Cleveland Rocks

This topic always intrigues me. Do you think it's okay for the actors/actresses to get involved with each other in real life or do you just cringe at the notion and think it is a bad idea? Do you think it enhances their chemistry together on the show (if their characters are together) or do you think it doesn't really make a difference? Do you think it's a bad idea because if they end up breaking things off, it can get too complicated?

For instance, it is fact (both have point blankly admitted it) Josh and Katie dated for an extensive time during the beginning of the show (extensive for Hollywood standards!) and it is also highly speculated that James and Katie had an extremely short fling of some kind..

Other extremely highly speculative romantic off-screen pairings on current, hit shows, where basically the vast majority of media reports these actors/actresses are together romantically right as I type this are...

One Tree Hill
Chad Michael Murray and Sophia Bush

The O.C.
Benjamin Mckenzie and Mischa Barton
Adam Brody and Rachel Bilson


I just listed the other two shows because I watch them and I think a fairly good number of other Creek fans also watch one or either of them..


What do you guys think?

For me, I do think that when actor and actresses get together romantically, you can always kind of tell in their fictional characters that they currently
are or were an item. I could always tell this with Josh and Katie. There was always something a little
extra that I was seeing with them on the screen. I can't really put my finger on it, but I think it only enhanced their characters and chemistry of P/J. Same goes with Chad and Sophia from One Tree Hill. And I also see it with Ben and Mischa on the O.C. as well as Adam and Rachel on the O.C. Mischa plays really well off of Ben I think. She almost becomes a better actress whenever she is doing scenes with him. I do see chemistry with their characters and I do think it has to do with the speculative off-screen romance. Same with Adam and Rachel. Man, Seth and Summer are off the charts with chemistry and I do think their speculative romance has something to do with it.

So, I guess what I am saying it that I am all for it because I feel as if it does pour onto their characters somehow. What does everyone else think? Does it make a difference or not?

[ 02-20-2004: Message edited Cleveland Rocks ]

[ 02-20-2004: Message edited Cleveland Rocks ]

[ 02-20-2004: Message edited Cleveland Rocks ]

Nikki K

I don't mean to be rude but I think that's just what *you* think. In my opinion Mischa is a great actress, I loved her ever since her 'Once and Again' days, where she had great chemistry with Evan Rachel Wood. And though they played a couple on screen, I doubt they dated in real life. And even if they did - I say, it's none of our business! Give those people some privacy! It's great to enjoy romance between TV show couples. But every kind of speculation involving real people or even real people shipping does not make any sense to me - it's far too Yellow Press for my taste.

J@NeY

Ahhhhh Mischa. Naw I don't wanna get started on her coz it isn't fair to the people that Like her coz I don't [img]smilies/look.gif[/img]

As for stars dating - It's up to them. They are human and when the teh camaras aint rolling it's a whole other story and what they do in there personal life is up to them.

But famous people cannot expect the public to stay out of there personal life. They choose to get into acting and they know the fame that can come with that... people wanna know what there idol's do in there life apart from the charaters they play.

So famous people that hate there public life being invaded should have thought about that before they decided on that career. I do feel bad for the stars but fame does have a price.

Cleveland Rocks

Actually, I changed the wording of my post because my words got twisted with what I was trying to say. Actually, I was trying to give Mischa a compliment with what I was trying to say but it just came out all wrong.. [img]smilies/frown.gif[/img] I will say this though, I do think that Mischa is stunningly beautiful. She just glows on the screen with her beauty. She has those model-like perfect features but even more than that, she is just plain pretty and does have a huge screen presence.

But, the intention of my post was not to sit and explore every detail of what these couples do on a daily basis! I am not trying to find out where Ben and Mischa are hanging out or fine details about the past Josh and Katie romance. All I was trying to get at is if anyone thinks off-screen romances benefit the acting ability of those involved on the screen. That is certainly not the same as invading their privacy! Nothing to do with it.

However, if you go to numerous boards on this forum, this one included, there have been many, many threads regarding romances and personal lives of actors. Most you find on the gossip threads but it is all over the place.

The fact of the matter is Hollywood=media=speculation=public interest, etc..
This is nothing new and never will be.

[ 02-20-2004: Message edited Cleveland Rocks ]

ScarletGirl

Interesting question, one with several parts. Firstly, I say "whoever makes ya happy," and if that happens to be two cast members, whether their characters are in a romance on screen or not, go for it.

Now, do I think it shows on screen? Well, hmmm, I'm tempted to say yes, but I want to qualify that, as some famous offscreen pairings (Tom/Nicole, Ben/Jen) who lasted, according to Hollywood standards, for more than a nanosecond, fell flat when paired up. Why, I don't know. I also think some actors just have "it" on screen together, regardless of their offscreen relationship.

Which leads to: what happens when you break up? I think that could make things tough for actors, because even though they're professionals, its not an easy thing to have to come face to face with an ex each and every day. Especially if they're involved in an onscreen romance. Josh has said that when Pacey and Joey were first getting together it was not the easiest situation in the world - and they had a good "ex" relationship. I can't imagine if a bitter breakup ensued that an onscreen pair would still be able to bring the heat, ya know?

Cleveland Rocks

Excellent points. You are so correct with this summary. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

Josh and Katie were like beyond professional. I could not imagine what it would have been like to start up a fictional romance on the screen with someone whenever you are just concluding, for good, an off screen romance in real life. Although, I also think that the close relationship of Josh and Katie in real life, whether romantic or platonic, gave the fans of P/J an extra special something just because I feel like they had such awesome chemistry as P/J, and I also feel like that had a lot to do with their off screen closeness..

For me, I am also a big fan of Ross and Rachel on Friends. I just think that David and Jennifer have excellent chemistry in playing Ross and Rachel. I nearly melted with last nights episode, but that's beside the point. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] What I am getting at is that David and Jen have been entirely platonic throughout playing Ross and Rachel for ten years, and yet that makes not one ounce of difference. They sizzle for me on the screen in their characters.

newmom5497

I must admit that I find it intriguing. And I think its only natural to get involved when you are young, attreactive, and working so closely with someone....especially in that capacity(Dawson's Creek) where they were all in Wilmington and basically knew no-one when they first got there. All they had were each other so I didnt find it surprising that some of them hooked up.

And I think its great how basically all of them stayed very "professional" on-screen(and off apparently) even though they were all rumored to have hooked-up at one time or another. Especially Katie/Josh....their romantic scenes were so endearing..its hard to beleive they were "ex's".

Cleveland Rocks

I totally agree with you, newmom.. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

Good points. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

ScarletGirl

Yeah, in regard to Josh and Katie, I think they just had an innate spark onscreen, regardless of what happened off. I mean, and this is from the "they were just antagonist bantering partners" S1, they seemed to have something that made me sit up and take notice. And I'm talking from a strictly "hey, they play well off each other" not-in-a-romantic-way context. And that all happened before they dated in real life.

Now, as to the after, when PJ were getting together on the show - they sold it, seemingly effortlessly, even at that point in time. Perhaps, by that time, any still sensitive feelings in regard to their past, had faded. Perhaps they could just convey something onscreen. I'm not really sure - but they are definitely a case of having onscreen "it" no matter what their off-screen status was.

Good example of Ross/Rachel. I'm not a super fan, but I enjoy them, and there's a case of never being anything but friends.

Exactly. Especially because they were in the Wilmington bubble. I mean, look at the number of hookups in college - DC was like their college campus. They were all around the same age, away from family, new to the world of tv. I would have been more shocked if none of them had ever dated the other!

Brighter Than Sunshine

well i think there are good and bad things about dating your co-stars, like a good thing is you have amazing chemistry on and off screen, but a bad thing is mixing buissness with pleasure like michelle said in the howard stern interview, but i think you can tell if the they dated or not, like take katie & James, there are pretty reliable sources about them dating, such as michelle and james, and i think its great that they can stay friends after that, but you never no, sometimes co-stars can't stand each other after breaking up and it will effect the show, so you get the sense that their characters hate each other, even though its really the people behind the make up, do you get what im trying to say? [img]smilies/tongue.gif[/img]

Cleveland Rocks

Exactly. ITA. I love your "sit up and take notice" words because that is a wonderful description.

I thought I heard Kevin even came to the conclusion way back in season one that P/J needed to hook up eventually. I think he was pretty impressed by their bantering in season one. I think it exceeded his expectations and he just knew that they were destined for romance just based on the solid chemistry that he saw with them.

Cleveland Rocks

Oh, I totally get what you are saying and ITA. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

coldwater1010

I agree I think some off screen couples work amazingly well on screen like Hepburn and Tracy and some should just be banned from ever working together ever. And with some on screen couples their on screen chemistry works well probably because they never hooked up off screen. Of course you have some on screen couples who supposedly hated each other off screen, but you wouldn't know it watching them like Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepard. I guess that's why chemistry is so indefinable because there is no formula to it. It either there or it isn't. I think if anyone could figure out what makes some couples work on screen and why some don't they'd make a small fortune because it really is the ten million dollar question.
I personally don't really care if celebrities hook up on set, but I think if I was creating a show it would make me kind of nervous because Hollywood relationships rarely last long and you never know how people are going to behave with each other once they break up especially if it's a bad break up and that can affect their perforamnce.

That's true for me to. When I first started watching the show I didn't know that much about the actors or their private lives, but watching KH and JJ interact in s1 was always the best part of watching the show for me. Which is probably one of the reasons why I didn't enjoy s2 as much because they hardly had any interaction and I remember there were rumours that that was because they'd broken up and that made things awkward for them on set. I don't know if that's true or not.

[ 02-21-2004: Message edited coldwater1010 ]

ScarletGirl

Oh, wow, I was thinking of Bruce and Cybill, too, but forgot to mention them. They are a classic example - and in that "bantering" mode, to boot - of two people who could barely be civil to each other offscreen (supposedly) but popped when the cameras were rolling.

Exactly! That's why, especially in the soap genre, you see alot of dropped storylines. What was thought a good idea became an instant bad one when the two actors in question just didn't have it.

I can see that. I've heard the Josh/Katie S2 rumors, too (not that their breakup was so "bad," <however one measures bad, but about the lack of S2 interaction between the characters) and I would imagine it could cause a problem for TPTB of a tv show to have to deal with. In the end, though, I guess they have to hope for the best.

Cleveland Rocks

Another classic example of two people that clearly despised each other off-screen but were an absolute perfect match on the screen goes way back to the classic I love Lucy show with William Frawley (sp?) and Vivian Vance. The two that played the sidekicks.. Fred and Ethel Mertz.

It is a well known fact that those two clearly hated each other off the screen. So much so, that Vivian could not even be in the same room with him for a great amount of time when the cameras were not rolling.

And yet, when they had to get into character gear and become Fred and Ethel, they were like perfection! Some speculated it was because they hated each other sooooo incredibly much in real life, they enjoyed giving each other pop shots/digs and stuff on the screen, and thus, some of their real life detest for each other poured onto the screen.. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

There were even jokes on the set that the bigger fight or disagreement that William and Vivian had on a particular day, the better the performance and less retakes they had to do because their scenes as Fred and Ethel were the best on the those days when things were extremely bad for William and Vivian in real life! [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

Good stuff. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

[ 02-21-2004: Message edited Cleveland Rocks ]