The actor best known for his role as vampire Edward Cullen in the Twilight series is officially dating again. He started seeing a socialite named Mary Elizabeth Winstead in November 2017, and this past February they were photographed attending a private dinner party in London, England.
Is this the start of another love affair for the 41-year-old actor? Or has he just found a willing partner who will stick around for the long haul?
Risk-Free Dates
The safe and easy dating strategy for celebrities is to take them out for dinner first, then a movie and/or a concert. This way, you’re sure to have a good time and they’ll leave without any complaints. It’s a tried and tested method that has served them well over the years, so it’s no wonder that Hollywood continues to use it.
However, this doesn’t mean that Hollywood’s most famous relationships started this way. In many cases, the attraction came before the dinner date. Take, for example, the actor Ryan Gosling and his now-wife, model and film director Eva Mendez. They were married in December 2015, two years after Gosling first spotted Mendez walking down the street in New York City.
After the dinner party, it’s easy for Gosling to take her home to meet his family. From the get-go, Mendez was aware that her and Gosling’s relationship was not your typical Hollywood dating scenario. She said, “We actually became friends first, before dating. I knew that our time apart would be difficult, so I wanted to make sure that we would have someone to support us through it.”
Gosling added: “I think that when you’re in a relationship with someone you love, it’s easy to see each other as more than just a friend. We wanted to create a sense of normalcy for our families and friends, so that everyone could be a part of us spending more time together.”
Another great example is the comedian and actor Kevin Hart. The 46-year-old comedian started dating his current wife, Eniko Hwang, 24, a year after they met while working on the set of a comedy show. The couple got married in 2016 and have a son together named Kanan. Hart also has a son, Kenzo, from a previous relationship.
Hart told Elle UK in 2016 that he and Hwang met while waiting for the comedian’s son to finish school: “When you’re a celebrity father, you learn to embrace the paparazzi. If you want a shot at being a celebrity dad, you’ve got to get used to people taking your picture.”
Then, there’s the tennis player and actor Roger Federer. After meeting at the 2007 Australian Open where he was playing, the 58-year-old tennis icon and his model girlfriend, Mirjana Lučić-Baroni, got married the following year in 2008. While they’re still happy together, their marriage was no ordinary one. During their time as husband and wife, they have two children together named Guga and Luka. Lučić-Baroni is a citizen of both Sweden and Croatia, and Federer is a Swiss national. When asked in 2017 about whether or not their cultural backgrounds played a role in the way they interact with each other, Federer said: “I think it’s important to have different perspectives. When you’re in a relationship with someone, you learn to look at things from their point of view.”
New Attitude
These days, Hollywood’s biggest stars aren’t afraid to show their affection in public. Gone are the days when an exclusive “dating show” was the only way an A-lister could prove they were committing to another person. These days, they do it in their living rooms, on social media, and even in front of the press.
It’s not that Hollywood’s most famous couples aren’t interested in keeping their personal lives private. But, with the 24-hour news cycle and the ease with which information can be leaked, these days a celebrity’s quiet life means very little.
Take the case of Kristen Stewart. The 26-year-old actress and model had an off-and-on relationship with actress Robert Pattinson — most of which took place outside of the spotlight. They first met in 2009 while promoting the film Cosmopolis, and got married the following year in a private ceremony in Italy. The two have a daughter named Luna, who was born in 2013. But their marriage didn’t last, and in October 2016, they announced that they were breaking up. Since then, they’ve been spotted together several times, and in April 2017, they were photographed kissing and hugging while vacationing in Portugal. In December 2017, it was reported that Stewart had cheated on Pattinson with mutual friend Joe Jonas. A few days later, Stewart and Pattinson were photographed together at a restaurant in Los Angeles.
While some of these relationships end in sadness – for the fans as well as the involved parties – others prove to be happy endings. Take the case of Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. The two first met in 1994 and became close friends. In 1997, Leonardo DiCaprio’s father, Tommaso, who was at the time running the iconic DIC Movie Moguls production company, set up a business meeting between his two best friends. During the meeting, DiCaprio proposed to Winslet. The couple got engaged in 1998 and were married in 2000. The following year, DiCaprio won an Oscar for his role in The Wolf of Wall Street, and since then, their relationship and professional partnership has been praised by fans and critics alike.
Despite their success as a couple, it’s clear that fame hasn’t diluted DiCaprio’s taste for luxury. In 2016, it was revealed that the 41-year-old had spent over $16 million on gifts for his wife over the past two years. In March 2017, it was also reported that the couple had hired a “marriage marketer” to help them set up meetings with other eligible bachelors. According to a report in The New York Times, DiCaprio’s friends and colleagues say he has found happiness with longtime partner and newly appointed United Nations Messenger of Peace, Ciara Bravo. They have a daughter, Georgia, born in 2017.
More Than Meets The Eye
It’s not only about the stars’ private lives that are exposed these days. Fans take interest in the details of a celebrity’s life, even if the media ignores them. Take the case of Taylor Swift. The 25-year-old singer and songwriter met Joe Allevato, a 24-year-old graphic designer, at the 2015 Billboard Music Awards. After dating for a few months, they got engaged in October 2015 and were married two months later in a secret ceremony at Club Paradise in Las Vegas. Since then, they’ve been open about their relationship and Allevato’s design work for Swift’s “Look What You Made Me Do” video has become a symbol of their commitment to each other.
Allevato designed the invitations for the couple’s wedding and used the opportunity to experiment with different paper stocks and types of fonts. He designed the invitation himself and had to source a vinyl cutter to make the final product. A few days after the wedding, a picture of the unique invitations went viral on social media.
Another example is the music producer and entrepreneur David M. Benett. In April 2016, he married his high school sweetheart, Amanda, in a small ceremony near their Los Angeles home. A few months later, they had a daughter, Harmony. At 37 years old, Benett is now the father of a four-year-old daughter and a son, Jayden, who turns two in March. During an interview with Entertainment Tonight in 2017, Benett said that family is what drives him, and he wanted to create a lasting impression on his children.
“All of a sudden, I had all these people around me who were making sure that I took care of my daughter, who’d just had a baby,” said Benett. “There was just so much love around us. It was like a dream.”
These days, if your grandparents, aunts, and uncles aren’t doing their job and failing to keep you quiet about your new relationship, then the media will. And that, my friend, is what’s making this dating scene so interesting.