20 Couples Who Fell In Love Onscreen — And You Can Totally Tell
You can practically *see* the sparks.
It makes sense that so many stars fall in love on movie sets — when you're cast in a project because you have natural chemistry with someone and then you have to pretend to be in love with them, it's easy for that spark to ignite.
Whether that love will last after filming is another story, but here are 20 examples of two co-stars who were so clearly madly in love with each other as they shared the screen, they took their romance offscreen as well. Hey, there's no fighting chemistry.
Kit Harington and Rose Leslie
The show: Game of Thrones (2011-present)
They met on set in 2012 while filming the second season of the acclaimed HBO show. Their illicit on-screen affair became a real romance, and the two tied the knot in Scotland earlier this year.
Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys
The show: The Americans (2013-2018)
On the FX series, the duo played Russian spies in an orchestrated marriage and a complicated relationship. In real life, the couple is very much in love and revealed their relationship to the public in 2014. They had their first child together in 2016.
Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively
The movie: Green Lantern (2011)
The two A-Listers met on the set of the Green Lantern in 2010 when Reynolds was still married to Scarlett Johansson. They were divorced by 2011 before Lively and Reynolds brought their relationship public. They married in 2012 and have two kids.
Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer
The show: True Blood (2008-2014)
They met during a screen test for the HBO show about vampires and began dating almost immediately after they began shooting. They married in 2010, and she gave birth to twins in 2012.
Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz
The movie: Dream House (2011)
The two were friends for years before falling in love onset in 2010. Both actors were previously married — Weisz’s ex is director Darren Aronofsky — and have a child each from their prior relationships. They married in 2011 in New York and had their first child together in 2018.
Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendes
The movie: The Place Beyond The Pines (2013)
In September 2011, Gosling and Mendes brought their onscreen chemistry off-screen. They have been together ever since and have two daughters. They keep their relationship private, and it’s not certain whether or not the two are married. Rumors swirled in 2011, but they have never been confirmed.
Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze Jr.
The movie: Scooby Doo (1997)
They met on the set of one of the quintessential teen slasher movies of the ‘90s, I Know What You Did Last Summer, but didn’t start dating until 2000, right before they filmed the live-action Scooby Doo. They wed in 2002, shortly after the film was released. Now they have two kids, whom they love to show off on Instagram.
Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield
The movie: The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)
The couple met on set in 2010 and began dating during production while playing Mary Jane Watson and Peter Parker. Their rather public relationship continued until 2015.
Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem
The movie: Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)
The two first met in 1991 while filming Jamón Jamón, in which Cruz had her acting debut. But they didn’t start dating until 2007 while filming Vicky Cristina Barcelona. They quietly married in 2010 in the Bahamas and continue to keep their relationship private.
Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth
The movie: The Last Song (2010)
Most teenage romances are fleeting, but these former costars — who met on the set of the Nicholas Sparks romance movie — are currently engaged (for the second time!) after taking some time apart to grow up.
Dev Patel and Frieda Pinto
The movie: Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
The on-screen couple fell in love on the set of the Oscar-winning movie, and spent seven years together before splitting in 2014.
Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson
The movie: Twilight (2008)
While this highly fetishized couple may not have stood the test of time (their relationship ended in 2013), their teen dream romance was immortalized in five of the decade's biggest movies.
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Jenna Dewan and Channing Tatum
The movie: Step Up (2006)
It's no secret that the parents of daughter Everly, nearly 4, met while filming their mid-'00s dance movie, but it is interesting that the couple didn't speak much about their relationship in the press until years after their 2009 wedding. After nine years together, the couple announced their divorce in early 2018.
Michelle Williams and Heath Ledger
The movie: Brokeback Mountain (2005)
It's well-documented that behind the scenes, the couple's romance blossomed. "It was a big gift to have two people falling in love in our midst," producer James Schamus said. "You forget how lovely that is." They were together until Ledger's tragic death in 2008.
Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams
The movie: The Notebook (2004)
The pair might've won an MTV Movie Award for their steamy, rain-drenched kiss, but you know who else should've won something? The casting director that paired the duo together in the first place. It was a coupling so strong that they dated for four years after the film hit theaters.
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Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez
The movie: Gigli (2003)
The original Bennifer notoriously met and fell in love while filming the box office flop in 2001, and their IRL romance could've been why it tanked in the first place: higher-ups wanted to cash in on their relationship, causing the film to be re-shot and re-edited into a rom-com rather than the crime drama it set out to be. The couple got engaged — and even filmed another movie, Jersey Girl, together — but broke up four days before the wedding in 2003.
Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Philippe
The movie: Cruel Intentions (1999)
If you want proof of the couple's love, look no further than their characters' big fight scene — they might be good actors, but there's no way you can fake that kind of passion. They went on to marry and have two kids together, but divorced in 2007.
Courteney Cox and David Arquette
The movie: Scream (1996)
The now-divorced couple didn't actually begin dating until the first sequel, which is also when the connection between their characters started becoming apparent (they would later marry onscreen, during Scream 3, and IRL before filming on the third installment began). What brings people closer together than terrifying serial killers?
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Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell
The movie: Swing Shift (1984)
A special shoutout to one of Hollywood's longest-lasting couples, 30 years and counting. The duo appeared together onscreen once — in The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band in 1968 — before playing love interests in Swing Shift and taking their romance offscreen. They've been together ever since.
Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton
The movie: Cleopatra (1963)
One of the most famous costar romances of all time began when the duo played historical lovers Cleopatra and Mark Antony in the big-budget film. They went on to star in a number of movies together, and they married and divorced — twice. Their relationship is one of the most infamous in Hollywood.
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