicles 2 together in 2020.
Taylor Swift And Taylor Lautner (Valentine’s Day)
The ultimate Taylor-ship, actor Taylor Lautner and singer Taylor Swift worked together on the romantic comedy Valentine's Day and were seen out together at sports games (via People). The two reportedly dated for a couple of months before breaking up in December of the same year.
Channing Tatum And Jenna Dewan (Step Up)
One of Channing Tatum’s best movies led to him meeting Jenna Dewan, his co-star and later wife on the set of Step-Up, as confirmed by an interview Tatum did with Elle in 2013. Tatum admitted that he almost didn’t ask Dewan out because he had just gotten out of a relationship.
I was trying to run from what I knew Jenna was - not someone I was just going to date. But one of my buddies was like, 'What are you doing, man? She’s dope.'
While they share a daughter, the two divorced in 2019.
Daniel Craig And Rachel Weisz (Dream House)
While the two had actually first met at university together, both Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz were brought back together while filming Dream House. Weisz spoke with The Evening Standard in 2018 on her relationship, and how she never thought she would get married, until she started dating Craig.
It was not an ambition of mine. It was the opposite. I couldn’t relate to romantic comedies — marriage seems to be the whole point of them. Then it just happened, happily, at a more mature moment.
Jennifer Lopez And Ben Affleck (Gigli)
Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck are back together, but their first run at a relationship was while filming Gigli, where the two became close friends, and later began to date after Lopez divorced from Chris Judd in 2003.
Vanessa Hudgens And Zac Efron (High School Musical Series)
The High School Musical series was a huge hit for the Disney Channel, and onscreen love interests, Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens, turned that love into a long relationship offscreen, according to Hudgens during an interview on The Hollywood Reporter’s “Awards Chatter” podcast (via People) in 2019.
It started off really organically. I could not have been more grateful to have that relationship at the time.
The two were together for five years before breaking up.
Jennifer Garner And Ben Affleck (Daredevil)
Both Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck first met while filming Pearl Harbor, but started to date after being co-stars in Daredevil, according to an interview with Playboy Magazine in 2017, saying that this set was where they fell in love.
They later married in 2005 and then divorced in 2018.
Liam Hemsworth And Miley Cyrus (The Last Song)
While filming The Last Song together, Liam Hemsworth and Miley Cyrus became very close, according to Seventeen (via MTV News) where Cyrus said he was her “best friend.” Their relationship was later confirmed after they walked the red carpet together. They were together for years, marrying, before divorcing in 2020.
Tom Cruise And Nicole Kidman (Days Of Thunder)
Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman met at her audition for Days of Thunder, according to an interview she did with Harper’s Bazaar in 2021. The two stars co-starred, fell in love, married in 1990, and then divorced in 2001.
Zendaya And Tom Holland (Spider-Man Series)
Tom Holland and Zendaya met while filming Spider-Man: Homecoming together, but it wasn’t until closer to the release of Spider-Man: No Way Home in 2021 that speculation about a romantic relationship between the two seemed to be confirmed.
Since then, the two have been very public about their relationship, especially when Tom Holland shared a post on Instagram on her birthday, saying that Zendaya was “his MJ.”
Sarah Michelle Gellar And Freddie Prinze Jr. (I Know What You Did Last Summer)
Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze Jr. met originally on the set of I Know What You Did Last Summer, but didn’t begin to date until 2000, according to an interview Gellar did with People in 2002, saying they weren’t even originally supposed to go on a date - turned into one.
We had made plans for dinner with a mutual friend and the person canceled. We decided to have dinner anyway and never looked back.
They have been together for twenty years and have two children.
Penelope Cruz And Javier Bardem (Jamón Jamón)
The two actually met for the first time as co-stars while filming Jamón Jamón, they wouldn’t get together until they reunited again filming Vicky Cristina Barcelona, a Woody Allen film, according to an interview Javier Bardem did with GQ in 2017, and started dating after filming was done.
The two have been married since 2010, and have two children.
There are so many celebrity couples out there - some that have stood the test of time and others that have not. And I’m sure over time, only more and more will start to pop up with even crazier romances.
