14 Times Celebrities Played Matchmaker

These are the stars you need to befriend if you want to fall in love with another A-lister

01 of 14

Huma Abedin & Bradley Cooper

Huma Abedin, Anna Wintour, Bradley Cooper
Theo Wargo/WireImage; Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic (2)

Matchmaker: Anna Wintour

In July 2022, PEOPLE confirmed the A Star Is Born actor/director and Abedin have been dating for a "few months" and were introduced by the Vogue editor-in-chief, according toPage Six, who was first to report news of the new couple.

Both Cooper and Abedin separately attended the 2022 Met Gala in New York City on May 2.

Reps for Cooper and Abedin did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's requests for comment.

Cooper shares 5-year-old daughter Lea De Seine with ex Irina Shayk. He and the model broke up in 2019 after four years together. And Abedin, the longtime aide to Hillary Clinton, shares 10-year-old son Jordan with her ex-husband, disgraced former congressman Anthony Weiner.

02 of 14

Renée Zellweger & Ant Anstead

Renee Zellweger and Ant Anstead
Ant Anstead/Instagram; Getty

Matchmaker: Drew & Jonathan Scott

Zellweger was the first guest on Celebrity IOU: Joyride — which, like the Scott brothers' HGTV series Celebrity IOU, features A-listers paying back friends and mentors with makeover surprises (in the spinoff show's case, their getting dream cars via Anstead). On her episode, the Oscar winner wanted to give back to Jerome and Jerald Cowan, the twin brothers and nurses who cared for her friend and publicist, Nanci Ryder, before her death from ALS in 2020.

Anstead and Zellweger quickly hit it off and starting dating shortly thereafter. The two made their first public appearance as a couple months later, in August 2021, and went Instagram official with their relationship a month later. Because of it all, Jonathan told PEOPLE in April 2022 that he and his twin definitely take credit for the successful relationship.

So could wedding bells be in their future? "Who knows," Drew told PEOPLE. "I better be the ring bearer, that's all I care about."

03 of 14

Alfred Molina & Jennifer Lee

Alfred Molina wedding

Matchmaker: Jonathan Groff

Spider-Man actor Molina and Frozen director Lee tied the knot in a romantic garden ceremony in August 2021, Lee announced on her social media.

One shot showed the couple sharing a sweet kiss in a garden, while Molina and Lee happily exchanged vows underneath a floral archway — with Frozen star Jonathan Groff appearing to act as the officiant — in another picture.

Lee also gave a shoutout to Groff in another Instagram post, writing in the caption, "This beautiful, generous soul is the reason Fred and I met."

Alongside a photo of herself with the Broadway star, Lee added, "We owe him the world."

04 of 14

Leslie Odom Jr. & Nicolette Robinson

Leslie Odom Jr. and his wife Nicolette Robinson , BILLY PORTER
Shannon Finney/Getty Images. INSET: GETTY IMAGES

Matchmaker: Billy Porter

During a January 2021 chat on Live with Kelly and Ryan, Odom Jr. recounted how Broadway star Porter was a professor of his at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and later tapped him to be his assistant director on a show in New York City.

Odom Jr. recalled "this really talented ... college junior or senior" — a.k.a. Robinson — auditioned for a part, and he just felt their paths would cross, even if she didn't land a role in the show.

"As fate would have it," Odom Jr. recalled, she scored a different part in the show and as assistant director, "it was my responsibility ... to make sure she felt welcome and part of the family," he joked. The two started hanging out after their production wrapped — and never stopped.

05 of 14

Chris Pratt & Katherine Schwarzenegger

pratt-schwarzenegger-1-2000
Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic; Noel Vasquez/Getty Images; Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for Celebrity Fight Night

Matchmaker: Maria Shriver

Chris Pratt and Katherine Schwarzenegger went from friendly to future spouses in less than a year, and they do have Schwarzenegger's mom, Maria Shriver, to thank for their match-up. "Maria helped set them up," an insider said.

06 of 14

Priyanka Chopra & Nick Jonas

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Rob Latour/REX/Shutterstock. Inset: Evan Agostini/Getty

Matchmaker: Ralph Lauren

Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas have the designer to thank for their relationship … kind of. While Lauren didn't exactly hook this pair up with romantic intentions, he did dress them both for the 2018 Met Gala.

"We were both wearing Ralph Lauren and we decided to go together … Yeah, we were on the same table and we already know each other," Chopra said during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live. "So he was like 'Hey, you wanna go together?' And I was like 'Yeah, okay, let's go together.' It ended up working out."

07 of 14

Sophie Turner & Joe Jonas

The Costume Institute Benefit celebrating the opening of Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garcons: Art of the In-Between, Inside, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA - 01 May 2017
Taylor Jewell/Vogue/REX/Shutterstock; Inset: Stephen Lovekin/Variety/REX/Shutterstock

Matchmaker: Hailee Steinfeld

After Steinfeld worked with Joe Jonas' band DNCE on their 2015 track "Rock Bottom," Game of Thrones star Sophie Turner reached out to her close friend for details on the singer.

"I mean, I will say, I did get that text from Sophie being like, 'So tell me about Joe,' and I was like, 'Go for it,' " Steinfeld shared on Nova 96.9. Turner took the actress's advice and announced her engagement to the frontman in October 2017.

08 of 14

Prince Harry & Meghan Markle

Announcement Of Prince Harry's Engagement To Meghan Markle
Samir Hussein/WireImage; Inset: Neil Rasmus/BFA/Shutterstock

Matchmaker: Possibly Misha Nonoo

"We were introduced by a mutual friend," Prince Harry revealed during the couple's joint engagement interview. "It was definitely a set-up — it was a blind date." Although they have declined to confirm the friend's identity in order to "protect her privacy," it's long been speculated that designer Misha Nonoo is the mystery connection.

Nonoo's ex-husband Alexander Giles once worked with Harry's cousin, Princess Eugenie. Meanwhile, the designer met Markle several years ago when they were seated next to one another at a lunch. "I love her to death," Nonoo told the Evening Standard of the soon-to-be royal. "She is the coolest girl in the world. She has the most remarkable and generous spirit. I aspire to be as philanthropic as she is, and to have as much of an impact as her."

09 of 14

Meghan Trainer & Daryl Sabara

chloe grace moretz
Source: Meghan Trainor/Instagram; Inset: Getty

Matchmaker: Chloë Grace Moretz

Meghan Trainor has Moretz to thank for her romance with Daryl Sabara, who's best known for his role in the Spy Kids film franchise. "I asked every person I met since day one, 'Find me a boyfriend!' Like, especially new friends too," the "Better" songstress tells Chelsea Handler on her eponymous Netflix show.

"Chloë Grace Moretz is a friend of mine, and day one of meeting her, I was like, 'You know anybody that I could date? Or love? Whatever,'" Trainor recalled. "And she's like, 'I know the nicest guy in the world, Daryl, and you should meet him.' I was like, 'Daryl? Okay.'" It worked: The two got married in December 2018 and are expecting their first child together.

10 of 14

Sofia Vergara & Joe Manganiello

SOFIA & JOE
Gabe Ginsberg/WireImage; Inset: Getty

Matchmaker: Jesse Tyler Ferguson

Yet another reason we'd like to brunch with Ferguson: He helped introduce Sofia Vergara to husband Joe Manganiello after her split from Nick Loeb. "The day that I sent the press release [announcing the breakup], Joe immediately contacted Jesse Tyler Ferguson, like, 'Please, please, please tell her I want her number.' And I'm like, 'Jesse, no, he's too handsome,' " Vergara recalled. "Then, after two days of Jesse trying to convince me, I'm like, 'Okay, give him my number.' I'm thinking, I'm in New Orleans shooting, and he's in L.A. Nothing's going to happen. But we started talking a lot, and then he showed up in New Orleans. Since then we've been inseparable."

11 of 14

Cameron Diaz & Benji Madden

CAMERON & BENJI
Ramey; Inset: FilmMagic

Matchmaker: Nicole Richie

"I'm going to take responsibility for everything!" said Richie of playing matchmaker between Cameron Diaz and husband Benji Madden (the twin brother of Richie's husband, Joel Madden). "I am a devoted sister-in-law." Yes, family dinner envy is officially a real thing.

12 of 14

Emily Blunt & John Krasinski

EMILY & JOHN
Splash News Online; Inset: Getty

Matchmaker: Anne Hathaway

If you remember correctly, Hathaway gave her newly acquired Paris wardrobe to Emily Blunt at the end of 2006's The Devil Wears Prada. Even better: Hathaway then introduced her to John Krasinski, whom she married in 2010. (And it's not the only The Devil Wears Prada love match: Blunt introduced her sister Felicity to costar Stanley Tucci, and they tied the knot too!)

13 of 14

Ellen DeGeneres & Portia de Rossi

ELLEN & PORTIA
Jonathan Leibson/WireImage; Inset: Rex USA

Matchmaker: Ed Helms

We wouldn't necessarily call Helms a modern-day cupid, but this is a decent start: While running lines in Portia de Rossi's trailer on the set of Arrested Development, Ellen DeGeneres was on their TV. "This was before you guys were an item," Helms recalled to the now-married DeGeneres. "She said, 'Man, I am so into her.' Cut to two months later, and you guys were a thing. I take full credit because I didn't talk her out of it." Makes sense.

14 of 14

James Corden & Julia Carey

2016 LACMA Art + Film Gala Honoring Robert Irwin And Kathryn Bigelow Presented By Gucci - Arrivals

Matchmaker: Dominic Cooper

Late Late Show host James Corden was introduced to his now-wife Julia Carey by his former roommate. Cooper and Corden had gotten very close when they shared a home — which happened to have only one bed — so it's no wonder the actor was able to help his friend make a love connection. "We'd often wake up curled next to each other," Cooper told the Evening Standard about living with Corden. Cooper is now godfather to Corden and Carey's son Max.

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