23 Celebrities Who Appeared In Their Significant Other's Movies And TV Shows

When Olivia Wilde cast Jason Sudeikis in Booksmart, she joked, "His entire relationship with me has been one long audition for Booksmart, and he nailed it."

1. Zach Braff directed Florence Pugh in their new upcoming film A Good Person (2023). They began dating shortly after he directed her in another project In the Time It Takes to Get There in 2019.

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While they were together, Florence had defended their relationship several times following criticism on social media. She said, "I do not need you to tell me who I should and should not love. It is not your place, and really, it has nothing to do with you." They publicly announced their split in early 2022. 

2. Dave Franco has directed his wife, Alison Brie, in movies like The Rental (2020) and Somebody I Used to Know (2023).

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She told Jezebel what it was like to have her husband direct her in a sex scene. She explained, "I realize that it sounds wild, but we are actors, this is our job. It’s actually not that weird. And with something like this, because it’s our baby that we made together, I think our first priority is always just the movie.”

3. Mike Flanagan directed his wife, Kate Siegel, in several horror movies and shows, including Oculus (2013), Hush (2016), Ouija: Origin of Evil (2016), Gerald's Game (2017), The Haunting of Hill House (2018), The Haunting of Bly Manor (2020), and Midnight Mass (2021).

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Kate is just one of a few actors who've starred in multiple Mike Flanagan projects. She told Entertainment Weekly, "There will always be the Flanagan fam. We like to work together." She and Mike also named their daughter Theo, after Kate's character in The Haunting of Hill House.

4. Olivia Wilde cast and directed her ex-fiancé, Jason Sudeikis, in Booksmart (2019) back when they were still together.

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Olivia joked with Entertainment Tonight, "His entire relationship with me has been one long audition for Booksmart, and he nailed it." When asked about working alongside Jason, she shared, "There's still a shorthand that comes from being someone's closest partner, but I loved being able to just set him free because he's one of the best improvisers in the world. And I just loved that we got him to take this bit of information that we had in the script and run with it. ... We were dying laughing behind the monitor the whole time. I was like, 'This is remarkable.'"

5. Helena Bonham Carter starred in several of Tim Burton's movies when they were together, like Planet of the Apes (2001), Big Fish (2003), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), Corpse Bride (2005), Sweeney Todd (2007), Alice in Wonderland (2010), and Dark Shadows (2012).

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Helena once joked with the Irish Times and said, "I never got a free ride with Tim because I was sleeping with him. I was always auditioning. And I gave him two kids and everything!"

6. Janet Mock directed her boyfriend, Angel Bismark Curiel, in several episodes of Pose (2018-2021).

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Angel has told Attitude that his relationship with Janet has informed his Pose performance. He said, "I came home to this amazing Black trans woman who was so open and so vulnerable on so many levels, and so willing to share her experiences and open herself up to me so that I can really, really see her in all her emotions. All that ever did was make me want to take better care and more care of the Black trans women on set, because I had this amazing woman that I want to love on, that I want to take care of, that I want to see grow and see prosper and keep protected and safe in this world that often does not take care of and protect Black trans women."

7. Maggie Gyllenhaal cast and directed her husband Peter Sarsgaard in her directorial debut The Lost Daughter (2021).

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When asked about directing her husband in a sex scene, Maggie said, "I did think at first, 'Maybe it's not a great idea,' and then, I was like, 'I've been with my husband for a long time. We've been through so much. I know my husband loves me. Who could do this better than him?' Really, nobody."

8. John Krasinski directed and starred alongside his wife, Emily Blunt, for A Quiet Place (2018) and worked with her again in A Quiet Place Part II (2020).

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Emily told Deadline, "I remember John showed me one little bit of one scene in the early stages of the edit, while he was trying to find the first cut. It was when the basement is flooded with water. I flipped out. I remember saying, 'John, this is so cool!' And as he knows, we Brits don’t enthuse too readily, unless we really mean it, so I think he knew I meant it."

9. Leslie Mann has been in several of husband Judd Apatow's movies, like The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005), Knocked Up (2007), This Is 40 (2012), and The Bubble (2022).

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Leslie explained that having her husband direct her sex scene isn't as awkward as she'd expect. She shared, "He doesn’t get jealous, and it’s really weird. I think if we had mood lighting and it was a serious sex scene, then it might get awkward. But it’s just so goofy that I don’t think he cares.”

10. Angelina Jolie directed Brad Pitt in By the Sea (2015), which was their first film together since they met on the set of Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005).

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The couple divorced soon after this film. In an interview with Vanity Fair, Angelina shared, "I’m glad we did [By the Sea] because we did explore something together. Whatever it was, maybe it didn’t solve certain things, but we did communicate something that needed to be communicated to each other."

11. James Gunn cast and directs his wife Jennifer Holland in their series Peacemaker (2022–).

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Jennifer told People that working together actually brought them closer. She said, "It was great. We had an absolutely amazing time. At the end of it, our personal relationship was closer for the experience. We got really lucky in that we work really well together, and it just works for us."

12. Kate Winslet got the script for Revolutionary Road (2008) from her agent and convinced her then-husband Sam Mendes to direct it.

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Kate told the New York Times that she got the script from her agent and fell in love with it immediately, and producer Scott Rudin told her, "The perfect director for this lives right in your house," so she told Sam, "Babe, you’ve got to do this.'"

13. Frances McDormand has starred in several of husband Joel Coen's films, including Blood Simple (1984), Raising Arizona (1987), Fargo (1996), The Man Who Wasn't There (2001), and Burn After Reading (2008).

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At the Rome Film Festival, Frances said the key to their strong marriage is "having different stories to tell each other." She continued, "Although we have often collaborated on films, we have both had really autonomous careers, and so we have always had new things to tell each other."

14. Kenneth Branagh cast and directed his then-wife Emma Thompson in Henry V (1989), Dead Again (1991), Peter's Friends (1992), and Much Ado About Nothing (1993).

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Kenneth once told Entertainment Weekly, "I, as a director, have chosen to employ Emma, not because she’s my missus, but because she really is a very fine actress and someone who combines great wit and intelligence with a capacity to convey very strong emotion. And you don’t often find that combination. She’s undeniably one of the best we have. And I enjoy her company, obviously.”

15. Tim Robbins cast his former partner, Susan Sarandon, in Dead Man Walking (1995), a role she won her first Academy Award for.

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When Charlie Rose asked if Susan was Tim's first casting choice, he said, "Well, absolutely. She's the best actress working."

16. Lauren Morelli cast and directed her wife, Samira Wiley, in a short film called Hum (2017).

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Samira and Lauren met on the set of Orange Is the New Black, and in an interview with Bust magazine, Samira said, “I was really attracted to Lauren’s mind first before I met Lauren the person. I got her script, and I was like: ‘This person’s really talented, I can’t wait to meet this person.'” 

17. Janicza Bravo cast and directed her former husband, Brett Gelman, in Lemon (2017).

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Brett told the Black List, "I think that there are things…the darker parts of me and her, that inspired the whole idea of the film and the character. So, a lot of the time, I was following her lead, and it was really fun to do that and to be able to — you know, I was sort of the Scottie Pippen to her Michael Jordan."

18. Dax Shepard directed and starred alongside his wife, Kristen Bell, in Hit and Run (2012) and CHiPs (2017).

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Dax told Entertainment Tonight that Kristen has first dibs on his movies. He also said she had to convince him for her CHiPs role, "Because I was going to probably ask a favor of some actress I knew that I thought would be funny, but she read it and she said, 'I want to play Karen.' I said, 'But you're so likable, and this person is such a terrible person.' And she's like, 'I can do it.' I think not only did she do it, but she was actually right. It's more fun to see someone that you actually know is good be such a shithead. I think there's another level of fun to that."

19. Jane Wagner cast and directed her wife, Lily Tomlin, in Moment by Moment (1978).

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At the Lambda Literary Awards, Jane said, "When I got confidence, it was because of Lily, who believed in my work. We loved similar things, and it was just kind of remarkable that we were on the same page, aesthetically. Her appreciation of my work meant all the difference to me. I saw her motivation. I saw her drive, and her strength taught me something."

20. Guy Ritchie was married to Madonna when he cast her in his movie Swept Away (2002).

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Years later, Guy shared some of his learnings from working on the movie. He said, “There were a couple of issues. One was making it with my ex-wife, and two was making it on the back of my previous films." 

21. Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig wrote Frances Ha (2012) together, and then she starred in it, and he directed it. She also starred in one of his more recent movies White Noise (2022).

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Greta told the Hollywood Reporter, "It’s exciting to have mutual acknowledgment of the work that he and I have both put into [our movies]. There is a sense of wanting to show off for each other. At least on my part. I remember when I showed Noah cuts or drafts of Little Women. He’s my favorite filmmaker and my favorite writer. It means everything to me that he thinks it’s good."

22. Seth Rogen convinced his wife, Lauren Miller Rogen, to cast him in her movie Like Father (2018).

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Seth told Jimmy Fallon that he almost didn't get the part and had to convince Lauren to cast him. He said, "She was like, 'I don't know…the character isn't like you.' I eventually talked her into letting me do it." 

23. Melissa McCarthy has acted alongside her husband, Ben Falcone, in many of the movies he's directed, including Tammy (2014), Life of the Party (2018), Superintelligence (2020), and Thunder Force (2021).

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When asked if it was weird to watch his wife kiss other men, Ben joked, "It's totally fine. You know, Melissa's made out with lots of guys. It's part of the job, so I don't think it's something any of us thought about as much as people think we think about it."