They are famous and they are in love but they never let the prying eyes of the media reach their private life.
They did not meet each other as successful professionals but as classmates at university. And probably that's what makes their love story so different than the others. Theirs is a quintessential boy-met-girl love story, except it seems quite unique.
According to The Telegraph, Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz first met at a theater workshop in1994, where they had to play quite a few "amorous" scenes together. But as their careers took off they drifted apart and never crossed paths until years later.
In 2010, destiny brought them together again when they were cast to play a married couple in the 2011 thriller Dream House, reports Metro UK. At the time, Weisz’s relationship with Darren Aronofsky and Craig’s engagement to Satsuki Mitchell were both coming to an end. They were at a low phase in their personal lives, which also allowed them to explore their feelings for each other deeply.
Within the next six months, the couple had a whirlwind romance and tied the knot in a secret ceremony, the same year. In a 2012 interview, Weisz was asked if she had experienced a sort of love at first sight on the film’s set and admitted, “It wasn’t really like that. We’d been friends for ages," reports Goalcast.
Before marrying Craig, Weisz was in a nine-year-long relationship with partner Darren Aronofsky, with whom she also has a child. But they never came near to getting married, therefore, her affair with Craig turning to marriage in such a short time did take the whole world by storm.
The actress told The Standard in 2018 that Craig changed her mind about marriage and showed her the beauty of companionship. “I never thought I would get married,” she confessed. “It was not an ambition of mine. It was the opposite. I couldn’t relate to romantic comedies — marriage seems to be the whole point of them,” she continued before concluding, “Then it just happened, happily, at a more mature moment.”
Not only did he change her mind about marriage but he made her fall in love with the idea of marriage. So much so, that she started taking pride in being his wife. “I wear my ring with pride,” she stated. “I’m taken.” She continued that train of thought in an interview with The New York Times, gushing, “I’m very happy being married, very, very happy. I love being Mrs. Craig.” She added, “I’m Mrs. Craig on my checkbooks and passports and things.”
It's been over a decade that the James Bond actor and the Oscar-winning actress are together and they believe that privacy is the secret of their successful marriage and careers. Not only did they keep their wedding a top-secret, but they hardly open up about their private lives. As HELLO! noted in 2015, they’re “one of the most private couples in Hollywood.”
Speaking with MORE magazine, Weisz explained why she likes to keep their love out of the spotlight, saying, “He’s just too famous. It would be a betrayal. You have to protect your marriage. When you’re young, you tell your girlfriends everything,” she elaborated. “One of the great pleasures of not being an adolescent is that you don’t have to share everything.” "When you’re married, that door closes. The audience goes, and you’re in your own life."
This also reflects that they want to have a healthy balance in their lives which keeps them together and their bond stronger. A couple that found love years after they expected to would want to do everything in their will to make it work despite all odds. As they are from the same field, talking about work is inevitable, but they do not enjoy bringing work, home. Therefore they spend their time doing what they enjoy the most with each other.
“There is nothing worse than two actors getting together and talking about acting. It’s like the end — it’s the worst.” So they focus on their other shared joys and interests instead, like cooking. “I love to cook. Daniel is also very good at it,” Weisz said. “We always enjoy trying out different kinds of cuisine and having fun with that," quotes Mirror.
They welcomed their daughter in 2018, another aspect that they kept hidden from the eyes of the world. But whatever is known of them, it is clear that the couple has an unfailing belief on family values, as their highly-guarded wedding was attended by only 4 guests, two of whom were Henry and Ella, Weisz and Craig's son and daughter from their previous partners.
The couple that has been together for 16 years now has proved that there is no one formula for making a relationship successful. They have defied norms by choosing what they felt was right for them at a time when leaving their partners would have brought them judgments. Not just that, they know that they want to be together and for that, they do whatever it takes to keep their relationship healthy. A trait that is becoming more and more elusive these days.
References:
https://www.goalcast.com/2019/11/22/daniel-craig-rachel-weisz-love-story/
https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/rachel-weisz-leaving-lonely-single-5925419
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/20/style/rachel-weisz-disobedience-movie.html
