It’s easy to forget that Alison Brie and Dave Franco are married.
Not only that, but they’ve also been together for 11 years.
The duo manages to be one of Hollywood’s most under-the-radar couples off-screen, but
on screen, we see them together a lot.
From their first date which was a meet-cute mixed with a bender, to why they only want
fur babies, to the inside dynamic of their romance; we have it all in our today’s video.
Usually, when a couple meets at Mardi Gras, the stereotype is that it’s the start of
an unsuccessful love story.
But Dave Franco and Alison Brie are quite an exception to the rule.
When they met, it was the start of a whirlwind romance that ended in one happy marriage.
According to the actress, the couple’s meet-cute was swoon-worthy.
"It's a very romantic story and very sweet and it starts off in New Orleans at Mardi
Gras where all great love stories begin,” she said.
Alison and her friend Jules ran into Dave at the airport.
Jules and the actor were already friends.
The trio decided to have dinner together.
While the three of them were enjoying a casual bite, the Glow star’s friend texted her
under the table saying, “You should hook up with Dave.”
Brie’s response included a thumbs-up emoji and 2 words, “Yes please!”
Unbeknownst to the actress, Jules showed Franco the messages and he enthusiastically confirmed
he was in.
Finally, Jules told the actress while the two were in the bathroom together that the
Nerve actor had seen her texts and he shared her feelings.
"It was a perfect set-up because we both got to leave the restaurant and head out to the
evening of drinking and debauchery having a sexy secret that we knew the other person
was on board.
So, then it was 48 hours of drugs and sex and a lot of making out,” she said.
How sweet…
According to Alison, the situation was out of character for both of them.
She also joked that people tell them they’re the one couple a Mardi Gras meet-cute worked
out for.
And the actress doesn’t recommend anyone to follow in their footsteps.
After that initial weekend, the pair spent time together in New York.
On their last day, Franco left a note on Brie's sweatshirt asking her to come to Paris with
him, where he was traveling to film a movie.
She said yes, and the rest is history!
Well, not really, we’ve still got a lot to tell you.
After knowing each other for about 4 months, it was Dave’s birthday and Alison decided
to do something special.
At the time, it only made sense for her to throw him a surprise birthday party.
Of course, she didn't know that the actor hated surprises.
Turns out, it wasn't the best idea and didn’t go as well as the actress had hoped.
Yup, he was mad, and the party was a bit of a flop.
"Alison and I still talk about how if we could survive my surprise party, we can survive
anything,” Dave said.
It wasn’t long until Dave wanted to combine their work lives.
The duo starred in a Funny or Die video together, which he wrote and directed.
The skit was about what it takes to be his dream girl where he described the actress
to a tee.
But by this point, they still hadn’t confirmed their relationship.
In fact, they only let the world know they were together after they were engaged.
Probably because it would be difficult to hide such a gorgeous ring!
By 2015, the pair was engaged.
The proposal was a complete surprise to the Community star, and when Franco got down on
one knee wearing the exact Mardi Gras mask he wore on the night they met.
She didn’t exactly give him the reaction he had expected.
"I was so shocked that I actually burst out laughing, and I asked him a number of times
if he was being serious before saying yes," she said.
Alison was never that bothered about marriage and, frankly, she wasn’t interested in anything
to do with it.
That was until she met Dave, of course.
"Marriage never interested me, I guess because I was very focused on my work.
I wasn't sure if I saw the point to it.
I just met that person that I was like, 'Well, I'm really in love with you and would like
to grow old with you.'
I actually think it's much more romantic when two people are like, 'Oh, I could go either
way on marriage, but I want to marry you,'" she said.
Although Brie wasn’t really into the planning of her wedding, wasn’t very bridal, and
didn’t want a big event, in 2017, the duo got married.
Surely, it was a private ceremony.
The details are scarce, but Franco did divulge a little bit about it.
"It was great, it was special.
It was intimate, and it was fun,” he said.
Well, it’s better than no comment, right?
Getting married was also never really on Dave’s radar either.
In fact, he thought he would be alone forever because he couldn’t find someone who could
love his cats as much as he did.
"At one point in my life, I was the single guy with two 16-pound cats.
It definitely weeds out a lot of potential dating partners.
Alison loves them, thank God.
She was really the only option for marriage," he said.
These two are obsessed with their fur babies and they are the only babies they ever plan
on having.
"It's great because I don't worry about when should I get pregnant – between seasons,
while we're shooting the show — I don't think about it every day," the actress said.
The couple notes that they have their two cats, Harry and Arturo, who are enough of
a handful for them.
"It would be nice, but I think of all the things that would be so stressful.
I think about how much we're involved in our cats' lives.
Oh my God if it was a child,” she said.
Fair enough!
But Alison and Dave have another baby together besides their kitties — their careers.
This power duo is known to share the screen together on multiple occasions.
As a newly married couple, the two embarked on their first film together, The Little Hours.
We saw the actress play a sexually frustrated nun and her husband playing a man who arrives
at the convent.
"It's so nice to work with your person, to be on set with someone who is the person you
feel the most comfortable with in the world.
More than anything it's just nice to be together.
You spend so much time apart when you're shooting on location and in different cities.
You just get to be intimate with each other and have a great time," she said.
But the film taught the couple that they shouldn’t watch each other film sex scenes.
"Alison should not be on set while I film sex scenes with other women," Franco said.
True to form, Brie said that she stepped away during those intimate moments.
Imagine how uncomfortable that would be?
They returned to the screen together in The Disaster Artist.
But it doesn’t end there.
In 2020, Franco made his directorial debut with the horror film The Rental and, of course,
he had his wife star in it.
This led to some interesting set dynamics with the pair.
"We’ve been on sets together before, I wasn't nervous at all, I just thought 'this'll be
great.’
But in our first week, we're with the other actors and some of the crew and I went to
ask a question and I was like, 'Babe... do you think I should - I mean, Dave, Mr. Director,
sir,’” she recalled.
Brie then took her husband to another room and asked what he wanted her to call him on
set.
The actress was worried that her calling him ‘babe’ and ‘honey’ may make him feel
like she was undermining his authority.
The actor just laughed and said, “I want you to call me David Franco.”
Alison did end up calling him pet names throughout the shooting and feeling like they are a married
couple while keeping everything strictly professional.
Despite this minor adjustment, Franco thought it was great to have his wife so involved
in such a special project for him.
"It was very comforting to be able to go home to her at the end of each day.
She was always there to build me up in the right ways, giving me confidence and reminding
me that we were doing good work.
I truly don’t think I could have done this without her,” he said.
Dave found it incredible to watch his wife act every day from behind the camera and loved
that he was getting paid to watch the woman he loved.
“When I was watching her intently for five straight weeks, I realized that she is one
of the best actors on the planet.
She would literally nail it on the first take every single time,” the Disaster Artist
actor said.
There is just no stopping these two!
They used their time in quarantine wisely and wrote a romantic comedy together, while
also ensuring Franco survived the ordeal.
"I've realized that when it comes to the end of the world, I need my wife a lot more than
she needs me.
I can't cook at all, and she is literally keeping us alive.
So, I've been trying to pick up the slack whenever possible because she is a superhero,
and I am somewhat worthless.”
How sweet is that?!
In a household filled with performers that work together, you would think they rehearse
lines together as well.
But these two are on two very different pages when it comes to it.
"We have two different schools of thought on it," star said.
"He does not like to run lines, and I do like to.
We’re about to fall asleep.
And I whisper, ‘Run lines with me.'"
His response to her whispered request?
"Noooo!"
Well, they can’t be perfect, right?
These two have a super-mellow marriage that just simply works.
They are incredibly kind to one another and respect each other above all else.
There were no games when they met, they knew they had a connection, and they both just
followed their hearts.
11 years later, Alison and Dave are still happily in love.
“I’ve found my person,” the actress said.
This power couple keeps us enthralled not only off-screen but on-screen as well.
Let us know in the comments below whether you think you could work with your significant
other.
Stay tuned for more Hollywood stories on Rumour Juice.