Love on and off screen: Hollywood actors with double romances

Hollywood, birthplace of stars and factory of great stories, including the most beautiful cinematic tales of love. Countless times, through actors, audiences have grown fond of a fictional couple... And sometimes, that chemistry hasn't been just a role, but the reality beyond the screen.

Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem met while filming Jamón, Jamón (1992), where they showcased their on-screen chemistry, but they didn't start dating until years later, with new professional encounters, that their relationship solidified. Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008) was already making a difference. In 2010, they made their first public appearance as a couple at the Goya Awards gala in Madrid (Spain), and on July 13 of that same year, they married. In 2011, they had their first son, Leo Encinas Cruz, and two years later, their daughter, Luna Encinas Cruz.

Loving Pablo (2017) and Everybody Knows (2018) have made it clear that the passage of time has only strengthened this couple's connection. Recently, news broke that their love will once again be seen on screen in the upcoming film Bunker.

Two of the most promising actors of their generation, Zendaya and Tom Holland, conquered the screen as MJ and Peter Parker in the Spider-Man saga of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. For years, rumors of a possible off-screen romance fueled the imagination of their fans.

Although they met in 2016, with the franchise reboot, it wasn't until 2021 that it became official that their friendship had blossomed into love. And during the 2025 Golden Globes, the engagement ring on Zendaya's hand made it clear that their relationship is going from strength to strength.

By now, 'Brangelina' is an affair that needs no introduction. The passion Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie shared in Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005) spilled over onto the screen, and what seemed like mere acting chemistry ended up becoming one of Hollywood's most talked-about love stories.

Since then, their relationship has made headlines: Pitt's divorce from Jennifer Aniston, the children they had together, the preventative surgeries Jolie underwent... Everything built the image of a strong, committed, and indestructible couple.

However, a year after they shared the screen again in By the Sea (2015), that fairy tale came to an end with a breakup whose wounds, even today, remain open.

Yes, it seems the Spider-Man saga has something special regarding the on-screen chemistry of its protagonists. Because even before Tom Holland and Zendaya, Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone fell in love in the fictional The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) and its sequel. A love that, once again, transcended the screen, as the actors maintained a romance from 2011 to 2015, and despite their breakup, their friendship has never faded.

If there's one series that marked a turning point, it was Game of Thrones. And while plots of political intrigue, conspiracy, and war filled much of the story, there was also room for love.

For example, Jon Snow, one of the protagonists, had a passionate relationship with Ygritte. And their respective actors, Kit Harington and Rose Leslie, shared that romance, as they are now husband and wife with two children.

The vampire love that faded under the spotlight.

The Twilight Saga was a mass phenomenon that redefined the importance of teen romance in the industry and ushered in an entire era in which vampires were the primary teenage interest.

Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson were tasked with bringing the book's protagonists to life on the big screen, playing the human Bella Swan and the vampire Edward Cullen. And, despite their youth, the chemistry between the characters was absolutely believable.

So much so that many rumored it wasn't just the talent of two promising actors, but a love that was no longer mere fiction. Eventually, the romance became official in real life, and under the nickname "Robsten," they became the young "Brangelina."

However, their relationship lasted practically the same as the film franchise (2008-2012), because, after some back and forth, many rumors and an apparent infidelity on Kristen's part, the breakup came in 2012.

Despite this, they always speak of each other with mutual affection. And if love was immortal in Twilight, affection and camaraderie seem to be just as they are in the real lives of these two now established actors.

One of the romances that historical fiction has recreated several times is that of Cleopatra and Mark Antony . Many actors have portrayed them. This is the case with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in Cleopatra (1963).

The connection they both felt was so strong that, despite being married and all the scandal, the romance between the Egyptian queen and the famous Roman also became the love story of these two actors' lives.

They married twice and divorced twice, and had time to star in 11 films together, such as The VIPs (1963), The Sandpiper (1965) and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966).

In short, Hollywood and love go hand in hand: Jenna Dewan and Channing Tatum; Elsa Pataky and Chris Hemsworth; Naomi Watts and Liev Schreiber; Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman; Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens; Emily Blunt and John Krasinski; Alicia Vikander and Michael Fassbender; Eva Mendes and Ryan Gosling; Warren Beatty and Annette Bening; and Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly, among many others, are more examples of actors who have been couples on and off screen.