Top 20 Actors Who Fell in Love on Set
#20: Vanessa Hudgens & Zac Efron “High School Musical” (2006)
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While “High School Musical” was already the Disney Channel Original Movie to end all Disney Channel Original Movies, this offscreen relationship really put it over the top for fans. Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens met on the set of the first film in 2005. Ironically, their characters Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez were also romantically involved. Although there are conflicting reports as to when the actors started dating, the early sparks of their chemistry were evident in their scenes together. The two kept dating after“High School Musical 3.” Although they broke up in 2010, they remained friends through the split.
#19: Lili Reinhart & Cole Sprouse “Riverdale” (2017-)
“Riverdale” is one of those shows where we’d be shocked if there WASN’T behind-the-scenes coupling. We could’ve highlighted Camila Mendez and Charles Melton, who played Veronica Lodge and Reggie Mantle on the show. But how could we not stick with Betty and Jughead themselves? Played respectively by Lili Reinhart and Cole Sprouse, the two began dating the same year the show debuted in 2017. This makes us think that Bughead’s first onscreen kiss had something to do with this real relationship. Although both actors remain slated to appear in Season 5, they did confirm they’d split in March 2020. Sprouse sweetly wished Reinhart “nothing but the utmost love and happiness moving forward.”
#18: Jenna Dewan & Channing Tatum “Step Up” (2006)
As cliché as their meeting and subsequent story might have been, we couldn’t help but root for this couple that fell in love on the set of a romance film. After hooking up once “Step Up” had wrapped, Jenna and Channing have since shown the world that they not only can act, but also have some awesome dance moves. The pair married in Malibu, California in 2009, with the marriage producing a daughter four years later – as well as many lovey dovey, sweet and cheesy moments that the media couldn’t get enough of. They separated in 2018 and divorced the following year, but continued to support one other, describing themselves as “two best friends realizing it's time to take some space”.
#17: Miley Cyrus & Liam Hemsworth “The Last Song” (2010)
Is there a relationship saga with more ups than downs than that of Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth? Their rocky love story began on the set of “The Last Song” in 2009. The film is an adaptation of the romantic Nicholas Sparks novel. Although the movie received negative reviews, it was swoon-inducing to watch Cyrus and Hemsworth’s real-life love blossom onscreen. The pair was an on and off-again couple after that point. They went from being engaged in 2012, to splitting in 2013, to being engaged again in 2016, to actually tying the knot in 2018, to splitting again just eight months later. Their love saga is like a Nicholas Sparks novel itself.
#16: Courteney Cox & David Arquette “Scream” (1996)
It was less screams and more sparks on the set of the hit slasher flick in which these two actors met in the mid-‘90s. After tying the knot in 1999, they appeared in many films together, including 1999’s thriller “The Runner,” 2001’s romantic comedy “The Shrink Is In,” and 2006’s horror “The Tripper.” Though enjoying career successes during their marriage, such as Cox’s Golden Globe nomination for “Cougar Town,” the pair frequently went to couples’ therapy and ended up separating in 2010. They divorced a few years later - although they say they still care about each other very much.
#15: Nicole Kidman & Tom Cruise “Days of Thunder” (1990)
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For much of the ‘90s, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman were the it couple in Hollywood. They met in 1989 during the filming of the racing drama “Days of Thunder” and were married on Christmas Eve of the next year. Since he was one of the biggest stars on the planet and her star rose quickly soon after, the film industry was quick to cast them together again. They teamed up for the epic romance “Far and Away.” The would-be Oscar hopeful film was certainly elevated by their powerful chemistry. But their relationship ended after they worked together on “Eyes Wide Shut” in 1999. The couple, who had adopted two children together, divorced in 2001. Their breakup ended one of the great Hollywood love stories.
#14: Nicole Ari Parker & Boris Kodjoe “Soul Food” (2000-04)
These two lovebirds met while shooting the Showtime drama “Soul Food.” The series was a continuation of the 1997 film of the same name, albeit with a different cast. As it turns out, that casting led to Parker and Kodjoe playing lovers. Their fictional relationship extended to the real world. The couple tied the knot in 2005, just two months after the arrival of their first child. Fans of the pair can also watch them together in the 2002 romcom “Brown Sugar,” although they date other characters. The longtime couple also tore up the stage in 2019 on “Lip Sync Battle.”
#13: Jennifer Garner & Ben Affleck “Daredevil” (2003)
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Called “America’s sweetest couple” in their heyday, this good-looking pair first met on the set of their 2001 film “Pearl Harbor.” However, for the next few years, Affleck was busy dating his “Gigli” co-star J Lo instead. It wasn’t until their superhero outing “Daredevil” that Affleck and Garner saw each other in a new light (must’ve been those bangin’ costumes!). They made their relationship public in 2004 at a World Series baseball game and jumped the broom a year later in an exotic Caribbean wedding. Ten years and three children later, however, the couple separated, and finalized their divorce in 2018. Affleck has since gone on to date his “Deep Water” co-star Ana de Armas.
#12: Blake Lively & Ryan Reynolds “Green Lantern” (2011)
You may not have been able to tell from their first public appearance together at Comic-Con as the leads in “The Green Lantern,” but this pair of gorgeous thespians seems to have been destined for each other. The Canadian stud and “Gossip Girl” actress hit it off after their respective breakups to Scarlett Johansson and Penn Badgley and were confirmed to be a couple in 2011. This led to a stylish wedding in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina the next year. They have since had three daughters together and are still going strong.
#11: Penelope Cruz & Javier Bardem “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” (2008)
In “Vicky Cristina Barcelona,” Javier Bardem’s Juan Antonio finds himself beset by gorgeous women. There was Vicky, played by Rebecca Hall, Cristina, portrayed by Scarlett Johansson, and his unstable ex-wife María Elena, played by Penélope Cruz. Bardem ultimately got together with Penelope Cruz in 2010 after three years of dating. They’ve since welcomed two children into the world, a son born in 2011 and a daughter born in 2013. While they’ve acted together after this 2008 film, “Vicky Cristina” wasn’t their first film together. They actually starred in the 1992 Spanish romantic drama “Jamón Jamón.” Apparently, the sparks only appeared the second time they worked together.
#10: Katharine Hepburn & Spencer Tracy “Woman of the Year” (1942)
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Katharine Hepburn was arguably one of the most famous women of the century. It’s fitting that her relationship with longtime partner Spencer Tracy was just as legendary. When Hepburn first met Tracy on the set of the romantic comedy “Woman of the Year,” she was wearing high heels. The actress allegedly told him, “I’m afraid I’m a bit tall for you, Mr. Tracy.” But apparently, he overcame the height difference. Despite still being married, Tracy couldn’t stay away from Hepburn. As she garnered rave reviews and even an Oscar nomination, he was at her side. Though the two never wed, they believed in “until death do they part”. Tracy passed away shortly after they both filmed “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.”
#9: Deborra-Lee Furness & Hugh Jackman “Correlli” (1995)
These days one can’t help but be a little starstruck by Hugh Jackman. He became world-famous after taking up the mantle of Wolverine in “X-Men”. However, his on-set love story took place a good deal before he was a household name. Jackman appeared on the Australian prison drama “Correlli” for his second onscreen role. It was there that he met actress Deborra-Lee Furness, who was playing a psychologist. While the series didn’t last longer than ten episodes, Jackman and Furness’s union has been going strong since they met on set. They got married in 1996 when they were 28 and 40 respectively. After Furness had two miscarriages, the couple decided to adopt two children and have been going strong ever since.
#8: Reese Witherspoon & Ryan Phillippe “Cruel Intentions” (1999)
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Of all the sets to fall in love on, “Cruel Intentions” is a bit of a twisted one. But to each their own. Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe formally met at the former’s twenty-first birthday party. But their relationship really progressed while they were filming “Cruel Intentions”. In the film, Phillippe played a sadistic manipulator named Sebastian who’s tasked with romancing Witherspoon’s chaste Annette. Even without knowing that the two married after the film was released, you can see genuine chemistry on-screen when the couple’s vitriol turns to affection. Witherspoon and Phillipe had two kids together before deciding to call it quits in 2006. We suppose it really just wasn’t meant to be for Annette and Sebastian.
#7: Ginnifer Goodwin & Josh Dallas “Once Upon a Time” (2011-18)
Once upon a time, there were two actors named Ginnifer Goodwin and Josh Dallas who fell in love while filming a show called, um... “Once Upon a Time.” Their romance is something you would normally read in a Storybrook, err, we mean, storybook. Goodwin played Snow White to Dallas’ Prince Charming. After they both left serious relationships earlier in the year, the two began dating right around the time that the show first premiered in late 2011. They married in 2014 and welcomed their first of two sons one month later. After wrapping the series in 2018, the two remained together. Kind of appropriate they would get a happily-ever-after, no?
#6: Goldie Hawn & Kurt Russell “Swing Shift” (1984)
Although they first met during the filming of “The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band” in 1968, the two only felt sparks during the filming of their second film together. The romantic war drama had a story in which Hawn’s lonely character falls in love with Lucky, a charming musician played by Russell. Since then, the couple has enjoyed well over 30 years together, during which time they have raised multiple children from different relationships, only one being their own. Also starring together in “Overboard” in 1987, the couple has become a symbol of an enduring, happy, and successful Hollywood pair.
#5: Rachel McAdams & Ryan Gosling “The Notebook” (2004)
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If there was ever an onscreen relationship that we desperately wanted to work out in real life, it was this one. Though they reportedly couldn’t stand each other and argued constantly during filming, things soon heated up in the good way for the cute pair after the end of production, starting in mid-2005. This led to two years of Rachel and Ryan dating and a fleeting reunion in 2008. Though it wasn’t meant to last, and Gosling has since ended up with co-star Eva Mendes from 2012’s “The Place Beyond the Pines,” we still look back fondly on the charming pair.
#4: Elizabeth Taylor & Richard Burton “Cleopatra” (1963)
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They were the super couple of the 1960s, and it all started on the set of the biggest and boldest epic of the time. In a behind-the-scenes affair that rocked the world, the lovesick pair divorced their spouses after production and married each other in what would come to be the first of two marriages. Characterized by passion, conflict, luxury, and scandal, their relationship came to be the most media-covered of its time. The couple starred in about a dozen movies together, including the classic 1966 drama “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”
#3: Lauren Bacall & Humphrey Bogart “To Have and Have Not” (1944)
There was an age difference of 25 years when the young actress and screen icon met during the filming of their romantic-adventure flick. And Bogart was already married. But the chemistry between the two was too strong to resist. They were married soon after, with their next film together being 1946’s “The Big Sleep.” Their chemistry continued to be obvious in films like 1947’s “Dark Passage” and 1948’s “Key Largo,” although their home life was a little less smooth. Nevertheless, they stayed together and in love until his death at age 57.
#2: Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” (2005)
They were the ultimate Hollywood super couple, the decisive celebrity success story… They were Brangelina. It all started when the two fell in love with each other on set, leading to Pitt’s divorce from Jennifer Aniston and a relationship that became the picture of success and happiness. The pair ended up with six children and starred together in what would come to be their second and final romp as a married couple, 2015’s “By the Sea,” one year before Jolie filed for divorce from Pitt. Citing irreconcilable differences, it was a move that shattered the world.
#1: Joanne Woodward & Paul Newman “The Long, Hot Summer” (1958)
For much of their time together, Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward were widely known as “Hollywood’s Golden Couple.” They definitely earned that moniker. Although Newman was already married when the two of them met, their courtship and subsequent partnership is nothing short of endearing. They became enamored with one another on the Broadway set of “Picnic”. But it wasn’t until they co-starred in the “The Long, Hot Summer” years later that things moved forward. They were initially apprehensive to get together because Woodward didn’t want to be a homewrecker. But after Newman’s wife agreed to a divorce, the lovebirds were married months later. They stayed together for the next 50 years. It seems that “The Long, Hot Summer” begat a long, happy marriage.
