A family affair! Hollywood couples who starred as onscreen relatives

On set, they were family — but off screen, it was a whole other story.

Some actors are forced to play lovers with a costar they can't stand, while others navigate the awkward shift from lovers in one film to siblings in another (Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort, we're looking at you). But the real clincher is when real-life couples have to put their attraction aside to portray relatives on screen. Sure, their offscreen chemistry might help create a convincing family bond — but hopefully not that convincing. And, for those lovebirds who felt that connection long after playing kin on screen, we'd guess the filming process is a lot less awkward compared to those who dated beforehand.

From married pairs like Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson to brief romances such as the one between Anna Kendrick and Bill Hader, here are a few Hollywood couples who have costarred as family onscreen.

Anna Kendrick and Bill Hader (Noelle)

In Disney's 2019 holiday flick Noelle, Bill Hader took on the role of Nick Kringle — heir to Santa's sleigh — while Anna Kendrick played his more responsible and spirited sister, Noelle. In January 2022, a source told PEOPLE that the actors had been discreetly dating for more than a year, reporting how their fling didn't start until "well after" filming wrapped. However, five months later, a source revealed to Entertainment Tonight that the couple had called it quits after two years.

Evan Rachel Wood and Shane West (Once and Again)

The former Once and Again costars began playing siblings Eli and Jessie when Shane West was in his early 20s and Evan Rachel Wood was just 12. Years later, in 2009, the two reconnected and fueled dating rumors when they were spotted holding hands at a club. “I think you can put two and two together,” Wood told Hollyscoop at the time. “I won’t confirm nor deny it, but I don’t think I have to.”

Michael C. Hall and Jennifer Carpenter (Dexter)

Michael C. Hall and Jennifer Carpenter starred as Dexter and Debra Morgan, respectively — a brother and adoptive sister pair of crime fighters — on Showtime's Dexter. (Debra as a homicide detective; Dexter as a blood splatter analyst — and a vigilante serial killer.) The real-life couple dated for nearly three years, marrying in December 2008 and splitting in 2010.

Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson (Sleepless in Seattle)

Five years after tying the knot and 12 years after their first meeting on the set of ABC's sitcom Bosom Buddies, Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson teamed up for their second film together, Nora Ephron's Sleepless in Seattle (1993). Instead of playing lovers like they did in Volunteers (1985), they portrayed siblings Sam and Suzy Baldwin, with Wilson delivering a memorable (and slightly improved) monologue that encouraged Hanks' character to meet Annie (Meg Ryan) atop the Empire State Building. The Hollywood power couple has remained rock-solid over the years — costarring in multiple films like That Thing You Do! (1996), Larry Crowe (2011), and Asteroid City (2023) — but have wisely avoided playing siblings again.

Ian Somerhalder and Maggie Grace (Lost)

The actors reportedly dated after both were killed off the drama series — they played stepsiblings and ex-lovers (!) Boone and Shannon — though Ian Somerhalder kept mum in a 2006 interview with PEOPLE on the romance between them, saying: “Oh, let’s not go there. No.”

Maureen McCormick and Barry Williams (The Brady Bunch)

Maureen McCormick and Barry Williams played stepsiblings Marcia and Greg on the long-running sitcom The Brady Bunch, but began a real-life romance on set in Hawaii in 1972. McCormick later revealed to PEOPLE she had a crush on her costar from the beginning, and when they finally kissed, she remembered, “A part of me — admittedly a tiny part — said to myself, ‘Oh my God! I’m kissing my brother.’”

Will Arnett and Amy Poehler (Blades of Glory)

The comedic couple had been married for nearly a decade before separating in 2012. During their marriage, they often appeared on each other’s projects: Amy Poehler played the wife to Will Arnett’s Gob Bluth on Arrested Development, while Arnett guest-starred on Parks and Recreation. Together, they played a villainous brother-sister figure-skating team in Blades of Glory (2007).

Nell Tiger Free and Dean Charles Chapman (Game of Thrones)

While playing the Baratheon/Lannister siblings in the latter half of Game of Thrones, Dean-Charles Chapman and Nell Tiger Free were rumored to be dating, dropping subtle hits in various social media posts throughout 2015. However, the then-teen lovebirds reportedly parted ways and deleted almost all traces of their romance from their accounts.

Lauren Graham and Peter Krause (Parenthood)

They’re the elder Braverman siblings on Parenthood, but off screen, the two began dating in 2010 after being friends for more than a decade — and years after Lauren Graham’s Gilmore Girls costar Kelly Bishop tried to set them up, per Glamour.

Michael Emerson and Carrie Preston (Lost)

Carrie Preston appeared on Lost for one episode, “The Man Behind the Curtain,” which traced the history of husband Michael Emerson's character, Ben Linus. In flashbacks revealing Ben’s mysterious past and connections to the Island, she plays Ben’s mother, who dies in childbirth.

Matthew Broderick and Jennifer Grey (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off)

The Ferris Bueller’s Day Off costars — Jennifer Grey played Ferris’ jealous sister, Jeanie — dated briefly in the late '80s. In 1987, just before Dirty Dancing hit theaters, the two were in a car accident that severely injured Matthew Broderick, left Grey with chronic pain, and killed the passengers of the other car. Reflecting on that tumultuous year, Grey later told PEOPLE, “The juxtaposition of that deep sorrow, the survivor’s guilt…and then being celebrated as the new big thing just didn’t jibe.… It didn’t feel good to be the toast of the town.”

Hayden Panettiere and Milo Ventimiglia (Heroes)

On screen, he saved the cheerleader. Off screen, he dated her, from 2007 to 2008. In the show, Milo Ventimiglia’s Peter Petrelli was revealed to be the uncle to Hayden Panettiere’s Claire, a key plot point that tied together several of the original characters on the superhero drama series.

Chris Pratt and Emily VanCamp (Everwood)

Long before she lusted for revenge on, well, Revenge, and long before he hunted dinosaurs in Jurassic World (or aliens in Guardians of the Galaxy, or “network connectivity problems” on Parks and Recreation), Emily VanCamp and Chris Pratt played siblings on the WB drama from 2002 to 2006. They quietly dated while starring on Everwood and broke up in 2007.

Dave Annable and Emily VanCamp (Brothers and Sisters)

Their characters Justin and Rebecca began Brothers and Sisters as half-siblings, but when Rebecca later revealed she wasn’t related to him at all, the two eloped as a couple in the fourth season. The actors themselves dated as well, from 2007 to 2008.

David and Tamela Mann (Meet the Browns)

The married couple — both actors, though Tamela Mann is also a gospel singer — had been together for more than 25 years before playing father and daughter on Tyler Perry’s Meet the Browns, the TBS sitcom spun off from one of Perry’s Madea films. The pair starred on BET’s reality series It’s a Mann’s World from 2015 to 2016.

Joely Richardson and John Hensley (Nip/Tuck)

Joely Richardson played Julia, the frustrated stay-at-home mother to John Hensley’s troubled teenager character Matt, on Nip/Tuck. During the early 2000s, the two were rumored to be dating, though neither ever commented on the rumors.

John Travolta and Diana Hyland (The Boy in the Plastic Bubble)

Diana Hyland and John Travolta had entered into a relationship after starring as mother and son in ABC's 1976 TV movie, The Boy in the Plastic Bubble, until Hyland died of cancer at 41. “I gave her great joy the last months of her life,” he told PEOPLE in 1977. “I always feel she is with me — I mean her intentions are. Diana always wanted the world for me in every possible way.”

Drew Barrymore and David Arquette (Never Been Kissed)

Drew Barrymore claims she had "never been kissed" off screen by her former costar David Arquette — neither before nor after playing siblings, Josie and Rob Geller, in the 1999 rom-com. However, in 2018, Arquette appeared on PeopleTV's Couch Surfing and set the record straight: "We also dated, but she denied it on Howard Stern. But, we dated, Drew! Not during [Never Been Kissed], way before, when we were younger."

David Tennant and Georgia Tennant (Doctor Who)

The two played relatives on the timey-wimey series in 2008 when Georgia Tennant (née Moffett) appeared on the show to play the artificially created daughter of David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor. They married in December 2011, and have five children.

Katherine Heigl and Jason Behr (Roswell)

When Katherine Heigl made her TV debut at age 20 on the WB’s Roswell as Isabel, an orphaned alien disguised as a high school student, she met Jason Behr, who played Isabel’s also-extraterrestrial brother Max. They dated off screen, ending the relationship around the time the series went off air in 2002.

Shannen Doherty and Jason Priestley (Beverly Hills, 90210)

They played twins on the TV phenomenon of the early-1990s, and off screen, they became teen icons. Though they fielded rumors they dated for decades, Jason Priestley later revealed in a 1993 episode of The Howard Stern Show that he and Doherty dated briefly from 1990 to 1991 — though, he told The Hollywood Reporter in May 2014 that “various combinations of [costars] slept with each other over the years. If you were in that situation, trust me, you would have done it too.”

Selena Gomez and David Henrie (Wizards of Waverly Place)

Selena Gomez has repeatedly denied she dated her Wizards of Waverly Place costar — the duo played wand-wielding siblings on the Disney Channel comedy series — but she and David Henrie sparked romance rumors in 2010 and 2014 after being photographed together.

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Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.