Top 10 Surprising Times Celebrities Worked with Their Significant Other

Kristen Wiig’s plane freakout is a highlight of this raucous 2011 comedy. But breakout star Melissa McCarthy’s exchanges with the undercover air marshal are just as hilarious. As the inquisitive Megan needles Falcone’s character about his lack of luggage and the possibility of him carrying a gun, it feels as flirtatious as it does threatening. Once people found out it was her real-life husband, Ben Falcone, it was a pleasant surprise. They play off of each other so well. The pair would eventually do many projects together, with Falcone often directing and them sometimes co-writing.

If you didn’t know “Dodgeball” stars Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor were spouses, you’d definitely never guess from their scenes in the movie. The two got married in 2000, and have appeared alongside each other in a few movies since. Although they play love interests in “Zoolander,” there’s no love lost between the couple’s characters in “Dodgeball.” Stiller portrays the repugnant gym owner, and Taylor plays an attorney. Her disgust and contempt in their scenes together is a show of some truly award-worthy acting. Has a real-life married couple ever looked this hilariously uncomfortable on screen?

She had been dominating the charts for years. He could basically star in any movie he wanted. So imagine everyone’s shock and awe at the disaster that was “Gigli.” Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez may have been the early 2000s it-couple, but even their combined star power couldn’t save them here. “Gigli” is a woefully inept romcom that has managed to offend virtually anyone with a modicum of taste. It was so bad that the next flick they made together, “Jersey Girl,” had the team actually giving away the twist that Lopez’s character passes away early on.

In 2016, the notorious rapper and his reality star now-ex tried to make a statement about fame and the entertainment industry. The music video to Kanye West’s single, “Famous,” turned more than a few heads. More of a problematic performance art piece than a traditional video, Kim and Kanye demonstrated their shared skill for grabbing headlines with a less traditional way of collaborating: though Kardashian herself didn’t appear, she approved her wax figure’s appearance. It also got the attention of Taylor Swift, who’s name dropped in the song and who’s among the celebrities depicted lying in bed with the couple. Subsequent allegations only added fuel to the fire. West and Kardashian are controversial figures all on their own, so it’s perhaps no surprise their collaboration - and Kim’s subsequent support of Kanye - drew so much attention.

The classic Hollywood power couple had made movies together before, but they were mostly crowd-pleasers that usually didn’t have much in the way of major critical acclaim. So, when news broke that they wanted to bring Edward Albee’s controversial play to the screen, they were met with shock and skepticism. Few were convinced Taylor had the chops to play the venomous Martha, a middle-aged woman who engages in vicious psychological war games with her husband George. The naysayers were proved wrong when the film premiered. It’s largely considered her greatest performance. Watching the two, whose real-life tempestuous marriage was the talk of the industry, spar in such vicious and vulgar scenes is pretty thrilling.

This A-list couple made three movies together. Their least mainstream and most provocative collaboration has to be this erotic thriller by master filmmaker Stanley Kubrick. In it, Cruise plays Bill, a young and ambitious doctor who becomes targeted by an underground society of the rich and powerful. Kidman portrays his wife, whose revelation that she’s fantasized about another man completely undoes Bill. “Eyes Wide Shut” probes questions about marriage, intimacy, and relationships that most married couples would probably prefer to leave alone. The fact that such a high profile pairing would want to open themselves up to those questions and play them out on screen is pretty bold.

Back in 2003, the idea of celebrities doing reality television was still new enough to be borderline scandalous. MTV’s “Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica” showed the 98 Degrees frontman and the pop singer in all their ostentatious, newly-wedded bliss. Despite their fame, they were shockingly candid and kind of mundane. From Simpson’s confusion about canned tuna to their petty arguments about finances and decorating, there was an element of ordinariness that made them easy to relate to. Though their marriage only lasted a few years, the show made them even bigger stars than they already were.

One thing this beloved couple shares is a flair for comedy. It wasn’t surprising that after roughly a decade together they’d finally appear in the same project. What was surprising is that their debut collaboration turned out to be a horror movie. The two play parents living in a post-apocalyptic world, terrorized by sound-sensitive alien monsters. Krasinski ended up taking the director’s chair and co-writing the script after signing on, with Blunt ultimately joining the cast. As good as these two are on screen, there’s no denying their very real connection. “A Quiet Place” turned out to be a huge hit. The pair would return to work on the sequel.

As the first of Swift’s pandemic albums, when “Folklore” dropped in 2020, it made a splash. Soon, fans noticed an unfamiliar name in the credits. Someone named William Bowery was among the named writers of two of the album’s most popular songs, “betty” and the heartbreaking duet, “exile.” Swifties immediately speculated, as they are wont to do. Swift later confirmed fan speculation that Bowery was a pseudonym for her then-partner, English actor Joe Alwyn. She says she overheard him singing the chorus of “betty” from the other room, and the rest was history. Alwyn later received co-producing credits on a number of other tracks as well. Interestingly, the Bowery name would also be credited on songs from Swift’s subsequent albums, “evermore” and “Midnights.”

When footage from a hotel elevator showed Beyoncé’s sister Solange attacking Jay-Z, gossip was rampant. Although the connection wasn’t confirmed, Jay-Z later admitted to cheating on Beyoncé. Bey usually doesn’t let us get too involved in her personal life, but 2016’s “Lemonade” was a soul-baring project notably taking us through this journey. Bey and Jay perform their reunion in a touching scene set to “Sandcastles.” We also see home video footage of them during the “All Night” redemption section. That he’s in the film at all was surprising, considering his indiscretions fuel so much of her painful reflections on relationships and trauma. But watching them represent their healing process on screen was a show of unexpected vulnerability from two industry giants who sometimes seem superhuman.

Who’s your favorite celebrity power couple? Sound off in the comments.