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If you're stuck inside right now, it's possible the last thing you want to do is think about romance. On the other hand, escaping into a good love story can provide some momentary distraction from all that we aren't able to do right now— but if you don't have the emotional bandwidth to dig into a Jane Austen novel at the moment, we understand.
To that end, we've compiled a brief list of our favorite real-life, star-studded meet-cutes that are worthy of being enshrined in romantic comedies: let them inspire you to plan your own dream love-at-first-sight scenarios (once we get out of quarantine, that is.)
The DM-Slide
Okay, maybe an old-school meet-cute had to involve accidentally bumping into each other on the cobblestoned streets of Paris, but the internet is our Paris now, okay? That's exactly where Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas first got together after he sent her a DM on Instagram. Clearly, it worked, because now they're married.
The Rat-Discussing Roman Holiday
Tennis superstar Serena Williams met her now-husband, Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian, while the two were both in Rome—he for a conference, she for a tournament. They were at a cafe when Williams's assistant suggested Ohanian move tables due to the proximity of a rat. Ohanian replied, “Thank you, but I'm from Brooklyn — I see rats all the time. It's really not a big deal," Williams was interested in this response and turned around to strike up a conversation, and voila: marital bliss.
The Love at First (On-Screen) Sight
David Beckham first saw his now-wife Victoria, aka Posh Spice, the same way many of us did: on a TV screen. “My wife picked me out of a soccer sticker book. And I chose her off the telly. It felt straight away like we'd always been meant to be together," Beckham said in his autobiography. Their IRL first meeting at a charity football match was no less adorable: she scrawled her number on a plane ticket he had on him.
The Bar Encounter
Matt Damon was a celebrity visitor to a bar in Miami Beachin 2003, while Luciana Barroso was his bartender. He hid from the overly aggressive attentions of fans behind her bar, she put him to work, her tip jar filled up, and sparks flew: they've been together ever since.
The Pen-Pal Pas de Deux
Actress Carey Mulligan has a long history with her now-husband, Mumford & Sons lead singer Marcus Mumford: they reportedly became pen pals after a youthful summer at a Christian church camp, and have been married since 2012.
The Sitcom Sweethearts
In 1998, Ashton Kutcher was Mila Kunis's real-life first kiss when their characters got together on That 70s Show. They dated other people after that, but eventually found their way back to one another, marrying in 2015.
The Behind-the-Scenes Bond
Orange Is the New Black writer Lauren Morelli and her now-wife, series favorite and The Handmaid's Tale star Samira Wiley, met when Lauren was assigned to write an episode that heavily featured Samira's character. (Morelli was married to a man at the time.) The two met to discuss the episode, and a bond quickly formed: "I tried to be around her as much as I could," Samira told Martha Stewart Weddings, adding, "And when I found out she was married, I assumed it was to a woman. I was very wrong on that."
