Showmance To Real-Life Romance—Couples That Met on Set From Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton to Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell
These picture-perfect couples first locked eyes on set, leading to a real-life romance!
From chemistry between their characters to stolen glances across the room, on-set romances—or showmances—are nothing new and it’s how some of Hollywood’s most-famous pairings came together. Working in close quarters on a TV show or movie has led to real-life relationships between iconic couples, whether it was in the 1950s or in recent years. From Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton to Leighton Meester and Adam Brody, these are the Hollywood It-Couples that began on set.
Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor
Sparks were flying on the set of Cleopatra in 1962 between Hollywood starlet Elizabeth Taylor and her co-star, Richard Burton. Despite both actors being married already—Burton to actress Sybil Burton and Taylor to the singer, Eddie Fisher—they fell for each other anyway.
The two began a tumultuous relationship, leading to a 10-year marriage, a separation and then another marriage that only lasted for 10 months. Although their union eventually came to an end, Taylor always considered Burton to be the truest love of her life.
“I don’t want to be that much in love ever again.… I gave everything away…my soul, my being, everything,” Taylor said.
Ginnifer Goodwin and Josh Dallas
It was love at first sight for Ginnifer Goodwin and Josh Dallas on the set of Once Upon a Time. In 2011, the actors were cast to portray versions of Prince Charming and Snow White and while their on-screen chemistry was clear, it wasn’t long before they fell for each other in real life.
“It hit me like a blinding light,” Dallas explained. “I thought, ‘I’m in trouble now.’ We didn’t fight it. We went straight for it.”
Goodwin, too, knew early on that their relationship was real. She recently shared in an interview, “I knew I was gonna marry my husband when we were on Big Thunder Mountain [in Disneyland], and he had never been to the park before… he threw his arms in the air and he said, ‘This is the best day of my life.’ And I was, like, ‘I’m totally gonna marry that guy.’”
The couple is still together today with nearly 12 years of marriage under their belts and two children together, sons Oliver and Hugo.
Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze Jr.
In 1997, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze Jr. first met each other but it wasn’t exactly an instant spark between them. Prinze explained they “really didn’t dig each other” at first, but all of that changed after an accidental first date.
“We’d had many dinners before,” Gellar explained. “We were supposed to go with someone else, and the third person didn’t make it out and we decided to still go.” She added that one minute, they were just friends catching up and the next, something else was going on.
Today, Gellar and Prinze have been married for just over 23 years and are the proud parents of two children: daughter Charlotte and son Rocky.
Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall
Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall were Hollywood stars when they first met in 1943 on the set of To Have and To Have Not. Despite their nearly 25-year age gap—Bogart was 44 and Bacall was 19—and Bogart already being married, the two began a whirlwind romance.
Their first kiss happened just three weeks into filming their movie. Bacall wrote in her 1978 biography, Lauren Bacall: By Myself, “He was standing behind me—we were joking as usual—when suddenly he leaned over, put his hand under my chin and kissed me.”
In 1945, the couple tied the knot and soon after welcomed two children together: son Stephen and daughter Leslie. Unfortunately, Bogart was diagnosed with cancer in 1956 and died in 1957 after only 12 years of marriage.
Leighton Meester and Adam Brody
Adam Brody and Leighton Meester technically met before they worked together on the 2011 film, The Oranges, but their meeting wasn’t official until they starred alongside each other.
“I was on The O.C., and that was coming to an end, and Gossip Girl was starting. Josh Schwartz produced both shows,” Brody said. “The first time we met, that whole cast was eating at Canter’s [in Los Angeles], and I lived at Canter’s for, like, my entire 20s. I was leaving, and he introduced all of us and then [I] bumped into her, like, two or three times over the next couple of years.”
He added, “Then we did this movie together, The Oranges. I was seeing someone at the time. So we met kind of through mutual work friends off and on. We didn’t get together until about a year after that movie, when I was single.”
Today, the couple has been together for 10 years and Brody has some simple advice for a happy marriage. “Pick someone good. Be lucky and be in love with someone who’s great and then just kind of listen to them.”
Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson
The couple, who have been married for over 30 years, hit it off instantly—as friends. Tom Hanks had been starring on Bosom Buddies while Rita Wilson only appeared on one episode in 1981.
“One of the things, when we met, was that we just got along instantly,” Wilson explained. Hanks was married to his first wife, Samantha Lewes, at the time, so he and Wilson were just friends. But in 1985, the two starred in the movie, Volunteers, together and there was no denying their connection.
“Rita and I just looked at each other and…that was that,” Hanks shared. “I asked Rita if it was the real thing for her, and it just couldn’t be denied.”
Hanks and Wilson have now been married for over 37 years, having tied the knot in 1988, and are the parents of two sons, Chet and Truman. The actor also has two children from his previous marriage, daughter E.A. and son Colin.
Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn
Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn met in 1966 on the set of The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band, when she was 21 and he was 16. But it was a long time before they began a relationship. Seventeen years later, in 1983, Russell and Hawn crossed paths again on the set of Swing Shift and they fell for each other.
Both actors were divorced with children when they embarked on a relationship and though the two never married, they have been happily together ever since.
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