After going through a breakup, even running into your ex is hard. The awkward glances, the embarrassing small talk, it’s all something we’d love to avoid altogether. But, when you’re a celebrity, you sometimes have no choice but to be cool with an ex as you might have to work together with them in the future.
Jennifer Aniston and Tate Donovan, for example, were together for two years before playing love interest in Friends. By the time Donovan was cast in the show, however, the two had just recently split up.
“It was just six episodes,” Donovan told Us Weekly in 2018 of his brief character arch. “I mean, only because we were breaking up. We were like, ‘Hey, can we not keep doing this? ‘Cause this is really painful and tough,'” he remembered.
Other celebrity exes, on the other hand, work so well together it even makes us question if they were ever together in the first place. Zach Braff and Florence Pugh, for example, who reunited after their split to work on A Good Person, seemed like the ultimate director-actor duo.
“Every single moment she blew me away,” Braff said of Pugh to SheKnows. “I mean, I suppose people might think I’m biased, but everybody knows she’s the most exciting actress of her generation. She’s just on another level. And this is a very hard part, this is not a part for a mediocre actor or actress and she just blew me away every moment, there’s not a scene that has an off-note.” Talk about an adoring ex!
Check out some other celebrity exes who had to work together below!
Florence Pugh & Zach Braff
Although Florence Pugh and Zach Braff were together during the filming of A Good Person, the two had split by the time it was released earlier this year. But, despite the split, the two proved there was no bad blood as they posed for photos on the carpet and constantly praised each other’s work during interviews.
Jennifer Aniston & Tate Donovan
Tate Donovan has been open in the past about the “bummer” of working with ex-girlfriend Jennifer Aniston in Friends. “And so that was tricky to sort of act, and act like we are just meeting each other, and falling in love, or whatever, interested in each other, when we’re sort of breaking up,” he told Us Weekly. “That was just tough.”
Blake Lively & Penn Badgley
Fans of Gossip Girl know all too well that Blake Lively and Penn Badgley dated during the first two seasons of the show before calling it quits. Knowing their characters would still be on and off until the end of the series, the two even tried to keep their breakup a secret.
“They kept it from everybody which is a testament to how good they are as actors,” Executive Producer Joshua Safran told Vanity Fair. “Because they did not want their personal drama to relate to the show.”
Mindy Kaling & B.J. Novak
The Office writers and stars Mindy Kaling and B.J. Novak are the biggest case of exes who love to work together. Earlier this year, Novak gave fans a glimpse of their rocky relationship as he presented Kaling with an award at the Producers Guild Awards.
“We were in love with each other, and we were reckless idiots,” he remembered of The Office days. “And when the producers realized that our relationship as co-writers had jumped every conceivable boundary and become a tumultuous, romantic, toxic, boundary-less mess, they pulled us aside and said, ‘Hey, you should have scenes together too.'” The two eventually split in 2007, but have worked together, and continued to support each other, ever since.
Chad Michael Murray & Sophia Bush
One Tree Hill co-stars Chad Michael Murray and Sophia Bush took their romance way beyond the scripts and even tied the knot back in 2005. Their marriage, however, was short-lived and the couple parted ways only five months later.
But, despite the split, the two continued playing love interests Brooke and Lucas for many years to come. “People can call it whatever they want,” Bush said in an episode of the Drama Queens podcast, per People. “They can say it’s strength, they can say it’s pride, they can say it’s professionalism. You can put a positive or a negative skew on it, but I was always going to put Brooke Davis ahead of everybody and everything else. Nothing mattered to me but being honest for her.”
Nicholas Hoult & Jennifer Lawrence
Before getting married to Cooke Maroney and becoming a mom, No Hard Feelings star Jennifer Lawrence dated The Great’s Nicholas Hoult for four years. Following their amicable split back in 2014, the two continued working together in the X-Men franchise, including 2019’s X-Men: Dark Pheonix.
“It’s like going back to school after the summer holidays,” Hoult told Elle of reuniting with Lawrence on set. “The reality of [the X-Men franchise] is there are lots of characters, so everyone was together for brief periods, but not every day for four months.”
Kaley Cuoco & Johnny Galecki
Kaley Cuoco and Johnny Galecki, the eternal Penny and Leonard from The Big Bang Theory, secretly dated for about two years at the beginning of the show. After their breakup, the two continued to be close friends and love interests on the show for many years to come. “We’re dear friends, still. Kaley’s not just an ex, she’s a part of my life,” Galecki told CBS Watch! magazine, per Us Weekly.
Milo Ventimiglia & Hayden Panettiere
This Is Us star Milo Ventimiglia once dated his Heroes co-star Hayden Panettiere from 2007 to 2009. Though the two kept their relationship a secret for a while due to their age difference of 12 years, they proved they could keep it professional as they continued working together on the last season of the show.
When asked later on what he learned from the experience, Ventimiglia kept it to the point. “Never do it again,” he told Mr Porter. “There are things that happen to you in your life that shape who you are. Everything I’ve been through from jobs to friendships to partnerships, everything has built me to who I am. You learn from it. You learn a better way of doing things.”
Jennifer Morrison & Jesse Spencer
House co-stars Jennifer Morrison and Jesse Spencer were once on the cusp of tying the knot before calling it quits in 2007. “We are still very close, and we look forward to continuing to work together on House,” they said in a joint statement announcing their breakup to People at the time, per Entertainment Tonight. The two continued playing love interests Cameron and Chase until the end of the show in 2012.
Nina Dobrev & Ian Somerhalder
The Vampire Diaries co-stars Nina Dobrev and Ian Somerhalder showed just how professional they could be as they continued working together long after their 2013 split. In 2014, the two even won the Favorite On-Screen Chemistry award at the People’s Choice Awards. “It’s a good thing it’s not awkward,” Dobrev joked as they accepted the award together, per E! Online.
Katie Holmes & Joshua Jackson
If you’re a fan of Dawson’s Creek, you know that the connection between Katie Holmes and Joshua Jackson as Joey and Pacey is one for the books. And, as it turns out, their connection continued off the screen as the two dated from 1998 to 1999. After the breakup, the two then put on a brave face and continued as co-stars and love interests until the end of the show in 2003.
Amanda Seyfried & Dominic Cooper
After filming the first Mamma Mia! in 2008, onscreen couple Amanda Seyfried and Dominic Cooper started dating in real life until their split in 2011. For the sequel to Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again in 2018, the two reunited, and Seyfried’s husband Thomas Sadoski wasn’t totally thrilled. “I’d rather he be jealous than completely fine with it,” the actress told The Mirror. “He’s been great. He’s very supportive and he loves this movie, and [he and Dominic] got along absolutely fine when we were shooting.” Talk about a mature trio!
Rachel Bilson & Adam Brody
Though viewers could’ve guessed it by watching these two onscreen, Rachel Bilson and Adam Brody dated in real life for most of their time as co-stars in The O.C. “Because of what the show was and how young we all were, going through it with someone experiencing the same thing and having that kind of support was really awesome,” Bilson told Nylon in 2021. “I’m actually grateful that I did have it. It was definitely a unique experience and I don’t think anyone else could have really understood it had they not been in it, so for that reason, it was super helpful and supportive, and I have total gratitude for the whole experience.”
Laura Dern & Kyle MacLachlan
Laura Dern and Kyle MacLachlan dated for a couple of years in the 80s. Decades later, the two reunited as they played love interests in Twin Peaks: Revival.
“We had this scene that we had to do together — we both knew going in — which was going to require some nakedness on both our parts,” MacLachlan remembered in the Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2018. “It’s very funny because [director David Lynch] would sit down and say, ‘Okay, this is what we’re gonna do.’ He talks you through it, so you feel pretty comfortable, and then you sit down, and Laura and I were kind of like, ‘Okay, here we go.’ Welcome back, 25 years later…Yeah, it was weird. We had a couple of laughs for sure.”
Madelyn Cline & Chase Stokes
Outer Banks co-stars Madelyn Cline and Chase Stokes kept it professional after ending their real-life relationship in 2021 before the beginning of filing their third season. “We had a working relationship before we had a personal relationship, and our job from day one has always been to leave the show better than we found it,” Cline told Entertainment Weekly of the show’s third season. “I’m really, really happy and I’m very proud of the work this season, and I’m incredibly grateful for my co-stars and their professionalism and just how talented each and every one of them are.”
Lili Reinhart & Cole Sprouse
Lili Reinhart and Cole Sprouse took their connection off the screens as they dated from 2017 until their split in 2020. Since then, however, the two have continued to work together as Jughead and Betty in Riverdale.
Camila Mendes & Charles Melton
Speaking of Riverdale, Camila Mendes and Charles Melton, who play Veronica Lodge and Reggie Mantle on the show, also dated, split up and continued working together on the show. Talk about a mature cast!
Jacob Elordi & Joey King
Jacob Elordi and Joey King, on the other hand, have been open about how challenging it was to work together after their split in Kissing Booth 2. “No one’s thinking to themselves, ‘That was easy,’ because it wasn’t,” King told Cosmo back in 2020. “I’m sure people will analyze every movement and every detail. And you know what? Let them. But at the end of the day, I was just thrilled to be Elle Evans again.”
Jennifer Garner & Michael Vartan
Before Jennifer Garner began dating Ben Affleck, she lived a short romance with her Alias co-star Michael Vartan. After their breakup, the two had no problem in working together again. “Jennifer and I were best friends first, during [the romance] and after,” Vartan told USA Today.
Liev Schreiber & Naomi Watts
Liev Schreiber and Naomi Watts are the perfect example of a mature post-breakup couple. The two, who split in 2016 after 11 years together, even loved working together in their 2017 movie Chuck.
“I remember the first day [of shooting] that she came out of the trailer in the leopard print with the fake boobs and the hair,” Schreiber told People. “She just went for it. I just knew it was going to be fun.”
Christina Hall & Tarek El Moussa
Despite breaking up in 2016, Christina Hall and Tarek El Moussa put on a brave face and continued filming their home makeover show Flip or Flop for five years after their split. In 2022, when both had already moved on with other partners, the two finally announced the end of the show. “The show was just too intimate of a setting at this point and it was time to close that chapter,” a source told People at the time.
Olivia Rodrigo & Joshua Bassett
Although their romance was never publicly confirmed, it’s rumored that High School Musical: The Musical: The Series co-stars Olivia Rodrigo and Joshua Bassett dated and broke up during season 1 of the show. Since then, however, the two reunited for season 2 of the Disney+ series.
The Weeknd & Bella Hadid
Does anyone else remember the tense moment between Bella Hadid and The Weekend, whose real name is Abel Tesfaye, at the 2016 Victoria’s Secret fashion show? Because we do! After dating for a year and a half and calling it quits in 2016, the two awkwardly reunited in front of our screens in the middle of the lingerie-clad runway.
Jennifer Carpenter & Michael C. Hall
Two years before the end of Dexter, co-stars Jennifer Carpenter and Michael C. Hall got divorced in 2011 after being married for three years. “The fact that Jennifer and I worked through whatever was going on with us personally and the way we did and maintained a commitment to telling this story was never in question,” Hall said in an appearance at the Paley Center, per Entertainment Tonight. “It was always what we needed and wanted to do.”
Cameron Diaz & Justin Timberlake
Though you might’ve forgotten this couple even existed, Cameron Diaz and Justin Timberlake dated for four years before their split in 2007. In 2011, however, the two proved there was no bad blood as they co-starred Bad Teacher. “Justin and I have always had a good laugh together, and to make a movie where we get to have a laugh together… there really was no one else who was more perfect for this part,” Diaz told Us Weekly.
Jennifer Lopez & Marc Anthony
Despite getting a divorce in 2011 after 10 years of marriage, Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony continued with their music competition Q’Viva! The Chosen in 2012. “We’re just meant to be in each other’s lives on different levels,” Anthony told People at the time. “This is a long story, it’s not a short story. Marriage was just one chapter, and kids are another. We’ve got each other for life.”
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