There are plenty of Hollywood "It" couples that we love to follow. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie - or Brangelina - have been the focus of relationship drama for the past couple years. Everyone loves watching Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds poke fun at each other on social media, or just look generally stunning on the red carpet. Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith keep us entertained with their talks of open marriage and eccentric children. But not every star chose a relationship in the limelight.
These actors, whether by choice or by chance, opted for less high profile marriages with people just like us. It gives the every day person hope that we too may someday snag a star. From random meetings, to blind dates, to meeting on film sets, these couples found love in their own way. And they give us hope that we normal people could someday find love with our favorite stars.
Here are 17 Actors You Didn't Know Married Normal People.
Reese Witherspoon
Reese Witherspoon is a high-profile actress who has had her share of the spotlight when it comes to Hollywood relationships. For a majority of the 2000s, Witherspoon and ex-husband Ryan Phillippe were one of the top "It" couples of the industry. They were married from 1999-2007, but now Witherspoon has opted for a much more private love life.
Since 2011, Witherspoon has been married to Jim Toth, a talent agent who works for the CAA. Witherspoon is a CAA client herself, but Toth never represented her. He has, however, represented big names such as Matthew McConaughey, Robert Downey Jr., and many more. He's a loving dad to their son Tennesse James, and a great step-dad to Witherspoon's two children, Ava and Deacon, from her marriage with Phillippe.
Jesse Tyler Ferguson
Most people know Jesse Tyler Ferguson as the high-strung yet lovable Mitchell Pritchett on Modern Family. Behind the scenes, he's not be a dad yet, but he and husband Justin Mikita are seriously considering starting a family of their own after four years of marriage.
Mikita may not be a celebrity, but his resume is still pretty impressive. He's a lawyer who worked closely on the initiative to overturn Prop 8, and he is also an actor and producer. Ferguson and Mikita decided to get married in New York, saying they wanted to "support the state that's in support of [them]."
This past November, Ferguson admitted that they wanted five years of marriage before thinking about kids. Now that five years is coming up, we might be getting a baby announcement soon!
Gal Gadot
Gal Gadot may be one of the biggest Hollywood stars of the moment, but before her big break playing the lead in DC's Wonder Woman, Gadot lived a relatively normal life with her Israeli businessman husband Yaron Versano. In fact, before landing the role of Diana Prince, Gadot was seriously considering quitting acting altogether to focus on her home life.
Gadot and Versano met at a party when she was just 20 years old. Two years later, Versano proposed and they got married. Apparently Versano knew right away that he wanted to marry Gadot, but she wasn't so sure. She told Glamour, "I think I knew he was the one, but I was too young to get it."
It seems like both of their gut instincts were right as, almost 10 years and two daughters later, the couple is still going strong.
Matt Damon
If anything should give normal people hope, it's the story of how Matt Damon met his wife Luciana Barroso. One night in Miami - where Damon was filming Stuck on You - he went to a bar with some friends. Barroso happened to be bartending that night, the two met, and the rest is history. Barroso probably never thought she would go from working at a bar in Miami to attending A-list parties and marrying one of the biggest stars in the world.
The couple has been married since 2005, and they have four children together. Damon admits it's a strange set of circumstances that lead them together - at first, he wasn't even planning to go out that night. Now, he's definitely happy he decided to go out for a drink in Miami.
Natalie Portman
Natalie Portman's husband Benjamin Millepied may not be a big star, but he did have a hand in helping Portman win her first Oscar for her role in Black Swan.
Millepied is a highly accomplished French dancer and choreographer, and he worked very closely with Portman on Black Swan where they initially met. He both choreographed and danced in the film, and Portman remembers it being such a special experience to make the film together. She went so far as to say that Millepied gave her "the most important role of [her] life." She did admit that being a professional dancer is hard work, and that her eight month training was sometimes hard to get through.
Since they got married in 2012, the couple has had two children together.
Hugh Jackman
Hugh Jackman is definitely a mega-star, but his wife of 21 years is just as incredible. Deborra-lee Furness is an Australian actress and producer, as well as an advocate for adoption. Jackman and Furness met on the set of Australian TV show Correlli in 1995 and were married one year later. Their 13 year age difference was never even a thought, in fact, Jackman says he feels like the adult in the relationship sometimes.
Because of her age, they tried for children right away. Sadly, Furness suffered miscarriages, but thankfullyshe and Jackman were able to build their family by adopting. They have two children now, and Furness continues to advocate for adoption in Australia, aiming to make the process more fair for children and parents.
Jessica Alba
Most production assistants don't consider dating a Hollywood star part of the job description, but that's exactly what happened with Jessica Alba and Cash Warren. Warren was working on the set of Fantastic Four which Alba was starring in, and the two hit it off very quickly.
Besides meeting Alba while he was starting out in Hollywood, Warren has an impressive background. He grew up in both L.A. and France, and eventually he went to Yale and got a degree in political science. Warren is now part-owner and President of the production company Verso Entertainment.
Within three years they were engaged, and finally married in 2008. The couple has 3 children together; most recently they welcomed a baby boy Hayes on December 31, 2017.
Anne Hathaway
Nobody sings their husband's praises quite like Anne Hathaway does Adam Shulman's. She told US Weekly, "I think the accepted narrative now is that we, as women, don't need anybody. But I need my husband. His unique and specific love has changed me." The pair met through mutual friends not long after Hathaway's relationship with Raffaello Follieri ended. She wasn't looking for love, in fact she had planned on staying single until she met Shulman.
Shulman has done some acting, but even more interestingly, he started his own jewelry line. He even custom designed the beautiful engagement ring he gave to Hathaway when he proposed. They dated for four years before getting married in 2012, and they now have a one-year-old son together.
Zoe Saldana
Zoe Saldana admitted to being sick of dating actors, so maybe that's why her marriage to Margo Perego has been going to strong since 2013.
Perego didn't come from any sort of wealth. He played soccer professionally before being injured. It was after that he started pursuing a career as an artist. He went from barely being able to afford an apartment while working as a busboy in NYC to being internationally recognized for his art.
The couple share three children together, and interestingly enough, Perego took Saldana's last name "because they are equals." She admits trying to talk him out of it for fear of how people would treat him for it, but he said that he didn't care. Talk about a supportive husband!
Eddie Redmayne
Eddie Redmayne has broken into the Hollywood scene in a huge way. In the past few years, Redmayne has starred in multiple critically acclaimed films. He garnered an Oscar nomination for his role in The Danish Girl and even won an Oscar for his portrayal of Steven Hawking in The Theory of Everything. It's safe to say Redmayne is a busy guy, but not too busy to marry the love of his life, Hannah Bagshawe.
Redmayne and Bagshawe tied the knot in 2014, in the midst of Redmayne's growing success, but their relationship was anything but new.
The two were good friends from college for almost 12 years before their friendship turned into romance. It's safe to say they have a solid foundation for a long, happy marriage. Redmayne and Bagshawe now share a daughter, Iris, and are expecting a second child soon.
Jerry Seinfeld
Jerry Seinfeld and his wife Jessica both got pretty lucky when they met each other. Jessica was just coming out of a difficult relationship, and her friendship and eventual romance with Jerry got her through a hard time. There was always speculation that Jerry caused Jessica's previous relationship to end - but the two maintain that her previous relationship was already over.
Whatever the details of their beginning, things clearly turned out for the best seeing as how the two have now been together for almost 20 years. Friends say that Jessica is anything but the gold digger that the press made her out to be. She is passionate about cooking and has written many cookbooks. She is also a philanthropist - even starting her own charity, Good Plus Foundation.
Meryl Streep
If any relationship gives us hope that love can work against all odds, it's Meryl Streep and her husband Don Gummer. They've been married for 40 years now - a rarity in the entertainment industry.
When Streep and Gummer met it wasn't exactly the best of circumstances. Streep was seeing John Cazale, who tragically died of cancer shortly after filming The Deer Hunter. Gummer, who was a friend of Cazale's brother, offered his home to Streep while he was away traveling.
When they did meet, the two hit it off very quickly, and ended up getting married the same year. Streep admitted she wasn't over Cazale's death, but said that Gummer helped show her how to live again. The two remain married to this day, and have four children together.
Patrick Dempsey
Many of us got used to watching Patrick Dempsey's fictional love problems on Grey's Anatomy, and sometimes real life does imitate art. Dempsey married makeup artist Jillian Fink back in 1999, but recently their relationship made news for the wrong reasons. Dempsey and Fink were actually considering divorce in 2015 after 16 years of marriage.
The couple share three children together, and Dempsey told The Huffington Post that their kids were a big reason for trying at their marriage again. He said, "we wanted to be role models for our kids like, OK, if you have differences, you can work them out.”
Whatever they did, it seems to be working. The two are still together and have made plenty of public appearances with their children since.
Jon Stewart
Imagine going on a blind date only to realize you're going on a date with Jon Stewart. Well, that's what happened to Tracey McShane. Although she may not have been so impressed at first - apparently she almost didn't show up for the date at all!
Their proposal story is even better. When you're Jon Stewart, you can do things like propose using the New York Times crossword puzzle, which is exactly what he did to ask McShane to marry him. The couple got married in 2000 and have been going strong ever since. They have two children together, Maggie and Nathan.
When Oprah herself calls your marriage "the real deal," you know it must be good. Stewart sees the value in his marriage too, even turning down a big Netflix TV show deal because the schedule would keep him from his home life.
Aaron Paul
It may seem like all of these normal people are the lucky ones for marrying celebrities, but Aaron Paul found a true diamond in the ruff with Lauren Parsekian.
While studying film, Parsekian decided to direct her own documentary called Finding Kind, which focuses on girl-on-girl bullying. Parsekian had bad experiences in her childhood with girl-on-girl bullying to the point of attempting suicide. She decided to turn her negative experiences into positive by making the documentary and even founding the Kind campaign.
Parsekian and Paul met at Coachella, and began dating a year later. They are now married and expecting their first child. On top of being a great couple, they are genuinely fun to follow on social media, always showing appreciation for one another on Instagram and Twitter.
Jeff Bridges
Jeff Bridges met his wife back in 1975 while filming Rancho Deluxe in Montana. He spotted Susan Geston, a local woman, and was immediately taken by her beauty. Interestingly enough, she had recently been in a car accident and had two black eyes and a broken nose. Even still, he was infatuated with her, and asked her out.
Though Geston originally declined his offer, they ran into each other again, and hit it off. They got married just days after Bridges proposed. A photo was actually found of the first time they met, by a makeup artist who worked on the Rancho Deluxe set. Now, 40 years later, they are still married and just as in love as ever. They have three children together and one grandchild.
Lisa Kudrow
Lisa Kudrow sure does know the secret to a long, successful marriage. She married Michel Stern in 1995 and they have been together ever since. Stern is a French advertising executive who keeps his live private from the media.
Kudrow is of course best known for her role as Phoebe on the hit TV sitcom Friends, but her marriage is anything but high profile, and apparently they both prefer it that way.
It all started when Stern was new to America and had been dating Kudrow's friend. Eventually they broke up, but Stern and Kudrow ran into each other again and started seeing each other. It may not sound like the most romantic way to start things, but 22 years and one child later, it all worked out for the better.
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Which other stars married normal people? Let us know in the comments!