If we know a few things about Hollywood, one truth will always be that co-stars will often fall in love with each other. After all, it’s no wonder all three Spider-Mans Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield and Tom Holland ended up dating their onscreen love interests Kirsten Dunst, Emma Stone and Zendaya, respectively. It’s how the Hollywood world works, you know?
Something about those long filming days and all that onscreen chemistry often seems to draw actors to one another offscreen too. While the intensity of those emotions has led some beloved onscreen couples to reportedly hate each other in real life — and yes, we have a list of those people too — others have been unable to resist falling for one another offscreen. Some of the most famous couples in Hollywood even started as workplace affairs — we could all name some examples — but other romances managed to slip totally under the radar.
Whether it is because their short-lived romance barely got off the ground or because these stars managed to keep things almost entirely under wraps, several flings between Hollywood stars seem like a distant memory. From Brittany Murphy’s romance with Ashton Kutcher or Carrie Fisher’s 3-month scandalous affair with Harrison Ford during Star Wars, there are plenty of co-star couples out there that don’t get the attention they deserve.
So, in honor of these surprising and potentially eyebrow-raising pairings, take a stroll down memory lane and refresh your memory on some of the co-star couples we think you may have forgotten below!
Zendaya & Jacob Elordi
While neither Zendaya nor her Euphoria co-star Jacob Elordi have confirmed it, the pair were rumored to be dating for less than a year from 2019 to 2020. Rumors first sparked when fans photographed them vacationing together in Greece, E! News.
In February, sources confirmed they had a little date night watching Dear Evan Hansen on Broadway. “They gushed about the musical and each other,” the source told People at the time. “She did not intro him as her boyfriend, but it was very obvious that they were together. They were trying not to hold hands and stuff and give away that they were a couple since there were lots of people around.”
In the spring of 2020, their connection reportedly fizzled out.
Aubrey Plaza & Michael Cera
You might forget that Scott Pilgrim vs. the World co-stars Aubrey Plaza and Michael Cera dated because, well, we didn’t know until they were long over.
In a 2016 episode of RuPaul’s podcast, the actress revealed that the two dated for “a year and a half” during and after the movie, per Vanity Fair.
In 2023, Cera revealed they almost eloped in Vegas. “Well, we were driving through Vegas, and we almost just spontaneously took a detour and got married,” he told Rolling Stone. “I think the idea was to then get a divorce right away, so we could call each other “my ex-husband” and “my ex-wife” at like … 20.”
Josh Hutcherson & Vanessa Hudgens
Back in 2011, Josh Hutcherson and Vanessa Hudgens, who both starred in Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, were rumored to be dating, especially after being spotted together at Coachella. They only confirmed it after they were over in one of the most awkward celebrity interviews to date.
“We’re not — we were at one point, that was a while ago … we’re really good friends now,” he told Today Australia, per Page Six.
Brittany Murphy & Ashton Kutcher
Just Married co-stars Brittany Murphy and Ashton Kutcher weren’t together for very long, but their spark was quite bright while it lasted.
“I learn something from that girl every day,” Kutcher told MTV of Murphy, who he started dating a few months after filming wrapped. “She is a pro. … She just brings it, man. She’s really, really awesome. She makes me smile every day. She shows me something about my job every day. She’s the best, man. I’ll do anything with her, any movie, hands down.”
Murphy was equally as smitten with Kutcher. “He’s one of the kindest humans I’ve ever met,” she told the outlet. “He’s really like Forrest Gump or something. He’s an extraordinary person. Once you realize he does one thing amazingly, you’re then shocked, and you realize that he does another thing equally as amazingly and then there’s another thing after that.”
By the spring of 2003, the two had split up, per InStyle.
Leighton Meester & Sebastian Stan
After acting together in Gossip Girl, Leighton Meester and Sebastian Stan, who played the recurring character Carter Baizen, started dating in 2008.
“She’s the most interesting, sophisticated, talented and an extremely funny person that I know,” Stan told reporters in 2009, per People. “She’s really hilarious.”
In early 2010, however, they had called it quits.
After their split, Meester admitted that it hit her hard. “I’ve only had one experience where it was really hard and I was really sad when it ended, but that’s what taught me a lot about myself and love and life — and that’s good,” she told Seventeen at the time, per People.
Rachel McAdams & Ryan Gosling
While Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling reportedly did not get along while filming The Notebook, something about them switched after the movie was out in 2005. Two years later, the lovebirds called it quits.
“I mean, God bless The Notebook,” Gosling told GQ in 2007, a few months after their split. “It introduced me to one of the great loves of my life. But people do Rachel and me a disservice by assuming we were anything like the people in that movie. Rachel and my love story is a hell of a lot more romantic than that.”
As for why they split, Gosling didn’t have a good answer. “The only thing I remember is we both went down swingin’ and we called it a draw,” he told GQ.
Kieran Culkin & Emma Stone
After working together on the set of the 2009 comedy Paper Man, Succession‘s Kieran Culkin and Oscar winner Emma Stone began dating.
“I met her when the rocket took off,” Culkin told Rolling Stone. “I was right at the beginning of the huge launch; I got to watch all that firsthand. And I remember at the time that I was a little more aware of the direction she was going than she was. She would be like, ‘Oh my god! I just got this opportunity…’ And I’d be like, ‘Yeah, but of course you did! Everyone loves you and you’re great.'”
“I remember her letting out a blood-curdling scream on the phone and I came running over thinking somebody had died, and she’s weeping, and I’m rubbing her back thinking I have to get a Scotch ready for her or something, and she was like, ‘I’ve just been asked to host SNL!’ And I gave her the biggest f—’ hug,” Culkin remembered. “It was so great to be a part of that moment because that was her life goal, to host SNL, and she achieved it at 21.”
Their romance didn’t last long, however, with them splitting in 2011. Since then, they remained close friends.
“It’s funny to even say ‘ex,'” Culkin told the outlet. “To me, she’s just a really good friend of mine and my wife’s. She’s lovely and great.”
Penélope Cruz & Matthew McConaughey
Penélope Cruz and Matthew McConaughey are both happily married and with accomplished careers now, but the two briefly dated after starring in 2005’s Sahara.
In 2006, their reps blamed their split on “busy work schedules,” per InStyle. Not long after, McConaughey started dating his wife, Camila.
Lily Collins & Taylor Lautner
Lily Collins and Taylor Lautner were a beautiful young Hollywood couple, but they didn’t last as long as fans expected.
The pair started dating while filming their 2011 movie Abduction but split just a week before the premiere, per Daily Mail. “At the Abduction party, it was awkward,” the source told the outlet at the time. “They barely said a word to one another.”
Explaining what happens between them, it seems Lautner wasn’t interested in having a long-distance relationship. “[Taylor] wasn’t into it, and she made all the effort,” a source told E! News. “He wouldn’t even visit her.”
Carrie Fisher & Harrison Ford
Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford’s relationship became romantic after starring together in Star Wars. At the time, Ford was married to his first wife, Mary Marquardt, with whom he had two children.
“It was intense,” Fisher told People in 2016 before the release of her memoir, The Princess Diarist. “It was Han and Leia during the week, and Carrie and Harrison during the weekend.”
In the tell-all memoir, Fisher remembered their first night together. “I looked over at Harrison. A hero’s face — a few strands of hair fell over his noble, slightly furrowed brow,” she wrote. “How could you ask such a shining specimen of a man to be satisfied with the likes of me?”
Angelina Jolie & Jenny Shimizu
Jenny Shimizu was Jolie’s first public relationship with a woman, and Jolie was truly so in love with her. The pair met while filming Foxfire, and the timeline is a bit hazy. Per reports, the two had an on-again-off-again relationship from 1996 to 2000.
In an archived 1997 interview per Cosmopolitan, Jolie revealed her feelings for Shimizu, saying, “I probably would have married Jenny Shimizu if I hadn’t married my husband [Brad Pitt].” She continued, “I fell in love with her the first second I saw her.”
It’s unclear why they split up, but we do know that Shimizu reportedly invited her to her wedding to Michelle Harper, per The List.
Helen Mirren & Liam Neeson
As one of the least-known couples in this gallery, Helen Mirren and Liam Neeson dated for almost four years after meeting on the set of their 1981 movie, Excalibur.
In a 2018 appearance on The Graham Norton Show, Neeson admitted to being “smitten” with Mirren right away. “I remember being on the set and standing with Ciarán Hinds as Helen walked towards us dressed in her full Morgana Le Fey costume and we both went, ‘Oh f—,'” he remembered, per People.
The pair dated between 1980 and 1985. “I should be so lucky and be honored to have spent three or four years with that lady,” Neeson said of Mirren in 2023, per People. “She’s really something else.”
Miley Cyrus & Lucas Till
After starring in Hannah Montana: The Movie together, Miley Cyrus and Lucas Till dated for two months. “We dated for a little bit, but there was no friction because we were too nice,” Till told MTV, per Hello!
Bradley Cooper & Zoe Saldaña
Before reuniting as stars of Guardians of the Galaxy, Bradley Cooper and Zoe Saldaña dated after filming The Words together in 2012.
“We didn’t care where was the camera was,” she said of acting with Cooper, per E! News. “It was just like we were both part of this extensive conversation.”
Almost a year later, the outlet confirmed their split. “They both have a lot going on right now,” the source said. “She has a bunch of movies coming out this year, so it was really important for her to be spending time with her family.”
Reese Witherspoon & Jake Gyllenhaal
Fans might be surprised to learn that Rendition co-stars Reese Witherspoon and Jake Gyllenhaal not only dated but were together for more than two years.
“He’s very supportive,” Witherspoon once gushed about the actor to Vogue, per People. “Suffice it to say, I’m very happy in life, and I’m very lucky to have a lot of really supportive people around me who care very much for me, and, you know, that’s all you can hope for in life. I am very blessed in that way.”
In 2009, sources confirmed their split. “Jake would marry [Reese] tomorrow, but Reese doesn’t want to go there yet,” an insider told People. As a reminder, Witherspoon was married to Ryan Phillippe between 1999 and 2006.
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