Movies require a lot of commitment on the part of its actors. It can be rigorous filming schedules or situations that require a lot of emotional work from its stars. A pair of actors who play a couple on-screen can even find themselves falling for their costar, despite being involved with someone else when the cameras aren’t rolling.
“Hollywood marriages” always seem to have an expiration date, and this date is usually much earlier than the marriages of us regular folks, thanks to all the temptation, jealousy, and rumors that fly around in the industry. Even seemingly solid marriages can find themselves flipped upside-down in the wake of a particularly fiery on-screen pairing. On-set friendships can lead to flirtations which lead to affairs which lead to divorce. These are 20 movies that have been pointed at as causing the downfall of real Hollywood marriages.
20 The Misfits (1961)
Sometimes work and romance don’t go together. Case in point: Marilyn Monroe and her husband playwright Arthur Miller. The pair had been married since 1956 but hadn’t worked together until 1961’s The Misfits. Miller proved to be difficult to work with and Monroe got annoyed at the constant rewrites. Shortly after filming ended, the couple divorced. Monroe died just one year after the movie was released.
19 Proof Of Life (2000)
Claiming husband Dennis Quaid had stepped out on her throughout the duration of their nine-year marriage, Meg Ryan simply paid him back when she began hooking up with co-star Russell Crowe on the set of Proof of Life. According to Ryan, the marriage had been in decline for a while, and Crowe was simply the straw that broke the camel’s back.
18 House Of Wax (2005)
Having to work with your ex long after you’ve called in quits must be tough, but that’s what happened to One Tree Hill co-stars Chad Michael Murray and Sophia Bush. After only five months of marriage, Bush filed for divorce and rumors began to swirl that Murray had been engaged in an affair with his House of Wax co-star Paris Hilton.
17 Titanic (1997)
In a case of relationship implosion that happened behind the camera, James Cameron, the director of Titanic was married to actress Linda Hamilton when he found himself taken with someone else. Cameron began seeing actress Suzy Amis while still married to Hamilton, and once news broke, Hamilton left him. Cameron and Amis are still married with three children.
16 Northern Lights (2009)
Fuelling tabloid rumors for ages, it was a TV movie that caused the breakdown of two marriages: between Leanne Rimes and Dean Sheremet and between Eddie Cibrian and Brandi Glanville. The affair began during filming and turned into a massive storm for all parties, with plenty of Twitter fights. Cibrian and Rimes have since married and Rimes is a step-mother to Cibrian’s two sons with Glanville.
15 Mind Over Murder (2005)
Another marriage that began in infidelity and on-set happened between Tori Spelling and Dean McDermott. While filming Mind Over Murder, an affair began on the very first day – while McDermott was married to actress Mary Jo Eustace and Spelling to Charlie Shahnaian! The two ended up married and have five kids together.
(More recently, McDermott stepped out on Spelling as well, with his Chopped: Canada co-star Emily Goodhand.)
14 The Rum Diary (2011)
While he wasn’t married to French actress Vanessa Paradis, Johnny Depp was as good as, having two children with her throughout the course of their 14-year relationship. Unfortunately, things came to a screeching halt when he began an affair with his Rum Diary co-star Amber Heard, whom he ended up marrying. That relationship ended badly, too, among legal issues and accusations of violence.
13 Daredevil (2002)
Both involved in high-profile relationships at the time – Jennifer Garner to husband Scott Foley and Ben Affleck to fiancée Jennifer Lopez – it was the critically-panned Daredevil that brought them together. Despite keeping true to their vows, Affleck admitted that he fell in love with Garner on-set and the two ended their respective relationships quickly after to be together.
12 Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1994)
There are no hard feelings anymore, but, back in the early ‘90s, there was definitely some bad blood between actresses Helena Bonham Carter and Emma Thompson. While filming Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Carter began a relationship with Thompson’s husband, Kenneth Branagh. Despite being married to Thompson for five years, his attraction was undeniable and led to his divorce from the Dame.
11 Green Lantern (2011)
While they’ve played coy about when they officially got together, the sparks definitely began flying on the set of Green Lantern – while Ryan Reynolds was married to Scarlett Johansson and Blake Lively was dating Penn Badgley. Seen getting cozy all over NYC, the couple soon came together for real and tied the knot in 2012.