This morning, Oscar Isaac was trending on Google. The top search related to his name? ‘Jessica Chastain husband’. Followed closely by ‘Oscar Isaac spouse’, it seems that a certain viral video has caused everyone to search for his relationship history and how it pertains to his new on-screen wife, Jessica Chastain.
The acting duo are starring across from each other in a new miniseries, Scenes from a Marriage, and have thus been out promoting their new project Venice Film Festival. Directed by Israeli filmmaker Hagai Levi, the TV series is an adaption from Swedish director Ingmar Bergman’s miniseries by the same name.
‘This one explores gender roles in a relationship in the current time period in terms of salary ... who is supporting the family ... what it means to be a mother, a woman's relationship to sex, all of these things,’ Jessica said of the new HBO series – which will air on Sky Atlantic and NOW streaming service later this month.
It’s a video of Jessica and Oscar on the red carpet though that people are particularly interested in. In a sensual, minute-long clip, a slowed down video of the pair posing for photographers shows them staring longingly at each other.
You can see why people are obsessed. The slow bicep stroke, the longing stare, the kiss of the arm and subsequent hug as they laugh together. We’d be lying if we said we weren’t thirsting over it too. That is, until a quick Google search will reveal both Jessica and Oscar are married… to separate people (sigh).
That’s right, Oscar has been married to Danish film director Elvira Lind since 2017 after meeting in 2012. In a weird coincidence, Jessica also met her fashion executive husband, Gian Luca Passi de Preposulo in 2012 and married him in 2017 – the couple now have two children together.
Of course, that hasn’t stopped people shipping Jessica and Oscar, who met in college at Julliard arts school and have been friends ever since. The duo have described their close bond as ‘a blessing and a curse’ on-screen because while it translates to easy chemistry, they don’t get much space from each other.
‘We got to the point where we were reading each other's minds and I was like, “get out of my head!”’ Jessica said of their relationship. ‘I felt on this job there was no quiet time.’ She added that they needed an intimacy coordinator to facilitate sex scenes together, but being such good friends the scenes were still awkward and ‘embarrassing’ to film. There’s really not much to the rumours of incredible sexual chemistry then, at least from the actors mouths themselves - but if the public had a say, they would be leaving their spouses and eloping before the end of the month.
Now, many could shrug this off. ‘So what if they’re married? It’s harmless to ship Hollywood stars together, the spouses won’t even see it let alone care!’ And they might be right. Oscar and Jessica might see the viral video and laugh, their spouses chuckling along with them about how wild the internet really is.
But of course, they might not. We say that not to play devil’s advocate, but because historically, other celebrity spouses haven’t. In 2017, actor Anna Faris released a memoir called Unqualified, where she noted that the public obsession with Jennifer Lawrence and her then-husband, Chris Pratt – who starred across each other in sci-fi film Passengers – made her feel ‘incredibly insecure’.
‘Even before they met in person, my publicist, out of the blue, pulled me aside and said, “Anna, listen, there are going to be paparazzi all over them. There are going to be shots of them laughing together on their way to set. There are going to be stories circulating, and you have to brace yourself for this”’, Anna wrote. ‘I didn’t think it would bother me. I’ve been in this business a while now and I had seen Chris star alongside other beautiful women, like Aubrey Plaza and Bryce Dallas Howard. I’d always taken pride in our relationship, and the coverage, even though it was just false rumours, was making me feel insecure,’
Anna and Chris’ eight-year-marriage ended just six months after Passengers was released, with Jennifer trolled at the time despite Anna stating she ‘hadn’t done anything wrong’.
Endless public speculation over affairs and chemistry cannot be easy for any relationship.
We saw the same narrative in 2018 when Bradley Cooper and Irina Shayk’s four-year relationship ended just eight months after the world began obsessing over his bond with A Star Is Born co-star, Lady Gaga. Bradley and Lady Gaga performed their hit single, Shallow, in quite an infamously intimate production at the 2018 Oscars - with many pointing to how awkward it must’ve been for Irina in the audience.
While neither Bradley, Irina nor Gaga have ever spoke of the rumours effecting their personal relationships, it’s safe to assume that the endless public speculation over affairs and obvious chemistry wouldn’t be easy for an already strained relationship.
It’s with these examples in mind we have to question, is it not disrespectful to ship two Hollywood stars together when they’re married to other people? We know now how deeply unhinged social media can become and the pressure it puts on celebrities and us regular folk alike, so perhaps before fantasising about your favourite on-screen husband and wife tying the not in real life, consider who else might also be watching this narrative unfold.
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