Bradley Cooper, 47, a Screen Actors Guild Award-winning actor and Grammy-winning entertainer, and Renée Zellweger, 53, a two-time Oscar-winning actress.
How they met: Cooper and Zellweger met while filming the supernatural thriller Case 39 in 2006. The film wasn’t released until three years later, shortly after Cooper’s smash hit The Hangover. Presumably, the couple reconnected while doing the press rounds and started dating while Cooper came along.
Although they never admitted to being a couple, the two were caught by the paparazzi doing couple things (house hunting, meeting parents, vacationing) all the time. But when told Renee was his girlfriend in 2010, Bradley told Details magazine, “I just can’t.”
However, he had no problem talking about her in a professional capacity. “I can’t say enough about her. I just love her. I [loved] come to work,” he said of his former co-star during an interview with Entertainment Tonight. “I love performing with her. I can learn so much from her.”
Renée returned the sentiment, telling the outlet, “He’s a very, very good actor. I was so excited, not believing I was going to go work with him.”
Why we loved them: Cooper and Zellweger were so low-key, you probably forgot they even dated. But that didn’t mean they weren’t as engaged as ever.
The two were so serious that they bought a house together in Los Angeles, engagement rumors swirled constantly on the internet, and Renee and Bradley’s mother, Gloria, were basically best friends. Zellweger even skipped the 2011 Golden Globes to be with Cooper and his family in Pennsylvania after his father died.
When They Climaxed: If any couple has the ability to climax a decade after they broke up, it’s Cooper and Zellweger. All eyes were on the supporting exes as they reunited at the 2020 Oscars. As they settled into their seats ahead of the awards show, it seemed like no time had passed between them.
The Breakup: In 2011, Cooper and Zellweger called it quits on their two-year relationship. Without publicly acknowledging their romance, a breakup statement was unnecessary. But according to sources, Bradley’s career ambitions are what led to their split.
“If I had to choose a possible mistress, it would be Brad’s career,” a source told Us Weekly at the time. “He worked really hard to achieve top man status. Renee had to take a step back.” They added, “She achieved a lot of her professional goals, so Renee took some time to be a great girlfriend and see if that’s what it takes to make a relationship work.”
Where they are now: In the years since his relationship with Zellweger, Cooper had flings with Olivia Wilde, Jennifer Lopez and Zoe Saldaña before finally settling down with model Irina Shayk. The two got married and started a family together (they share a five-year-old daughter, Lea De Seine), but that didn’t last. They filed for divorce in 2019.
Bradley is now rumored to be dating former Hillary Clinton campaign aide Huma Abedin.
Professionally, the actor has flourished. Cooper went on to star in critical and box office hits – including American Hustle, A Star Is Born and Serena – and he even did voice-over work as Rocket in Marvel’s Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy and the new Thor: Love and Thunder.
Zellweger moved on to musician Doyle Bramhall II after her relationship with Cooper ended. They were together for seven years before splitting in 2019. Now the actress is dating HGTV star Ant Anstead, whom she met on the set of her Discovery+ show, Celebrity IOU Joyride.
For several years, Zellweger took a break from Hollywood (and the spotlight in general) after parting ways with Cooper. She ended her acting hiatus with Bridget Jones Baby in 2016 and won Best Actress for her portrayal of Judy Garland in the biopic Judy in 2020. Zellweger recently underwent a major transformation and starred in the limited tv series There’s Something About Pam as Pam Hupp.
