Since the earliest days of film celebrities, fans have adored finding out when on-screen romances spill over into real life. Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks had an infamous relationship off-screen that saw huge crowds gather to see them together, both in-person and in the movie theaters. Since then, celebrity watchers have enjoyed spotting real-life couples who also pair up for work.
While some couples make a habit of working together, others have only rarely appeared alongside one another. But from classic A-list stars to emerging talents, all these couples have enjoyed spending time together on camera and behind the scenes.
Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall
Hollywood royalty doesn’t get any nobler than real-life power couple Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. They were introduced by Howard Hawks and subsequently starred together in To Have Or Have Not when Bacall was only 19, and Bogart was 44. Despite the age gap, the stars seemed to have aligned for the two, and they were married the following year.
The pair continued to work together through three more films, The Big Sleep, Dark Passage, and Key Largo. Tragically, Bogart died at 57 of cancer, after only 12 years of marriage to Bacall.
John Krasinski and Emily Blunt
Unlike some other couples, John Krasinski and Emily Blunt met off-set at a restaurant in 2008. After an apparent lightning bolt of attraction hit both of them, they were engaged the following year and married at George Clooney’s estate in Lake Como. Fans managed to see the pair together on Krasinski’s pandemic-inspired Some Good News, but they had to wait longer for the big screen event.
It wasn’t until 2018 that fans finally got to see Krasinski and Blunt on screen together in A Quiet Place, directed and co-written by Krasinski. However, in the sequel A Quiet Place 2, Emily appeared alone on-screen while Krasinski stayed behind the camera.
Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard
Though they met off-screen, Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard starred together in When In Rome while engaged and years before their first daughter was born. They followed that up with Hit and Run, This is Where I Leave You, The Boss, and finally Shepard’s directorial debut, CHiPs, in which Bell appeared as Shepard’s estranged wife.
Bell and Shepard are very open about their relationship while remaining naturally guarded about their children. It would be no surprise if they continued to seek opportunities to spend more time together on screen.
Warren Beatty and Annette Bening
After meeting on the set of Bugsy in 1991, Warren Beatty and Annette Bening have only had eyes for each other. Their marriage has stood the test of time, a rarity for Tinseltown. They’ve appeared in several films together along the way, including the recent Rules Don’t Apply, which was written, produced, and directed by Beatty.
One of their more interesting joint appearances was in The Book That Wrote Itself, where Bening and Beatty both appear as themselves, alongside a slew of other well-known celebrities. However, if audiences want to see the pair opposite each other in a pure romance, they’re best to choose Love Affair from 1994.
Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone
While Melissa McCarthy’s comedy casts a long shadow, it’s not long enough to eclipse her fellow comic and husband, Ben Falcone. Since meeting in 1998 at the legendary LA improv company Groundlings and marrying in 2005, McCarthy and Falcone have appeared in several comedies together, including Bridesmaids, Identity Theft, Spy, and Life of the Party.
Not content with appearing together, the couple co-wrote The Boss, which Falcone also directed and even appeared in. Next up for the pair are appearances in this year’s Thor: Love and Thunder.
Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz
Despite meeting in 1992 on the set of a Spanish film titled Jamón Jamón, Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz didn’t reconnect again until 2007 in Vicky Cristina Barcelona. Married without publicity in 2010, the couple has been as notoriously quiet about their relationship as others have been public. Yet, despite a lack of public declarations, the couple has worked together many times in the years since.
From several Spanish language films to Hollywood hits like The Counselor, Loving Pablo, and Everybody Knows, Cruz and Bardem are happy to appear on-screen together and share their thespian compatibility with the world.
Paul Dano and Zoe Kazan
Despite meeting on the stage instead of the set, Paul Dano and Zoe Kazan have both found fame in the cinema, even appearing in the same movie together three times. However, despite being together for over 15 years, they most recently shared the screen back in 2012 in Ruby Sparks, an underrated comedy-drama that Kazan wrote.
Dano had gotten a lot of attention this past year as the newest Batman foe, The Riddler, and it might be in the cards that Kazan will join him again in front of the camera.
Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell
Few marriages could withstand serious stardom, and the intense lifestyle Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn have dealt with for decades. Long before they were a couple, the two appeared in The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band back in 1968, though they don’t share any scenes. That didn’t happen until Jonathan Demme’s Swing Shift and then, famously, their most well-known comedy, Overboard.
Fast-forward to 2018, and the pair finally appears again as the old married couple Mr. and Mrs. Clause in The Christmas Chronicles (Netflix). Fans loved their work so much that a sequel was released two years later, with both of them reprising their delightful roles.
Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons
Last year, Kirsten Dunst’s and Jesse Plemons' private life roles as husband and wife were mirrored on screen for their performances in The Power of the Dog. Interestingly, it was only the second time they had appeared together, the first being Season 2 of Fargo, where they met.
After both enjoying Oscar nominations for their work on The Power of the Dog — Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress — Plemons and Dunst have been open about looking forward to working together again. They make a bankable pair.
Wayne Allwine and Russi Taylor
Wayne Allwine and Russi Taylor may not be household names, but their voices certainly are. Allwine took over the voice work for Disney’s Mickey Mouse in 1977, only the second voice actor for the animated mouse since Walt Disney himself performed it. Taylor took on Minnie Mouse in 1986, when the pair met, and holds the record for the longest-tenured actress for the role, not leaving it until 2019.
Charmingly, Allwine and Taylor fell in love and married in 1991, only five years after starting work together. It doesn’t get much cuter than knowing that Mickey and Minnie said goodbye at work and went home together after.