What happens when TV sisters, brothers, and mothers become lovers?
Here are a few on-set showmances that weren't as weird as they sound.
While portraying siblings Ferris and Jeanie Bueller in the classic Ferris Bueller's Day
Off, actors Jennifer Grey and Matthew Broderick hit it off when the cameras weren't rolling.
Much of their relationship was private, with People reporting that they were engaged for
two of the four years they were together.
However, in 1987, their romance was put on full display when they were involved in a
tragic car crash while vacationing in Ireland.
The accident killed two women and left Broderick in serious condition, and Grey with survivor's
guilt.
The following year, they ended their relationship.
Several years after their split, Grey told People that Madonna's iconic song "Express
Yourself" was allegedly about her breakup with Broderick.
"She played it for me in her car.
[...] And I got in her Mercedes where she had a really good sound system and she was
like, 'Listen to this song I just did.
It's about you.'"
Jennifer Aniston and Charlie Schlatter starred as siblings on the short-lived 1990's television
show Ferris Bueller, based on the hit movie of the same name.
Schlatter starred as the show's title character, while Aniston played his loathing sister Jeannie.
The show only produced one season because of poor ratings.
Aniston and Schlatter's romance off-screen was just as brief.
Fans learned of Aniston and Schlatter's relationship in 2014 when GQ writer Jim Nelson, who worked
as a writer's assistant on the show, shared,
"GQ can exclusively report that everyone on set thought she was hot, including Schlatter,
with whom she had a brief, torrid romance — while playing, it must be said, his older
sister."
Their relationship has never been confirmed or denied by either star.
Before Chris Pratt became the leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy or worked in a Parks
& Rec office, he starred in Everwood from 2002 to 2006.
On set, Pratt met actor Emily VanCamp, where they played siblings Bright and Amy Abbott.
The pair began dating in 2004.
Pratt acknowledged how some fans might have found it a little awkward, telling TV Guide,
"Yeah, we've pretty much gotten used to the response of 'Ew, that's weird.
That's creepy.'
The people who know us are happy and probably expected it to happen eventually.
But yeah, every once in a while we get that one person that's like, 'That's really creepy.
You just kissed your sister."
The Brady Bunch ran for five seasons from 1969 to 1974, and followed a widower with
three sons who meets and marries a woman with three daughters.
With so many actors working so close together, it may not be shocking to hear about a few
romances that formed between these on-screen family members.
In 2013, actor Barry Williams, who starred as oldest brother Greg Brady, revealed in
Oprah Winfrey's "Where Are They Now?" that he was involved with two of his co-stars.
He admitted to having a relationship with on-screen step-sibling Maureen McCormick,
who starred as Marcia Brady, stating that they shared a kiss while filming the show's
Hawaii episode.
"We snuck away, it was a full moon, walked on the sand.
Well, I knew where that was headed.
Of course, I set it up."
McCormick later confirmed their romance when she and her former castmates appeared on Andy
Cohen's Watch What Happens Live in 2019.
Williams also admitted to having a relationship with Florence Henderson, who starred as mom
Carol Brady on the show.
Despite being twice his age, Williams stated that he had a crush on Henderson and that
the two bonded over music.
They even shared a kiss when he took her out on a date.
Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson have been married for over thirty years, and the acting duo
is one of Hollywood's most favorite couples.
"I must say, when I met Rita, I thought 'Oh, this is what it's supposed to be like when
you're married to somebody.'"
They first met on the set of the sitcom Bosom Buddies in 1981, where Wilson appeared in
one episode, but sparks flew when they got to work more intimately in 1985's Volunteers
as love interests, despite Hanks being married to his college sweetheart Samantha Lewes at
the time.
Hanks later told GQ that their on-screen chemistry was indisputable, saying,
"Rita and I just looked at each other and [...] that was that.
I asked Rita if it was the real thing for her, and it just couldn't be denied."
Hanks and Wilson publicly came out as a couple in 1986, before Hanks' divorce from Lewes
was official.
They tied the knot in 1988, and starred as siblings Sam and Suzy in the 1993 romantic
comedy Sleepless in Seattle.
Gilmore Girls actor Lauren Graham and Six Feet Under star Peter Krause's real-life relationship
began when they played siblings Adam and Sarah Braverman in the 2010 comedy-drama series
Parenthood.
For her part, Graham told Redbook that same year that keeping their off-screen romance
under wraps was the best thing they could do, sharing,
"Nobody knew about it for a while because we like to be at home, cooking and not going
out.
I've also been really protective of it because it's important that you can buy us as brother
and sister on the show."
In the same interview, Graham detailed the plus side to portraying siblings and spending
time with Krause off camera.
"You know, one of the things that's been so fun [about this relationship] is that it's
so easy.
And it's a lot to work with somebody and then spend time [at home] with them too."
Graham and Krause continued to co-star as siblings on Parenthood until the final season
in 2015.
The couple called it quits on their real-life relationship in 2021.
Both Ian Somerhalder and Maggie Grace starred in 2004's Lost, portraying step-siblings Boone
Carlyle and Shannon Rutherford.
The actors reportedly began an off-screen romance after they left the series in 2006,
despite Grace telling Glamour that year that it wasn't anything serious;
"Ian's great, I adore him, although I'm only 22 — far too young to even think about having
a serious relationship."
Their relationship was short-lived and ended the following year.
Despite their split, Grace and Somerhalder appeared to be on good terms when they reunited
for the 10th anniversary of Lost in 2014, when the pair posed for photos on the red
carpet and were all smiles.
The Fear the Walking Dead star even confirmed their status as friendly exes when speaking
with New You in 2015.
"I haven't dated too many actors.
I did when I was really young, for a couple of years [...] but it's nothing against actors.
Ian Somerhalder and I are still very good friends.
You can certainly reconcile schedules with actors but it takes some doing, and I just
don't have that energy."
In 1976, actor John Travolta starred in the television movie The Boy in the Plastic Bubble
with Diana Hyland, who portrayed his mother.
Despite the acting duo having a nearly 20-year age gap between them and playing a mother
and son on screen, they could not ignore the chemistry happening off-screen.
In an interview with People in 1977, Travolta revealed that he and Hyland had an instant
connection on the set of their film.
However, their relationship was short-lived after Hyland died of breast cancer that March.
"I have never been more in love with anyone in my life.
I thought I was in love before, but I wasn't.
From the moment I met her, I was attracted.
We were like two maniacs talking all the time on the set of Bubble.
After a month it became romantic."
He added that he even thought of marriage before her untimely death.
Actors Hayden Panettiere and Milo Ventimiglia first met on the set of 2006's Heroes.
Panettiere starred as high school cheerleader Claire Bennet while Ventimiglia portrayed
her uncle, Peter Petrelli.
In real life, the two stars had a 12-year age difference.
However, their on-screen family ties didn't stop them from having a real romance off-screen.
The two actors began their relationship in 2007, when Panettiere was 18 and Ventimiglia
was 29.
Although they kept most of their relationship under wraps, they often attended red-carpet
events together, and several events dedicated to Heroes, where they posed for pictures.
Their romance burnt out by 2009, with People reporting that their age difference played
a factor.
In 2017, Ventimiglia opened up to Net-A-Porter about the brief romance and what he learned
from it.
"Never do it again.
There are things that happen to you in your life that shape who you are.
[...] You learn from it.
[...] It wasn't until my mid to late twenties that the job wears on you, relationships wear
on you.
But I wouldn't change a thing."
Married actors David Tennant and Georgia Moffett have a pretty incredible history.
They first met when Tennant was starring as the tenth Doctor on the popular series Doctor
Who.
Moffett appeared in a Season 4 episode from 2008 titled "The Doctor's Daughter," starring
as The Doctor's genetically cloned, grown-up daughter Jenny.
Putting their fictional character's father/daughter relationship aside, the twosome struck up
a real-life romance that same year.
Coincidentally, Moffett's father, actor Peter Davison, starred as the fifth Doctor from
1981 to 1984.
In 2020, Tennant dished on Gaby Roslin's BBC podcast that it was strange to marry Moffett
because her father had also played a Doctor.
"To end up marrying the daughter of one of the doctors, it all felt a bit stupid — there
were a lot of things against it."
Knowing how he felt, Moffett admitted that she aggressively pursued Tennant.
It clearly worked out, as the couple wed in 2011 and have since welcomed four children,
with Tennant also adopting Moffett's son from a previous relationship.
"What's really weird about it is we're now getting lectures on birth control from our
17-year old son.
And that's definitely meant to be the other way 'round."
Amy Poehler and Will Arnett's relationship history dates back to 1996 when Arnett saw
the Saturday Night Live star perform in New York City.
However, they didn't develop a romantic relationship until four years later, and wed in 2003.
The following year, Poehler joined her husband for five episodes of Arrested Development,
starring as Arnett's character G.O.B.
Bluth's wife.
"You married her?"
"I needed a dare."
In turn, Arnett joined Poehler on Season 2 of Parks and Recreation, where he starred
as an MRI technician who goes on a blind date with Poehler's character, Leslie Knope.
The married pair decided to work together again, but this time as the brother and sister
ice skating duo Stranz and Fairchild Van Waldenberg in the 2007 comedy Blades of Glory.
The actors joked about portraying siblings but were happy to get a chance to work together.
Arnett told Collider,
"We had the opportunity to work together every day, so that was kind of great.
It was a lot of fun, and obviously, to play brother and sister was kind of…"
Poehler finished the sentence by adding, "creepy."
The couple split in 2012.
Michael C. Hall and Jennifer Carpenter were cast as siblings Dexter and Debra Morgan in
the 2006 psychological thriller series Dexter.
There was no denying that this fictional brother-sister duo had great chemistry on-screen thanks to
a real romantic relationship.
Hall and Carpenter began to date soon after they met on the show and eloped on New Year's
Eve in 2008.
They divorced two years later but had to continue to work together on Dexter until the end of
the show in 2013.
Despite this, the exes have always remained on friendly terms and maintained respect for
one another.
Talking to Today about working with her ex-husband, Carpenter shared,
"Has it changed anything?
Yes.
[But] I mean, he is and always will be one of my best friends in the world.
And just because the marriage ended doesn't mean the love isn't still there."
In 2021, Hall and Carpenter returned as Dexter and Debra Morgan for the show's revival Dexter:
New Blood.