They talked about dream houses on their first date – did you know that Michael Keaton
and Courteney Cox were deeply in love in the 90s?
Their romance lasted for more than five years, making everybody wonder when they would finally
tie the knot.
But that marriage never happened.
So why did the industry's brightest stars part their ways?
Welcome to Rumour Juice!
In today's episode, we'll dive deep into Michael Keaton's romance with Courteney Cox.
The 1980s turned out to be more than overwhelming for Keaton.
Can he remember that now?
As the actor described that time, "Married, house, kid right away, career, a lot of attention,
which is not something I'm crazy about.
I don't hate it, but it's never my first choice.
It was mostly good."
In 1989, Michael Keaton was riding high with two fantastic movies to his credit – Clean
and Sober and Batman.
In Batman, he played the eternal hero Bruce Wayne, but it was his portrayal of a struggling
addict that brought great love into his life.
Keaton was a 38-year-old divorcee at the time when he met Cox.
Young and unknown, Courteney Cox was mesmerized with Keaton's acting.
At the time, they had a mutual friend who introduced them to each other.
It was Courteney who initiated the first date.
She couldn't resist the temptation, while he was interested to learn more about the
aspiring actress.
Keaton and Cox chose a surprising location for their first date.
Back in 1989, he was already a high-profile movie star who wanted to keep things under
the radar, so the future lovebirds had their first date at Cox's home!
Surely, they were trying to avoid paparazzi.
The two ended up talking for hours.
Cox later shared the details, "We talked for five hours.
We talked about our dream homes — the great ones we'd seen and the kind we'd like to build
ourselves."
At that point, Keaton just got a divorce from Caroline McWilliams.
His relationship with his ex-wife didn't stand the test of time.
They tied the knot in 1982 and welcomed their only son, Sean Douglas, the following year.
But in January 1990, the Batman actor filed for divorce.
Even after parting ways, the former couple remained close friends and continued co-parenting
Sean.
In fact, the Batman star even left Hollywood to be more involved in raising his son.
While keeping his love life to himself, Keaton was always eager to share his affection for
Sean.
He once shared that they were completely different in childhood, “He was just a really social
little guy, so thoughtful and sensitive and practical, and always hanging out with friends,
whereas I wanted to be on my own playing in the woods.”
When McWilliams passed away in 2010, Keaton re-imagined his relationship with Sean and
opened up about his warmth towards the late ex-wife, “She was a remarkable mom.
Sean is the great guy because of her—we’ve always been tight, but now the bond’s even
tighter.
We’re the family now.”
Maybe, a traumatic experience of divorcing someone and rising fame taught Keaton how
to keep things private?
It didn't bother Courteney, though.
As she later said, they were totally in sync.
"We were sympathetic on so many levels.
If something weird happened, we would turn to each other and just say, 'I know.'"
They did everyday errands together – window-shopping on Montana Avenue near Courteney's Santa Monica
home, going to the movies, cooking at her place.
They enjoyed meals prepared on the stove Keaton gave her as a housewarming gift in 1992.
Both being in show business, the two would often run lines together.
"He always came up with the most clever ways of making a line funny," Cox shared.
"No matter how upset or pissed off I was, Michael could make a little face and crack
me up."
The two fell passionately in love, and over the next five years, there were constant rumors
that Keaton and Cox were close to getting married.
However, Cox has always denied that Keaton had proposed to her, and they never made enough
of a commitment to move in together.
"I bet that three-carat diamond is really beautiful," Cox told journalists in reference
to the gossip, "but I never saw it."
The actress revealed she wasn't quite sure of what finally made them go their separate
ways.
"Nothing about our relationship was ever simple," the former Friends star said.
But she also admitted that it was a joint decision.
“It’s the most important relationship I’ve ever had, and I think he’s the most
wonderful person I’ve ever met.
We still love each other,” she said a couple of months after their separation.
At the time, Cox didn’t reject the possibility of reconciliation, “With us, you can never
tell.”
And there was at least one strong supporter of their reunion: Cox’s mom, Courteney Copeland.
She hinted at the motive behind the split.
Cox's mother said, “They were always trying to work on themselves.
They need to forget that and accept each other the way they are — and just get married.”
Keaton and Cox never got back together.
Keaton didn’t allow any of his relationships to become public.
Since his romance with Cox, he repeatedly got caught on camera with mysterious women.
Sadly, nobody knew who they actually were and why they were close to Keaton.
The Batman star has been tight-lipped about the identity of his partners ever since.
So, what did actually make them split up?
Why was the marriage between Keaton and Cox never meant to be?
Although neither party publicly explained their decision, it seems that Keaton wasn't
eager to formalize their relationship.
In the interview, Friends star said she was by then more interested in Keaton than in
her career.
It was challenging for the young actress to be on track with her profession.
Given her commitment, what if Keaton didn’t want to jump into a new marriage?
Perhaps, Keaton didn't want to be trapped in the formal boundaries of marriage.
Was it crucial for him to understand where he was heading for?
After the divorce, Keaton immersed himself in acting, searching for authentic ways to
express his personality.
In the interview, he described his vision of how romantic affairs can work out, "Relationships
are complicated.
But if you're authentic, and you seek out authenticity, things will work out."
It seems that the actor has always searched for new ways to express himself.
In the mid-2000s, his career stalled.
As Keaton described this period, “Maybe I got bored with acting.
That sounds so cavalier: “I was bored.”
But I probably did get a little bored with myself.
People forget about you, and I’m off doing other things.”
Although his relationship with Cox was in the media spotlight in the 90s, it was the
point when the actor completely went under the radar with his personal life.
While Cox was swept off her feet with the new romance, he kept things to himself.
We knew very little about his love life.
Two years after the breakup with Keaton, Cox said she thought it would be hard to date
someone again.
She shared, "Actors dating actors can work out.
The most important thing is to be with someone who's creative and passionate about what they
do."
That's when she met former actor David Arquette and eventually married him.
He was nothing like Keaton, showing his emotions and boldly proposing to her shortly after
they started dating.
But their relationship didn't work out.
Cox explained, “There are a lot of things that David likes to do completely the opposite
things I do … I don't want to inhibit him in his life.
He really is a very gregarious guy, he's very outgoing.
I'm much more of an introvert.”
After the divorce, Cox started dating Snow Patrol singer Johnny McDaid.
Well, back to Courteney and Michael.
Maybe that romance didn’t work out because of their differences?
Cox was at the beginning of her path – young, aspiring, and committed to their relationship.
Keaton was already divorced and famous.
Yes, they shared lots of precious moments and were close to each other.
But did that connection mean that they could eventually get married?
Perhaps, Cox was eager to tie the knot and plunge into love completely.
But we doubt that Keaton could be that enthusiastic about committing, given his responsibilities
and emotional demands of parenting.
Approaching him was never easy for Courteney, especially as it seems that another marriage
wasn't in the cards for Michael.
They were a remarkable Hollywood couple that didn't endure the challenge of accepting each
other.
As the romance unfolded, it became evident that Keaton and Cox could no longer be together.
Having shared life priorities could've saved them, but the relationship was doomed as Keaton
prioritized his professional path.
Could it be that Cox insisted on marriage and Keaton remained unresponsive for too long?
Or did the problem hide in their professional ambitions?
Unfortunately, this famous relationship from the 90s remains a mystery to us.
Maybe, it would've been better if they met later in life, with Courteney already being
at the pinnacle of her career.
Well, we'll never know.
But, we've been wondering if there's any chance something could've saved this romance?
What do you guys think?