10 Actors Who Cheated With Their Co-Stars

10 Actors Who Cheated with Their Co-Stars

Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for times actors and actresses who were in relationships allegedly got a little too cozy with their co-stars when the camera wasn’t rolling.

#10: Ewan McGregor & Mary Elizabeth Winstead

Ewan McGregor and Mary Elizabeth Winstead tied the knot back in 2022, and seem to be living happily ever after. That’s sweet, but how they got there was controversial. In 2016, McGregor and Winstead were both married to other people. Yet when they met on the set of the “Fargo” television show, it seems it was meant to be. Now, this is where things get a little foggy. The next little while sees both parties separating from their respective spouses and ultimately getting together. What exactly happened while they were with their other partners is unclear, which is why any cheating was “alleged.” Still, the optics weren’t great.

#9: Claire Danes & Billy Crudup

In 2003, Claire Danes was with musician Ben Lee. Billy Crudup was dating Mary-Louise Parker, who was pregnant with their child. However, it was only a matter of time before those relationships ended and a Danes/Crudup one began. Although the bigger issue is that the latter reportedly happened before the former. Near the end of 2003, Crudup and Parker ended their marriage. The thing is, all reports point to the reason for the separation being him and Danes becoming involved after working together on the film “Stage Beauty” earlier that year. It was a pretty big scandal at the time. Danes eventually reflected on the situation, telling Howard Stern: “I was 24…I didn't quite know what those consequences would be.” She and Crudup ended it around 2006-2007.

#8: Dominic West & Lily James

While many celebrity cheating scandals lead to separations and divorces, the Dominic West/Lily James kerfuffle had a different outcome. West has been married to Catherine FitzGerald since 2010. In 2020, photos surfaced of him and his “The Pursuit of Love” co-star Lily James in Rome getting cozy. There were pictures of him kissing her, and a witness report essentially confirmed that the PDA was what it looked like. After the news hit the Internet, West and FitzGerald stood by their home together, claiming that their “marriage [was] strong” and that they were remaining a couple. As of 2024, the pair remains married.

#7: Angelina Jolie & Billy Bob Thornton

Unless you were living under a rock at the turn of the century, you knew about Angelina Jolie and Billy Bob Thornton. The story of them hooking up after working together on “Pushing Tin” made many headlines. Jolie apparently had a boyfriend at the time, but how many of you remember the fact that actress Laura Dern and Thorton were actually in a serious relationship? It gets worse — Dern apparently was not informed that it was over. As she tells it, she was away for work, and upon her return, she learned that the man she thought was her boyfriend had tied the knot with someone else. She says that she “never heard from him again.”

#6: Meg Ryan & Russell Crowe

There are some that might’ve forgotten that the “Queen of the Rom-Com” was embroiled in a major affair back in 2000. Indeed, Meg Ryan had been married to actor Dennis Quaid since 1991. But then, she and Russell Crowe were co-stars on “Proof of Life”. Crowe and Ryan reportedly began an affair, and it wasn’t long before their relationship came to light. That in turn seemingly marked the end of Ryan and Quaid’s marriage. She has reportedly made it clear though, that the relationship was already on the rocks before Crowe entered the picture, saying he was not the reason for its demise.

#5: Tom Cruise & Nicole Kidman

Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise were one of the true “it” couples of the 1990s. Many might know that they first got to know each other while working on “Days of Thunder.” At the time, he and Mimi Rogers were still technically married. Kidman and Cruise apparently met sometime in late 1989 or early 1990, around the time of his separation. We don’t have details, but by February of the latter year, Cruise and Rogers’ divorce was official. A few months later in December, he and Kidman tied the knot. Tom and Nicole made two more movies together during their marriage, “Far and Away” and “Eyes Wide Shut”, before eventually getting divorced in 2001.

#4: Harrison Ford & Carrie Fisher

We’re talking about Han Solo and Princess Leia. We’re also talking about a torrid affair that didn’t come to light publicly until roughly 40 years after it happened. There may have been rumors, but it wasn’t until Carrie Fisher’s 2016 autobiography, “The Princess Diarist,” that the information was confirmed. Indeed, Fisher told of how, at the age of 19, she had a 3-month long affair with her older co-star. Ford had a wife and kids, but the tryst was “intense,” and she reportedly admitted to wishing he would end things with his spouse so they could really be together. He didn’t.

#3: Brad Pitt & Angelina Jolie

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt were two of the biggest, most talked about stars in the 2000s. However, not all the publicity was positive. While they were working on “Mr. & Mrs. Smith,” Pitt was married to another huge name: Jennifer Aniston. They revealed they had broken up in January 2005, leading to loads of speculation about his subsequent relationship. Now, we should mention that both Jolie and Pitt have denied there was any cheating. However, they have both also admitted to developing feelings while filming that movie, during the summer of 2004. They got married in 2014 and their divorce was finalized in 2019. Abuse allegations against Pitt have emerged.

#2: Humphrey Bogart & Lauren Bacall

Unlike many leading men of the classic Hollywood era, Humphrey Bogart didn’t have affairs with all of his leading ladies. But when he met Lauren Bacall, it seems there were no rules. The film was 1944’s “To Have and Have Not”, and while the 44-year-old Bogart was a married man, the attraction to the much younger Bacall couldn’t be denied. The latter’s mother wasn’t happy about it, and neither was director Howard Hawks, but that didn’t stop either of them. This wasn’t just a fling, either. The couple got married in 1945 and were together until Bogart’s death in 1957.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

Ted Danson & Whoopi Goldberg
Their Affair Led to His 2nd Divorce

John Malkovich & Michelle Pfeiffer
They Were Married to Other People, but Got Together While Filming “Dangerous Liaisons”

Kenneth Branagh & Helena Bonham Carter
Branagh Was Married When He & Carter Got Together on the Set of “Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein”

Melanie Griffith & Antonio Banderas
They Were Both Married When They Began Their Affair While Filming “Two Much”

Ryan Phillippe & Abbie Cornish
Phillippe’s Marriage to Reese Witherspoon Was Apparently in Trouble Prior to the Alleged Affair

#1: Elizabeth Taylor & Richard Burton

Elizabeth Taylor was married 8 times, but no unions were more scrutinized than her 2 marriages to Richard Burton. It wasn’t the first time she had a relationship begin with an affair. When she met Burton on the set of “Cleopatra,” she was married to Eddie Fisher — whom she had gotten with when he was still Debbie Reynolds’ husband. Burton was also married at this point, but he and Taylor embarked on a major affair nonetheless. It was so scandalous, even the Vatican got involved, criticizing them. Still, became one of the most talked about Hollywood couples ever. They wed in 1964 and got a divorce in 1974, before tying the knot again the following year and ending things for good in 1976.

Which of these scandalous relationships surprised you the most? Let us know in the comments.