# Wife cast in relationship with co-star not husband **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 13, 2009, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wife-cast-in-relationship-with-co-star-not-husband/496304 "2009-05-13T16:27:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wife-cast-in-relationship-with-co-star-not-husband/496304/1 "2009-05-13T16:27:32Z")
It’s an awkward title but I couldn’t think of a better way to summarize it. I’m looking for examples of movies where a married couple are both in the movie but where the wife is cast as the love interest of somebody other than her husband. Two examples I’ve thought of: _The Man Who Would Be King_ had Michael and Shakira Caine in it but Shakira was cast as Sean Connery’s love interest. _Dodgeball_ had Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor in the movie but Tyler was cast as Vince Vaughn’s love interest. Other examples? ---
**Author:** ![Sue\_White](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/87869e/32.png) [@Sue\_White](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sue_White)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wife-cast-in-relationship-with-co-star-not-husband/496304/2 "2009-05-13T16:34:17Z")
My Big Fat Greek Wedding -Nia Vardalos’s husband, Ian Gomez played her love interest’s best friend, Mike. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wife-cast-in-relationship-with-co-star-not-husband/496304/3 "2009-05-13T16:41:02Z")
One Tree Hill qualifies. Chad Michael Murray married Sophia Bush in real life, but ended up with Hilarie Burton’s character on the show. Murray and Bush subsequently divorced. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wife-cast-in-relationship-with-co-star-not-husband/496304/4 "2009-05-13T16:41:30Z")
This is not exactly the same as the situation posed in the OP, but in _Blades of Glory_, spouses Will Arnett and Amy Poehler portrayed siblings. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wife-cast-in-relationship-with-co-star-not-husband/496304/5 "2009-05-13T16:45:32Z")
In the old tv show **thirtysomething** , the characters played by Ken Olin and Patricia Wettig (who are married IRL) were married to other people (Mel Harris and Timothy Busfield) - and the two couples were best friends… ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wife-cast-in-relationship-with-co-star-not-husband/496304/6 "2009-05-13T16:45:48Z")
In _Becket_, Sian Phillips is Thomas Becket’s (Richard Burton’s) mistress and in love with him. Henry II (Peter O’Toole) wants her to come sleep with him, and eventually forces them both to give in and do what he wants, which begins the rift between Becket and his king. Phillips’s character commits suicide rather than be Henry’s mistress. O’Toole and Phillips were married at the time. ---
**Author:** ![singular1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@singular1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/singular1)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wife-cast-in-relationship-with-co-star-not-husband/496304/7 "2009-05-13T16:53:58Z")
The mother of Ben(Michael Emerson) on _Lost_ (Carrie Preston) is married to…Michael Emerson! Of course, she’s only his mother in flashbacks, but it still counts, right? Didn’t Brad Pitt guest-star on _Friends_ as a former fatty that Rachel hated in high school? They were married at the time. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wife-cast-in-relationship-with-co-star-not-husband/496304/8 "2009-05-13T16:57:25Z")
It’s not a movie, but in **Designing Women** , Charlene (Jean Smart) is married to Richard Gilliland IRL. Richard played Mary Jo’s love interest. I often wonder (because Charlene had her own husband) how they dealt with each other’s canoodling other people on set. I’m sure it was all professional, but it wouldn’t surprise me if there weren’t some little twinge there. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wife-cast-in-relationship-with-co-star-not-husband/496304/9 "2009-05-13T17:15:36Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > It’s not a movie, but in **Designing Women** , Charlene (Jean Smart) is married to Richard Gilliland IRL. Richard played Mary Jo’s love interest. I often wonder (because Charlene had her own husband) how they dealt with each other’s canoodling other people on set. I’m sure it was all professional, but it wouldn’t surprise me if there weren’t some little twinge there. **ivylass** , your tendency to come into threads before me and say the exact thing I was about to is very, very disturbing, especially given our shared love of _Sports Night_ and _Pushing Daisies_. If I discover that you also love _The West Wing_, I be forced to conclude that we’re in a Tyler Durden situation. ---
**Author:** ![Dublin11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Dublin11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dublin11)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wife-cast-in-relationship-with-co-star-not-husband/496304/10 "2009-05-13T17:19:59Z")
Peter Falk’s wife was in a few episodes of Columbo. She was never his love interest, of course. She played different characters in each episode and was in relationships in some of them. ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wife-cast-in-relationship-with-co-star-not-husband/496304/11 "2009-05-13T17:26:00Z")
Not quite the same-they met on set, I believe-Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins in Bull Durham. They played lovers, but then Sarandon, in the film, ended up with Kevin Costner. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wife-cast-in-relationship-with-co-star-not-husband/496304/12 "2009-05-13T17:37:36Z")
Fredric March played Christopher Columbus in the 1949 movie of the same name, and his wife Florence Eldridge played Queen Isabella. Some guy named Francis Lister played King Ferdinand. Never heard of him. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wife-cast-in-relationship-with-co-star-not-husband/496304/13 "2009-05-13T17:41:41Z")
> [@singular1](#): > > Didn’t Brad Pitt guest-star on _Friends_ as a former fatty that Rachel hated in high school? They were married at the time. More specifically, someone who hated Rachel. Rachel didn’t have any particular feelings for the guy, but he was the President of the ‘We hate Rachel Green club’ 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wife-cast-in-relationship-with-co-star-not-husband/496304/14 "2009-05-13T17:46:00Z")
Kevin Smith cast his wife in _Clerks II_ as Dante’s fiancee (Smith, of course, played Silent Bob). ---
**Author:** ![Sean\_Factotum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sean\_Factotum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sean_Factotum)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wife-cast-in-relationship-with-co-star-not-husband/496304/15 "2009-05-13T17:50:30Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Kevin Smith cast his wife in _Clerks II_ as Dante’s fiancee (Smith, of course, played Silent Bob). And in _Chasing Amy_ had his at-the-time girlfriend Joey Lauren Adams as Ben Affleck’s object of desire. ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wife-cast-in-relationship-with-co-star-not-husband/496304/16 "2009-05-13T17:51:34Z")
Another TV one: Idina Menzel had a 2 or 3 episode guest part on Private Practice (yeah I know, but …I watch it anyway). She was on as a potential love interest for Tim Daly’s character. I don’t even recall if she had any interaction with real life husband Taye Diggs. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wife-cast-in-relationship-with-co-star-not-husband/496304/17 "2009-05-13T17:58:14Z")
And Jason Lee’s wife Carmen played the role of an occasional lover of Joey Lauren Adams’s character in _Chasing Amy_. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wife-cast-in-relationship-with-co-star-not-husband/496304/18 "2009-05-13T18:07:06Z")
In **The Private Life of Henry VIII** , Charles Laughton played romantically opposite four actresses – Merle Oberon, Wendy Barrie, Billie Barnes, and Everly Gregg – in addition to his wife, Elsa Lanchester\*. But since he was gay, Lanchester presumably was used to him with other people. \*Catherine of Aragon was evidently left out of the movie, for those of you scoring at home. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wife-cast-in-relationship-with-co-star-not-husband/496304/19 "2009-05-13T18:24:21Z")
> [@Dublin11](#): > > Peter Falk’s wife was in a few episodes of Columbo. She was never his love interest, of course. She played different characters in each episode and was in relationships in some of them. Ditto Tony Shaloub in _Monk_ (with wife Brooke Adams) and Felilcity Huffman in _Sports Night_ (with husband William H. Macy). Other real life couples who appeared in the same movie but weren’t each other’s love interest: Susan Sarandon & Tim Robbins: _Bob Roberts, The Player_ Tom Hanks & Rita Wilson: _Sleepless in Seattle, Bonfire of the Vanities, that thing you do!_ Woody Allen & Mia Farrow: _Broadway Danny Rose_ Michael Douglas & Catherine Zeta-Jones: _Traffic_ Bruce Willis & Demi Moore: _Mortal Thoughts_ Mel Brooks & Anne Bancroft: _Silent Movie, Dracula: Dead and Loving It_ I can’t say I’m too familiar with the films of Eastwood & Locke or Bronson & Ireland, but they made enough together it wouldn’t surprise me if at least one qualified. ---
**Author:** ![Trepa\_Mayfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@Trepa\_Mayfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trepa_Mayfield)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wife-cast-in-relationship-with-co-star-not-husband/496304/20 "2009-05-13T19:08:40Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > **ivylass** , your tendency to come into threads before me and say the exact thing I was about to is very, very disturbing, especially given our shared love of _Sports Night_ and _Pushing Daisies_. If I discover that you also love _The West Wing_, I be forced to conclude that we’re in a Tyler Durden situation. That would certainly be…interesting given that the two of you are different genders. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wife-cast-in-relationship-with-co-star-not-husband/496304.md?page=2)