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Hollywood Celebrity Exes Who Worked Together Post Breakup: From Lili Reinhart-Cole Sprouse to Blake Lively-Penn Badgley
Leaving their personal lives out of their professional lives, these 10 Hollywood duos continued to work together despite separating and ending their relationship.
When two actors play couples onscreen and share kisses or heartfelt moments, they often fall in love in real life too. And when things start to go South and they unravel, the spark between them dies, or worse, they take the difficult decision of breaking up. But when they have to continue to work together and be on the same set, it can get difficult. That's when their true professionalism is tested.
Several actors have continued to work together in films and TV shows despite not being able to look each other in the eye in real life. Here are 10 Hollywood exes who shared screen space despite parting ways and calling it quits.
Cameron Diaz and Justin Timberlake
Relationship Timeline: 2003 to 2007
Worked Together On: Bad Teacher
Diaz and Timberlake first met at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards in 2003, and soon rumors of romance between the two started swirling. At the time, Timberlake was 22 and Diaz was 31. Despite breaking up in 2006, they continued to have a friendly bond. In 2011, they shared screen space in the comedy-drama film Bad Teacher, directed by Jake Kasdan.
When asked about the collaboration, Diaz told US Weekly that Timberlake was the best choice for the role and she always shared a good laugh with him on sets.
Nina Dobrev and Ian Somerhalder
Relationship Timeline: 2010 to 2013
Worked Together On: The Vampire Diaries
The pair fell in love on the sets of the American supernatural teen drama TV series The Vampire Diaries. Despite announcing their split in 2013, they continued to work together as onscreen love interests on the series. While the series concluded in 2017 after airing eight seasons and 171 episodes, Dobrev left the show after its sixth season in 2015.
The pair proved that they can keep their personal and professional lives separate as they didn't let their differences affect their performances. They even bagged the Best Chemistry trophy at the 2014 People's Choice Awards.
Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony
Relationship Timeline: 2004 to 2011
Worked Together On: Spanish album Ni Tú Ni Yo
Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony started dating in 2003, and they tied the knot in 2004. In 2011, they announced their separation, and their divorce was finalized in 2014. They share two children together, twins Max and Emme, born in 2008. Nearly five years after parting ways, the exes collaborated for a Spanish-language album, Ni Tú Ni Yo, which was released in 2016. Anthony also served as the executive producer of the album via his company, Magnus Media, and Sony Music Latin.
Jennifer Garner and Michael Vartan
Relationship Timeline: 2003 to 2004
Worked Together On: Alias
Before tying the knot with Ben Affleck, Garner briefly dated Vartan while working on the TV show Alias. Despite parting ways, they remained friends and kept working on the TV show until 2006. In 2018, Vartan was asked if he would ever reconcile with Gartner. To which, he said that if something didn't work the first time, it would never work.
On Alias, Gartner played the role of Sydney Bristow, a double agent for the Central Intelligence Agency posing as an operative for SD-6. Vartan played the role of Michael Vaughn, one of Sydney Bristow's co-workers and her love interest.
Jennifer Lawrence and Nicholas Hoult
Relationship Timeline: 2011 to 2014
Worked Together On: X-Men: First Class, X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Men: Apocalypse, and X-Men: Dark Phoenix
Lawrence and Hoult first met on the set of X-Men: First Class and started dating. After four years of dating, they parted ways in 2014. Despite their split, they shared screen space as Mystique and Beast in X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Men: Apocalypse, and X-Men: Dark Phoenix.
In an interview with Elle, Hoult explained how he managed to work with Lawrence despite their separation. He said, "It's like going back to school after the summer holidays. The reality of [the X-Men franchise] is that there are lots of characters, so everyone was together for brief periods, but not every day for four months."
Zendaya and Jacob Elordi
Relationship Timeline: 2019 to 2020
Worked Together On: Euphoria and Deep Water
The two co-stars reportedly dated for a brief period in 2019 and 2020. In August 2019, they vacationed in Greece together. Later, they were also seen spending time with each other's families. However, they never confirmed their relationship.
In Euphoria, Zendaya plays Rue Bennett, a recovering drug addict, and Elordi plays Nate Jacobs, a high school athlete. The two also had a scene together in the film Deep Water.
Joey King and Jacob Elordi
Relationship Timeline: 2017 to 2018
Worked Together On: The Kissing Booth, The Kissing Booth 2, and The Kissing Booth 3
Elordi and King dated for about a year before parting ways in 2018. Despite calling off their relationship, the two continued to share screen space in The Kissing Booth trilogy as Elle Evans and Noah Flynn.
In 2020, King shared that working with her ex wasn't the easiest thing to do, especially since people would be watching the two onscreen with curiosity about their relationship. "No one's thinking to themselves, 'That was easy,' because it wasn't. I'm sure people will analyze every movement and every detail. And you know what? Let them," she told Cosmo at the time. "But at the end of the day, I was just thrilled to be Elle Evans again."
Camila Mendes and Charles Melton
Relationship Timeline: 2018 to 2019 and 2021 to 2022
Worked Together On: Riverdale
The two actors met on the set of the TV series Riverdale. They dated on and off for about a year before calling it quits. They later rekindled their relationship in 2021, however, they didn't date for long and again decided to move away in 2022.
The pair worked together on Riverdale from 2017 to 2023. While Mendes played the role of Veronica Lodge, Mantle was seen as Reggie Mantle.
Lili Reinhart and Cole Sprouse
Relationship Timeline: 2017 to 2020
Worked Together On: Riverdale
Reinhart and Sprouse's romance, both on and off screen, grabbed headlines. They dated on and off for approximately three years, from 2017 to 2020. They met on the set of Riverdale and fell in love. They made their red carpet debut in 2018 at the Met Gala. After separating, the two actors continued to share screen space as Betty Cooper and Jughead Jones in the hit CW teen drama. The two are currently friends, and they have left their differences in the past.
Blake Lively and Penn Badgley
Relationship Timeline: 2007 to 2010
Worked Together On: Gossip Girl
The two might have ended their relationship in 2010, but they continued to play their love interests in Gossip Girl till 2012. While Lively played the role of Serena van der Woodsen and Badgley was seen as Dan Humphrey.
In 2015, Badgley revealed that they didn't let their complicated relationship affect their work or get in the way of their jobs. "We were constantly professional to be honest, and we should both pat ourselves on the back because anything is complicated in that way… and we handled it," Penn said.
Hollywood celebrities have proven that it's possible to put professionalism above personal feelings, be it due to contracts or on fans' demand. It's admirable how these stars have shown emotional maturity by staying friendly despite nasty breakups and doing justice to their jobs.
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