In 2004, pop culture went into a frenzy when the media outlets broke the story of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt dating while filming their 2005 film, Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Not only did they become the hot, new “it” couple in headlines, but their names were also involved in a media scandal as Brad Pitt was married to Jennifer Aniston at the time.
In a 2006 Vogue interview, Angelina Jolie confessed that the two developed feelings during the set, stating, “… I think we found this strange friendship and partnership that kind of just suddenly happened. I think a few months in I realized, ‘God, I can’t wait to get to work.'” Jolie continues: “…It took until, really, the end of the shoot for us, I think, to realize that it might mean something more than we’d earlier allowed ourselves to believe. And both knowing that the reality of that was a big thing, something that was going to take a lot of serious consideration…”.
Jennifer Aniston officially filed for divorce from Brad Pitt in 2005 and Brad Pitt immediately started dating Angelina Jolie. The couple was together for 12 years and raised six children. Even though Angelina and Brad did not have their happy ending, it begs why this scenario is so familiar in Hollywood. We often see co-stars who play romantic interests develop real-life affection towards each other and end up dating or even getting married.
Is there psychological reasoning for this phenomenon? Is it simply because they work together daily, pretending to fall in love with each other on-screen that develops into feelings off-screen? Or, is it merely a publicity stunt to bring more popularity to their film or movie? First, to understand this idea more, we need to understand the main elements of two people falling in love.
According to Professor and Brogaard Lab for Multisensory Research Director; Berit Brogaard, there are 11 reasons why we fall in love; however, I’ll be focusing on two of them: Similarity and Propinquity. Similarity means similarity of people’s beliefs and, to a lesser extent, similarity of personality traits and ways of thinking. I feel like this can coincide with the element, Propinquity. Propinquity is defined as familiarity with each other; this includes spending large amounts of time together or anticipating interacting with one another.
Actors, especially actors who play romantic interests, spend months rehearsing lines together and filming multiple episodes. The popularity of the series or movie may also be a factor in actors spending an increased amount of time together. The series may run multiple seasons throughout years or run various sequels or spinoffs in movies. The main similarity actors have is their love for performing; with such a significant career similarity, actors often bond on that shared career goal and the similarities in their ambitions.
John D. Mayer, a professor of psychology at the University of New Hampshire, best explains another possibility when it comes to actors falling in love. In an article piece for Salon, he examines the minds of actors when developing a character.
Mayer writes, “When actors create a character from the inside out, they attempt to feel and to think like the characters they’re playing. Think of personality as the overall organization of our mental systems: our motives and emotions, thoughts and knowledge, self-control, and expressions. When actors take on a role, they often alter these parts of themselves, reordering them in profound ways. To do this plan fully, they may draw on intelligence about personality I’ve called ‘personal intelligence…’.
He alludes to the idea of actors’ attempts to become one with the character they portray, in which they try to feel and to think like the character; their motives, emotions, thoughts, and knowledge. It showcases how sometimes actors began to blur the lines between pretend and real-life when portraying their role, which inevitably leads to off-screen affection.
But how do we, as an audience, know actors aren’t faking their relationships? It’s an open Hollywood secret that some celebrities with mutual amounts of fame and social status get involved with one another to boost their ever-increasing popularity.
Jack Ketsoyan, a former Hollywood publicist, confessed to allegedly orchestrating different celebrity relationships to generate hype around the celebrities should they have a movie to promote or distract from bad press, such as a project flop.
“…It’s to be able to sell the hype of it,” said Ketsoyan“whether a concert, album… or getting people to go to see the movie, it’s all about the hype at the moment…”. Even though it’s not confirmed to be true, it’s interesting to think about all the possible relationships that only happened for PR rather than for love.
Celebrity couples have been the topic of headlines for decades. We, as an audience, have an infatuation with learning about how two people fall in love, especially when it comes to our favorite characters or personalities. While we may never know how co-stars fall in love
When playing romantic interests or if the relationship is real, we should be happy for the new couples and always respect their privacy!
Who’s your favorite celebrity couple? What couples do you think are only for show? Let us know @HerCampusSJSU!