What could be better than having two Hollywood superstars come together to create a super-couple? You like Brad? You like Angelina? Well BAM, here's Brangelina. You like Jennifer Aniston? Sorry, bud. Sometimes these couples live happily ever, and sometimes, well, not so much. So in good times and in bad, here are 45 scandalous facts about Hollywood power couples.
Power couples Facts
1. Teigend
Early on in their relationship, John Legend was stressed out on tour and told then-girlfriend Chrissy Teigen he’d be happier single, to which she simply replied, "no." In the end, the break up lasted about half an hour before they got back together and went on to get married in 2013.
2. Arquage
When Nicolas Cage first met Patricia Arquette, he proposed to her and Arquette playfully made a list of acts Cage would need to check off before she would accept his proposal. When Cage actually started fulfilling each ridiculous request, Arquette started to freak out and hide from him. But no one can hide from Cage for long and she would eventually be pulled into his gravity, and they married in 2001.
It didn't last long—the pair lived together for only nine months after the wedding, but continued to publicly act as a couple until their divorce in 2000. He went on to have another whirlwind marriage with another woman from an even more famous family: Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of Elvis!
3. Hankson
Tom Hanks and wife Rita Wilson first met on the set of the sitcom Bosom Buddies in 1981, back when Hanks was still married to first wife Samantha Lewes. Considering that Hanks and Lewes divorced in 1987, and Hanks remarried just a year later, it's often been rumored that Hanks and Wilson had an ongoing affair in the '80s.
Hanks and Lewes' divorce papers don't do much to dispel the rumors: they tell the tale of a messy divorce, where each party was ordered not to "harm, attack, strike, threaten, sexually assault, batter or otherwise disturb the peace," with regards to each other.
Flickr, Walt Disney Television
4. Zeta-Jones-Douglas
Catherine Zeta-Jones, the buxom beauty from The Mask of Zorro (1998) and Intolerable C(2003) solidified her position in Hollywood when she wed legendary actor Michael Douglas in 2000. The two actually share a birthday—though Douglas is 25 years her senior. Douglas was diagnosed with tongue cancer in 2010 and has retired from acting.
Zeta-Jones has been lampooned in the media under the notion that she married Douglas to advance her career, but in fact, she has acted very little in recent years while she’s stood by and cared for her husband.
5. Coquette
Many people don’t think of David Arquette as anything more than a goofball—his film roles have been mostly quirky oddball-type characters and his stint as a professional wrestler in 2000 was more than a bit wacky—but Arquette is the brother of actresses Patricia and Rosanna Arquette, making him part of a Hollywood dynasty.
Courtney Cox made it big playing Monica Gellar on Friends and went on to star in Cougar Town. The pair, who married in 1999, made a splash behind the scenes as well, starting Coquette Productions, producing a number of films, as well as shows including Cougar Town. Even though the pair divorced in 2013, they continue to work together.
6. Slevans
Action and comedy, this pair has it all! Both tabloids and fans were a bit surprised when hunky action movie hero Chris Evans got together with quirky comedian Jenny Slate, even though both are at the top of their respective games. Evans, star of Captain America, is also a part of the ultra-hot Avengers film franchise.
Slate, who graduated from standup to prime time as a Saturday Night Live cast member, became a critical darling after starring in the indie hit Obvious Child. The pair split up in February 2017, but have recently been spotted canoodling. Perhaps a reunion is in the works?
7. Parkerick
Matthew Broderick is about as different than Mr. Big as you could get—but Sarah Jessica Parker is very different than Carrie, her iconic character on S. and The City. Both actors got their start in popular ‘80s teen films—Broderick in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and Parker in Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. They married in 1997 and have been happily wed ever since. Both continue to star in hit film, TV, and Broadway projects.
Prior to Broderick, Parker was in another golden couple: she briefly dated the late John F. Kennedy Jr.
8. Mapatow
Judd Apatow met Leslie Mann on the set of The Cable Guy in 1996, which means their marriage is likely the longest-lasting legacy that film will have. They wed in 1997 while Apatow was working as a Hollywood producer on comedies like The Cable Guy and Liar, Liar, long before he’d score big critically with his TV masterpiece Freaks and Geeks.
The pair continue to work together regularly—she had a role in his directorial debut film The 40-Year-Old-Virgin and starred in Knocked Up and This Is 40. Apparently, the couple that works together, stays together!
Wikimedia Commons, David Shankbone
9. Rustin
Leslie Arfin and Paul Rust might not be household names unless you’re a fan of quirky, critically-acclaimed TV. Arfin got her start writing a column for Vice magazine, which was turned into a book titled Dear Diary. After the publication of her book, Arfin made the move to a position as staff writer on HBO’s Girls in 2014.
In 2015 Arfin married Paul Rust, a comedian and actor, who is also a longtime collaborator of Judd Apatow. Together, the pair had the right stuff and the right connections—in 2016, they co-create the Netflix series Love, which Apatow produced.
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10. Robbandon
While they were never actually married, Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins lived together from 1988 to 2009 and were one of Hollywood’s hottest and most powerful couples during their time together. They have each starred in some of the biggest blockbusters of the 1990s and 2000s—Sarandon in Thelma and Louise, Gone Man Walking, and The Client; Robbins in Jacob’s Ladder, The Hudsucker Proxy, and The Shawshank Redemption.
They even caused a controversy together, while co-presenting an Academy Award in 1993! The pair wore red ribbons and spoke on behalf of HIV-positive Haitians trying to enter the USA as refugees.
11. DeGenerossi
In 1997 Ellen DeGeneres shocked the world when she came out as a lesbian—both in character on her sitcom Ellen and in real life in an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show. At the time, her career appeared to flounder, but as attitudes about LGBTQ issues have changed, she found herself back on top as host of TV's hottest daytime talk show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
In 2004, DeGeneres began dating Portia de Rossi, an actress known for her roles on Ally McBeal and A. Development, and together the pair has become one of the best-known and most powerful lesbian couples in Hollywood!
12. Burtaylor
Few actors were the better half of as many Hollywood power couples as Elizabeth Taylor was. She had eight husbands over her lifetime, but Richard Burton was the only man lucky enough to marry her twice. They met on the set of Cleopatra in 1963, though both were married to other people at the time. The pair, dubbed “Liz and Rick” by the media, married in 1964 and went on to star in 11 films together, including The Sandpiper and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? before divorcing in 1974.
The first divorce didn’t take—they married again in 1975, but divorced for the final time in 1976. Burton passed in 1984, and Taylor in 2011.
13. Bluntinski
John Krasinski and Emily Blunt are another Hollywood couple that has us green with envy. The pair simply cannot stop gushing about how much they love each other in interviews and TV appearances. Krasinsky, an actor, and producer most famous for his role on The Office, posts photos of his wife with adorable captions on Instagram (as she does not have an Instagram account).
Most recently, Krasinski cast Blunt as his on-screen wife in the horror film A Quiet Place, which he also directed. In 2020, Krasinski will direct and Blunt will appear in A Quiet Place II.
14. Loverts
Julia Roberts shocked the world and gave the tabloids a field day when she married country singer Lyle Lovett in 1993, after only a three-week courtship. Roberts was a megastar at the time—she’d starred in John Grisham’s The Pelican Brief that year and Pretty Woman three years before. She met Lovett on the set of The Player and the pair hit it off.
The queen of Hollywood and the king of Country were poised to take over the world—if only they could spend some time together. The two were kept apart by career demands (and their baffling decision not to live together—he stayed in Texas, while she lived in Manhattan). They called it quits after only two years of marriage.
15. Mullofferman
The comic duo of Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally are basically perfection. They’re both wonderfully successful tv stars (he starred on Parks and Recreation, she on Will & Grace), highly regarded comedians, and have not only a solid marriage but a great working partnership. They even toured a variety show, titled Summer of 69: No Apostrophe, based on their happy union!
16. Baldinger
Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin were the picture-perfect Hollywood power couple of the 1990s—both of them certainly looked the part! The pair met on the set of 1990’s The Marrying Man and married in 1995. The pair costarred in The Getaway, co-hosted an episode of Saturday Night Live together and even guest-starred as a couple in an episode of The Simpsons.
However, things turned ugly after their very public split in 2000—Baldwin even wrote a tell-all book which dished about their divorce and subsequent custody battle over their daughter!
17. Angelinad... Is That Right?
Did anyone doubt that Brangelina would be on this list? Ever since Brad Pitt coupled with Angelina Jolie in 2005, they were the definition of power couple. While they did not legally marry until 2014, they were about as entwined as could be, having their first child together, Shiloh, in 2006 and a set of twins, Knox and Vivienne, in 2008, as well as Pitt adopting Jolie’s adopted children Maddox, Pax, and Zahara.
The Jolie-Pitts have had a much-documented life in the media, with much tabloid speculation, and Jolie filed for divorce in 2016. Recently, Brad Pitt opened up to GQ about his battle with alcoholism and the toll it took on his marriage.
18. Barduz
You might be surprised to know that Penelope Cruz and her partner, Javier Bardem, didn’t have a very lavish wedding when they finally tied the knot. In fact, their wedding was held in the home of a mutual friend in a very private ceremony. Granted, that friend’s house was located in the Bahamas, so at least the honeymoon was able to start right away!
19. Timberspears
Justin and Britney, together at last—or so we thought. The two pop stars (and former Mouseketeers) were the hottest and sweetest couple in the early 2000s—Timberlake was Spears’ first kiss, and the two wore matching denim to the 2001 American Music Awards! However, it wasn’t meant to be and the pair split in 2002.
Timberlake’s blockbuster album Justified came out later that year, which featured the song "Cry Me A River," rumored to be about Britney. The single’s video featured Timberlake sneaking into the home of an ex—who is only shown from the back for a few seconds (though you could swear they hired a Britney lookalike).
20. Prontag
Real or fake? Time has told! Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt began dating while both starring on the reality show The Hills, so the line between the show’s manufactured events and real life was, from the outside looking in, a bit blurry. The two eloped to Mexico in the show’s fourth season in 2008, and the pair is still happily married.
They now have a son together, baby Gunnar. The two have since appeared together on other reality shows, including Celebrity Big Brother, Celebrity Wife Swap, and The Hills: new Beginnings.
21. Justelena
Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber were a pop power couple when they dated in 2011, and have kept the tabloids buzzing since with each writing songs about the other. Gomez was diagnosed with lupus in 2012, and in early 2017 announced she would be receiving a kidney transplant and taking time away from public life to recover.
Bieber was spotted visiting her in rehab, which seemed to rekindle the romance. The pair has since been seen together and were photographed kissing in November 2017. But since Bieber married Hailey Baldwin in 2018, hopes that the couple might get together once more have faltered.
22. Desilu
By 1960, Ball and Desi Arnaz were famous as a couple both on and off the screen. However, the portrayal of the relationship onscreen was an illusion. Just a day after filming the final episode of I Love Lucy (which was also the day after Arnaz’s birthday), Ball filed for divorce, declaring that her marriage had devolved into “a nightmare.”
Despite this less-than-happy separation, Ball and Arnaz moved past any bad feelings and kept a close bond to each other until Arnaz's passing in 1986.
23. Cloonuddin
Talk about a power couple! Not only is George Clooney one of the hottest actors in Hollywood, he’s also scored hits as director of The Ides of March and Suburbicon. Amal (née Alamuddin) still has him beat—she’s an internationally acclaimed human rights lawyer! Amal worked for the United Nations in The Hague as a Prosecutor in the Special Tribunal for Lebanon as well as the International Offeneder Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
She’s since relocated to London where she advises on several UN commissions—and her famous new husband followed her there too!
24. Grantley
Hollywood loves well-matched couples, and as Hugh Grant and Elizabeth Hurley were two of the top English actors in Hollywood in the 1990s, it made sense that they would be together. The pair met on the set of a Spanish film in 1988 and had a high-profile romance. The two were together for 13 years, even after Grant was taken into custody for receiving the services of a street woman in 1995.
The pair split for good in 2000, though as they were not married and had no children, it was an easy breakup and the pair remain friendly.
25. Burtoni
Burt Reynolds and WKRP in Cincinnati star Loni Anderson had a juicy six-year courtship, which constantly landed them in the tabloids and a five-year marriage from that lasted from 1988-1993 during which they were definitely one of Hollywood’s most-watched couples. The battle over money went on for years after their breakup.
In 2014, Loni landed in the news when she announced plans to sell off personal items in an auction—including all the gifts Reynolds gave her, which included an uncovered portrait, memorabilia from his films, and her wedding gown! The following week, Reynolds himself auctioned off his own huge collection of movie memorabilia from his career—only six months after Anderson had taken him to court for the $154,520.98 she said he still owed her from their divorce settlement, 20 years before!
26. Taylson
In Hollywood, it’s only true love if your sweetheart thanks you in their award acceptance speech, and the love between Sarah Paulson and Holland Taylor is real. Paulson gave a shout out to their “wonderful love” when she accepted an Emmy in September 2017 for her performance as Marcia Clark in American Offense Story: The People vs OJ Simpson.
The pair have been together since 2015 and are both accomplished actresses—Taylor, who is 32 years Paulson’s senior, won an Emmy herself in 1999 for her work on The Practice.
27. Banderith
Melanie Griffith was already a part of a Hollywood couple when she married Don Johnson, but after they split in 1995 she found herself in a new Hollywood power couple when she married mega babe Antonio Banderas in 1996. The two were red carpet mainstays, as Banderas was becoming one of Hollywood’s sexiest actors, after performances in films like Desperado.
The pair split in 2014, but Melanie Griffith has been in the news again lately for another familial connection: after her daughter, Dakota Johnson (from her marriage to Don Johnson) starred in Fifty Shades of Grey, Melanie and her mother Tippi Hedren are now an official Hollywood dynasty!
28. Livolds
Ryan Reynolds was voted People Magazine’s "Sexiest Man Alive" in 2010, but he might as well be voted "Sweetest Man Alive" for how he talks about his wife, Blake Lively. The Deadpool star met Lively, star of Gossip Girl and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, on the set of The Green Lantern. The pair have been inseparable ever since.
The two regularly post adorable Instagram photos of each other with too-sweet captions, and Reynolds often gushes about how much he loves Lively on occasions from talk show interviews to awards acceptance speeches. They’re both successful actors, but their sweetness in real life will keep these two on the A-list!
29. Trepburn
Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy had a romance fit for a romance movie. The two stars of early Hollywood made their first movie together, Woman of the Year, in 1942 and went on to co-star in eight more films. They carried on a clandestine love affair for 25 years, but because Tracy was a devout Catholic, he remained married to his wife, though they lived apart.
Hepburn and Tracy kept their relationship low-profile until his passing in 1967, and only until the demise of his wife did she speak openly of what is considered one of Hollywood’s greatest love affairs.
30. Fordhart
Harrison Ford’s star power would be hard to match—after all, he’s been Indiana Jones, Han Solo and Rick Deckard, some of Hollywood's iconic characters. He wed Callista Flockhart, star of TV’s Ally McBeal, in 2002, and while the two have a rock-solid marriage, her star power has waned while his continues to shine as bright as ever.
Ally McBeal ended the same year the couple wed, and Flockhart has had only a handful of film and TV roles since then, but Ford continues to star in Hollywood blockbusters—even reprising his roles in Indian Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and Blade Runner 2049.
31. Beatting
Though Warren Beatty denies the pesky rumour that he’s slept with almost 13,000 women (including stars like Natalie Wood, Madonna, and Carly Simon, who based the song "You're So Vain" partially on him) there is no denying that there is only one woman for him now: Annette Bening, whom he wed in 1992 and has been married to for 25 years!
Beatty made a name for himself as a Hollywood hunk in movies like Shampoo and Bonnie & Clyde, while Bening has wowed critics and won awards for her roles in American Beauty and The Kids Are Alright.
32. Perlvito
Quirky duo Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman seemed made for each other. After all, she was best known as the curly-haired, wisecracking waitress on Cheers, while he’s appeared as curly-haired, wisecracking characters in oh-so-many films, including Twins, Junior, The Rainmaker, and on TV's It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia.
They even look like they go together—Perlman stands 5’0” tall while DeVito is only 4’10". The pair met in 1971 and married in 1982, but sadly separated after 30 years of marriage in 2012. The whirlwind didn't stop there: they reconciled in 2013 and separated again in 2017, but remain friends.
33. Pittrow
Brad Pitt is such a superstar he’d make any couple he was part of into a power couple, but he has a taste for women at the top of their game as well. In 1994 he coupled up with blonde beauty Gwyneth Paltrow, daughter of director Bruce Paltrow and actress Blythe Danner, who was a media darling for her Hollywood lineage and charming performance in Emma.
The perfect-looking pair were basically the prom king and queen of Hollywood—they co-starred in Se7en and graced magazine covers for three years until their split in 1997.
34. Pinkett-Smith
Will Smith had a burgeoning rap career in the late 80s, but ran into money trouble with the IRS and was nearly broke in 1990. To pay the bills, he took a role on a sitcom not knowing that his whole career was about to change. That show? The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. The show ran from 1990-1996 and after back-to-back roles in Independence Day and Men In Black, Smith was basically King of the 90s.
He married Jada Pinkett, who had turned heads for her role in Set It Off and together the two would rule Hollywood. Even their children, Willow and Jaden, have taken LA and the world by storm for their music careers, which they embarked on while they were still pre-teens!
35. Coco T
Rapper Ice-T made the move to TV with his role as Detective Odafin Tutuola on the hit show Law & Order: Special Victims Unit—an ironic choice for a man who made the charts with a track called “Cop Killer”. He wed glamour model Coco Austin in 2002 and their love was soon too big for regular life: they co-starred on the reality show Ice Loves Coco from 2011-2014!
36. Brennifer
Brad Pitt found himself half of another Hollywood power couple when he wed Jennifer Aniston in 2002. Aniston was one of the biggest stars on TV, playing Rachel Green on Friends, so famous she had a hairstyle named after her! While their marriage was considered a rare Hollywood success, they split in 2005 when Pitt moved on to an even bigger power couple (which you may have heard of...).
37. Bocall
Despite the unseemly way they had started their relationship (he had been married when they met), Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart had a strong marriage. They had two children together, but sadly, their union was doomed to a heartbreaking end. Bogart, a heavy drinker and smoker, was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in early 1956.
After 12 years of marriage, Bogart passed in 1957. Bacall remained tight-lipped about her late love, saying “being a widow is not a profession.”
38. Barthiston
Jennifer Aniston was cast as the spurned less-famous wife of a Hollywood player when her husband Brad Pitt left her for Angelina Jolie, but in truth, Aniston’s career has always been rock-solid. Besides her breakout role on Friends, she’s taken a number of roles in lower-budget but critically-acclaimed films like Office Space, The Good Girl, and Cake.
She was often portrayed in tabloids as hopelessly lovelorn, but no more after her marriage to actor Justin Theroux in 2011. Unfortunately, the pair recently announced their divorce.
39. Kimye
Kim Kardashian, who in Hollywood is best known on-screen for playing herself, can spin straw into gold. She successfully parlayed an intercourse-tape scandal into a reality tv show deal that has spawned multiple spin-offs, she spun her Instagram account into a book, Selfish (2015), all while proving her business acumen through million-dollar endorsement deals, a clothing boutique, ShoeDazzle—an online subscription-based shoe retailer, and many more.
Her short-lived marriage to basketball player Kris Humphries went bust after 72 days, but she’s found her soulmate in longtime friend, rapper Kanye West. Both have larger-than-life personalities, insanely popular social media presences, multiple successful ventures in fashion and business, and a lust for the spotlight.
But despite their fame, their relationship seems more than superficial: Kanye has a close relationship with Kim’s family, and the couple has two children together.
40. Jackelso
In 2011, this couple starred in two different movies with similar plots, which makes sense when you consider how they ended up together. Mila Kunis appeared in Friends With Benefits while Ashton Kutcher appeared in No Strings Attached, and you can guess from those titles that yes, this power couple started out as casual hook-up buddies.
They originally met on the set of their sitcom That ‘70s Show when she was only 14, where they played boyfriend/girlfriend duo Jackie and Kelso, but in real life, they didn’t get together until much later. They also both had relationships with high-profile stars from the 1990s (Macaulay Culkin and Demi Moore, respectively) before hooking up.
They started dating in 2012, married in 2014 and had their first child together in 2015.
41. Cruiseman
90s power couple Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise divorced in 2001, but recent reports finally reveal the real reason behind the split. When they first got together, both were superstars—Cruise had already starred in Top G. and Born on the Fourth of July when he met Nicole Kidman on the set of Days of Thunder in 1990.
The two married and adopted two children together, and made news wherever they went as Hollywood’s top A-List couple. They broke Hollywood’s hearts when they split in 2001—and it’s been claimed by a former top executive in the Church of Scientology that their breakup was orchestrated by the church, and that the church had Kidman's phone lines tapped.
42. Pickfair
When Douglas Fairbanks wed Mary Pickford, they were two of the biggest stars in Hollywood. They hosted lavish parties at “Pickfair,” their home, but few saw the dark side of their glamorous life together. The massive amount of attention they received strained the marriage. At the end of the silent era, both their careers floundered, creating further tension.
Then, in the early 30s, a scandal erupted that would finally tear them apart. Fairbanks began an affair with Sylvia, Lady Ashley, a wealthy socialite. When his cheating became public, the Hollywood golden couple separated.
43. Runaway Bride
When Julia Roberts and Kiefer Sutherland met on the set of the 1990 film Flatliners, they began a whirlwind romance. There was just one problem: he was married. But that would be far from the biggest scandal the pair would cause. Sutherland divorced his first wife and proposed to Roberts; a massive wedding was planned.
Three days before the wedding, Roberts dramatically called it all off. Sutherland was heartbroken, but it was about to get much worse—he then found out that Roberts had run off with his good friend Jason Patric. Sutherland has since said he holds no grudges against Roberts, as they were both so young.
44. Willedger
Despite playing a dysfunctional couple in Brokeback Mountain, Williams and co-star Heath Ledger began dating during production. In 2005, their daughter, Matilda, was born. They separated not long after. When Heath Ledger tragically passed from intoxication from prescription medicine, his ex-partner Williams was busy filming the movie Mammoth in Sweden.
The rest of filming, according to Williams, was “horrible,” and she admitted that she couldn’t even “remember most of it.”
45. So Fresh and So Clean
They may not have made it as a power couple, but Joan Crawford's brief encounter with megastar Kirk Douglas could've joined the pantheon of Hollywood golden duos. Crawford's obsessive cleanliness reared its pristine head even in her bedroom affairs. In his memoirs, Kirk Douglas recalled a particularly disturbing and bizarre romantic encounter when the two stars once went back to Crawford's house.
In the middle of the act, Douglas reports, Crawford leaned in and murmured into his ear—but it was far from sweet nothings. "You're so clean," she said. "It's wonderful that you shaved your armpits when you made Champion." As Douglas put it, her passionate outburst was "a real conversation stopper."
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