Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick tied the knot in 1997 after dating for five
years, and they've since had three children together.
How much do you know about this A-list couple?
Let's take a look inside their relationship.
In the first "Sex and the City" movie, Carrie almost gets married in an extravagant Vivienne
Westwood confection.
However, Mr. Big's reservations about a big wedding leave her groom-less.
Later on, she weds him at City Hall in a simple, non-label suit.
When Parker married Broderick in 1997, she also made an unconventional wedding attire
choice.
As Brides magazine recalled, she donned a black gown with a ruffled skirt.
While the pick was very Carrie, it's one that Parker regrets.
In 2006, she told Marie Claire,
"I was too embarrassed to get married in white, and both Matthew and I were reluctant to have
people pay so much attention to us.
Which is ridiculous, because that's when you can relish the attention, when it's natural."
The couple didn't let the attendees know it was a wedding ahead of time.
Parker added,
"We treated it like it was a big party on a Monday night, and I regret it."
If she could do it all over again, she knows exactly what she'd wear.
In 2015, she told Martha Stewart,
"If I were getting married today, I'd likely wear cream, just to have that bridal experience.
Now I would want my dress to have an Oscar de la Renta feel, pockets below the waist,
a very fitted bodice, a huge skirt, in taffeta or duchesse satin."
In 1991, Parker and her then-boyfriend Robert Downey Jr. broke up after nearly eight years
together.
They've both admitted that Downey's addiction to drugs and alcohol is what made Parker decide
to leave.
"It's no secret that he was struggling and I had never been exposed to that so I didn't
feel particularly equipped."
Downey never bore any ill will toward his ex, and in 2014, he even told radio host Howard
Stern that he was interested in reconnecting with Parker while he was in New York.
He said,
"I'll ask [her husband's] permission.
I just want to check in for a few minutes.
I love Matthew Broderick."
Not long after the Stern interview, Us Weekly saved Downey the trouble of reaching out to
his ex's husband by asking Broderick what he thought about the proposal.
Broderick said,
"Of course, he's more than [okay to connect with her] — they're great friends!
What would I say?
No?
Who do you think I am?
No, I love Robert Downey and Sarah Jessica Parker so [yes!]"
Parker was also on board with the idea, and the meet up actually happened in 2015.
Downey later told Stern,
"Seeing her I was like, 'She's so great and so cool and so funny and so in-command.'"
He also said that he met Parker and Broderick's children, and he gushed about how much he
respects the couple.
As for Parker, she told Stern that their meetup was, quote, "surprisingly not weird."
Sometimes on-screen pairings can be excruciatingly awkward; former lovers occasionally reunite
to film movies together, and co-stars find that feigning intimacy with one another is
almost unbearable.
However, Kristin Davis did her part to make sure that playing Broderick's wife in "Deck
the Halls" wouldn't be an uncomfortable experience by reaching out to Parker before accepting
the role.
According to Access Hollywood, Davis sent an email to her "Sex and the City" co-star
asking her whether it was okay if she played Broderick's spouse in the holiday comedy — how
very Charlotte of her.
Parker not only gave Davis the green light, but didn't set restrictions on what she could
or couldn't do.
However, Parker didn't have to worry about her husband filming any racy love scenes with
her co-star, much to Broderick's relief.
He told Cinema,
"I have known Kristin for a long time and it was easy working with her because it wasn't
a big romantic movie, that might have been different."
While speaking to Parade, Broderick noted that his wife has filmed a lot more love scenes
than he has — and one of Parker's leading men actually confessed to crushing on her
pretty hard.
In 2009, British actor Hugh Grant told The Daily Star that she would make, quote, "a
very good wife."
He said,
"She's very caring.
She lives in her own little world and I have literally fallen in love with her."
Parker also had nothing but nice things to say about her "Did You Hear About the Morgans?"
co-star.
She told the Daily Mail,
"He's a definition for all of us less well-travelled Americans of the classic literary and cinematic
Englishman – witty and brainy.
There's nothing smarter and sexier and more interesting than a brain, and I'm very excited
about working with him."
Parker's deep love for Broderick aside, her husband had nothing to worry about — it
turned out that Parker was not a fan of Grant's personal hygiene.
As she recalled to Extra, while they were filming together, she discovered that he had,
quote, "nails that looked like he clipped them with his teeth" — and they bothered
her so much that she began giving him weekly manicures herself.
While some of Hollywood's hottest leading men have found Parker desirable, a mean-spirited
2008 Maxim magazine poll found that its readers considered her the "unsexiest woman alive."
According to the New York Post, the publication cruelly compared Parker to a racehorse.
"Do I really have a face like a horse?"
Parker described the poll as "brutal" while speaking to Grazia.
She also revealed how Broderick felt about it, saying,
"It upset him, because it has to do with his judgment too.
It's condemnation, it's insane."
She said that she's well aware that her appearance might not fit, quote, "the ideals and standards
of some men writing in a men's magazine," and pointed out that she doesn't have "big
fake boobs, Botox and big lips."
On a sweeter note, the one man who matters most considered Parker a catch before he even
knew her, so surely a men's magazine poll didn't sway his personal opinion of her.
Reminiscing to Parade about seeing his future wife in "L.A. Story," Broderick said,
"I remember thinking she was wonderful, hilarious and beautiful."
Parker also remembers seeing her future spouse on the silver screen.
During a 2005 interview with San Francisco Gate, she was asked how old she was when she
first saw Broderick charm moviegoers — and almost everyone onscreen — in "Ferris Bueller's
Day Off."
She didn't divulge her age at the time, but she did say that she was on a date with a
guy and a female third wheel.
Parker recalled to the publication that she covered everyone's tickets, including her
date's.
Speaking about her now-husband, she said,
"I never considered for a moment that I'd be married to that charismatic, funny, adorable
actor."
Parker saw a lot of Broderick's early work, including the 1985 fantasy film "Ladyhawke"
and the 1983 sci-fi classic "WarGames" — and it wouldn't be long before Broderick swept
her off her feet.
Parker told CBS News in 2004,
"He grew up beautifully.
I'm very proud of the man Ferris Bueller became.
Very proud."
Parker subscribes to the belief that absence makes the heart grow fonder.
During a 2018 episode of Girlboss Radio, she explained why she thinks that it's healthy
for spouses to do their own thing for a while so that they can later reconnect.
She said,
"His work life takes him here, and mine takes me there.
In some ways, I think that that's been enormously beneficial because we have so much to share
in a way."
And let's just be honest — husbands and wives tend to get on each other's nerves sometimes.
However, when those breaks are over, both Parker and Broderick seem to agree that communication
is key.
When he appeared on the "Meredith Vieira Show" in 2014, Broderick shared that he and his
wife talk a lot, and added,
"Too much silence is definitely not a good idea."
"She's really funny, she makes me laugh, that's good."
To keep the conversation flowing, Parker peppers her partner with questions.
She told People mag in 2018,
"I'm sure I annoy him and he annoys me, but I literally learn about him every day.
I'm like, 'You're doing what?
You're reading what?'"
Interestingly, one topic the couple avoids is their marriage.
Back in 2011, Parker told Marie Claire,
"There are so many other things in our lives that take precedence over the splitting of
the atom of our marriage."
"What's the secret for staying together for 20 years… not talking about it."
Parker might believe that it's unwise to speak about one's marriage, but she sees nothing
wrong with holding mini marital grudges.
In 2011, she revealed to Bang Showbiz that she allows herself up to "20 minutes a day"
to loathe her husband.
As long as both parties eventually work things out and come to an understanding, she believes
that being in a relationship is even worth enduring 48 hours of bad feelings.
She explained,
"It's all about compromises.
You can hate somebody for 20 minutes or two days, but it's still a treat to be in a relationship,
if that's the person you want to be with."
When radio host Ryan Seacrest later brought up her comments, she elaborated on her view,
saying,
"I think that's healthy and I think it's realistic.
Some people have it down to 20 minutes a week.
Other unfortunate people have it down to 20 minutes per hour."
Luckily, she and Broderick don't fall into the latter category.
In fact, she revealed that she has been able to avoid her allotted "20 minutes of bitterness"
for days on end.
In 2008, Parker's refreshing honesty about her marriage was used to help build a narrative
that she and her husband were on the outs.
A rumor that Broderick was having an affair originated in Star magazine.
In an article about the piece of gossip, the Daily Mail included past quotes from Parker
saying that she and Broderick have endured some, quote, "rather treacherous train rides"
and that she is certain there are times when her husband "wishes he wasn't with [her]."
The Star story alleged that Broderick was cheating on his wife with a 25-year-old youth
counselor while Parker was filming the "Sex and the City" movie.
According to the Mail, one source said that Broderick and Parker were no longer in love
and were simply staying together for the sake of their son James.
However, another source claimed that the couple hated the, quote, "silly gossip" about their
relationship and said that, while their marriage is unconventional, it works for them.
Broderick's rep refused to comment on the rumor.
However, a year later, the same rep did deny the reports suggesting that Broderick and
Parker were divorcing, telling ABC News that the rumors were "ludicrous and untrue."
The couple clearly survived the tabloid tide turning against them, and their love story
continued.
In 2013, Parker told Harper's Bazaar,
"We can only be in the marriage we are.
We're very devoted to our family and our lives.
I love our life."
"From the first time we were together we've never been apart since.
That's true, sorry."
As Parker said in "Stars of David: Prominent Jews Talk About Being Jewish," she has a Jewish
father, and Broderick's mother is Jewish.
However, in an excerpt from the 2005 book, Parker confessed that she doesn't know a lot
about the faith, and she said that her husband's Jewish identity is, quote, "much more political
for him."
Parker shared that she believes in a higher power and that her husband is, quote, "deeply
religious."
However, she added,
"[Matthew is] cynical about it because he's seen that it can be so harmful and hurtful
and destructive."
She divulged that she and Broderick were conflicted about their son's religious education — Parker
thought that he should learn about his options, while Broderick wasn't certain what he wanted.
Parker revealed that her family celebrates Christmas, but in a secular way.
She explained,
"It's about family and ritual — the same things that I respond to in being a Jew."
Broderick shares her fondness for Christmas, which he described as their "winter family
holiday."
He also practices one Jewish ritual during the holiday season — or he makes an attempt
to, at least.
He told Cinema,
"We don't know how to do Hanukkah really!
We get the candles out and do our best."
In a 2000 New York Times interview, Parker revealed that she and Broderick didn't share
their bank accounts at the beginning of their marriage.
She explained that she didn't want her husband to feel as if he had to, quote, "take a job
because he thinks he has to support me."
She also said she didn't know how much money Broderick had, and added,
"It is not what keeps me interested in him."
The couple didn't have children at the time, and Parker explained to The New York Times
that their finances would become "communal" when that happened.
She was already planning for their kids' financial future, saying that she didn't want them to,
quote, "be aware of money."
Carrie Bradshaw had a habit of spending well beyond her means, but Parker is far from her
"Sex and the City" character in that way.
"Are you at all Carrie Bradshaw?
… Well, we look alike."
She told Good Housekeeping that she used to get a stomach ache after going on a shopping
spree, and she'd often return what she bought.
Her frugality stems from her upbringing — her family was on welfare, and in her New York
Times interview, she revealed that sometimes the electricity would get cut off, and there
would be no money to celebrate Christmas or birthdays.
While she doesn't want her own kids to want for anything, she told KIIS FM's "The 3pm
Pickup" that she doesn't give them everything they want so that they know the feeling of,
quote, "pining for something" and working towards it.
It's evident that Parker loves being a mom, but she's not too proud to admit that motherhood
isn't always a stroll through the park.
Children can also change the dynamics of marriage, for better or for worse.
In 2011, Parker told The Telegraph,
"Kids can really distract you from your relationship.
Maybe in good ways and bad ways.
It's important to have all eyes on all parts of the relationship."
On her 2018 episode of Girlboss Radio, Parker confessed that she would like to, quote, "invest
more" in her relationship with her husband.
Unfortunately, finding the time to do so can be difficult when parenting becomes like a
second fulltime job.
She said,
"It's exhausting and you're basically just cleaning up after people all day.
You're one big, good, old-fashioned secretary."
But all that hard work can pay off in wonderful ways.
During her 2019 appearance on "The 3pm Pickup," Parker spoke about the simple thing her kids
do that has improved her relationship.
She explained,
"As complicated and chaotic as marriage and family can be, I think it's helpful to see
the way my children look at my husband.
I think it's a reminder to see that kind of purity of feeling because you get bogged down
in the day to day of a marriage and it's a lot."
In 2000, Parker told The New York Times that her mother wouldn't allow her to work in television
as a child because she considered the medium, quote, "vulgar and trashy."
The actor went on to appear on the TV series "Square Pegs" in the early '80s, and her small
screen career didn't stop there.
However, she was focusing mostly on movies by the early '90s.
When the opportunity to play Carrie Bradshaw presented itself, Parker had some reservations
about returning to TV.
She told the Mirror that she disliked the commitment that a series requires, noting
that it would affect her movie and theater careers, as well as her personal life.
However, her husband convinced her that "Sex and the City" might end up being worth the
sacrifice.
She recalled,
"Matthew said, 'I think you should do this because it's a really good part.
The worst case scenario is it'll be successful.'"
According to Playbill, Parker soon regretted her decision.
After she filmed the show's pilot, she managed to forget about it until the series got picked
up.
She then desperately tried to get out of her contract.
While trying to bargain with HBO, she even promised to "film three projects for free"
if she was allowed to ditch the series.
Luckily, she was convinced to rethink her decision again, and her husband's assessment
of the gig was proved right.
In 1996, Broderick and Parker acted opposite one another in the Broadway musical "How to
Succeed in Business Without Really Trying."
That same year, Broderick told The New York Times that his then-girlfriend was, quote,
"great" in her role, and he said that his only issue with starring alongside her was,
in his words, "a slight feeling of dangling our couplehood around Times Square."
Years passed without the couple working together again, and then came "Sex and the City."
As Broderick recalled to The New York Times in 2020, he was asked to appear on the show
numerous times, but he always declined.
It was probably for the best, because Parker said that her husband's presence on the show's
set made her "nervous."
"We had basically come to the conclusion without ever having said it that we will never really
work together."
The couple finally decided to become co-stars once more in 2020.
They were set to appear in the Broadway production of "Plaza Suite," but as "CBS Sunday Morning"
noted, the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered theaters on the first day of their performance.
They did get a chance to act together in front of audiences in Boston, and as Broderick told
The New York Times, he learned something about performing with his wife.
He explained,
"It sounds weird, but playing a married couple feels separate from a personal relationship.
Your professional self takes over."
Now that the couple has become comfortable acting together, who knows?
Maybe Broderick will agree to make a cameo in the "Sex and the City" revival.
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