va Mendes and Ryan Gosling; Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis; Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds. Countless famous couples have fallen in love and started relationships while working together on-set. It’s the acting version of an office romance, and the frequency with which less-than-professional connections blossom between stars is perhaps unsurprising, especially in films where the leads spend every day in close quarters “pretending” to fall for one another. It’s the ultimate example of life imitating art.
But what if one of the stars in question is hitched? The fact that actors might already be spoken for doesn’t always stop sparks from flying off, as well as on, screen.
Even A-list marriages that seemed rock solid have been derailed by an undeniable frisson with a co-star. One of the most famous cases is Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, whose red-hot chemistry in Mr & Mrs Smith appeared to continue after the cameras stopped rolling – despite the fact that Pitt was already one half of Hollywood’s golden couple, married to Jennifer Anniston.
Mr & Mrs Smith
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie starred in this big-budget vehicle as a couple who were both secretly hit-wo/men back in 2005. Pitt was still married to America’s sweetheart, Friends actor Jennifer Anniston, at the time. The pair had always seemed one of the most secure couples in Hollywood – but it wasn’t long before the sizzling sexual tension between Pitt and Jolie on screen sparked rumours that they were turning up the heat even after the director yelled “cut!”. Although they both vehemently denied having an affair, Pitt divorced Anniston the same year as the film’s release, and he and Jolie announced they were expecting their first child in January 2006. The pair married in 2014 and filed for divorce just two years later – and are currently engaged in a number of acrimonious legal disputes, with Jolie alleging that Pitt has previously verbally and physically abused her and their children (allegations he has denied) and Pitt suing his ex-wife over their jointly owned winery.