6 Hollywood Actors Who Left Their Wives For Younger and Attractive Women

6 Hollywood Actors Who Left Their Wives For Younger Attractive Women 

Hollywood marriages do not always have a fairytale ending, many A-listers have walked the aisle multiple times. Most actors get attracted to their co-stars on the sets of their latest projects and turn their encounters into clandestine affairs leading to high-profile divorce. Here is a list of well-known actors who passed up their first marriages in favor of relationships with younger ladies. 

1. Tom Cruise 

Tom Cruise told Rolling Stone about his first wife Mimi Rogers in 1986, "I thought she was extremely bright." The pair met at a dinner party, and in May 1987 they got married. The Top Gun actor filed for divorce on Dec. 9, 1989. He later described meeting Nicole Kidman as "instant lust" to Vanity Fair in 1995. As per US Weekly, Cruise married Kidman in December 1990 at an intimate Christmas Eve ceremony. Their families attended the low-key celebration, which took place in Telluride, Colorado. In 1992 they adopted daughter Isabella and in 1995 the pair adopted a son named Connor. Cruise once again filed for divorce, this time from Kidman, stating they couldn't agree on anything in February 2001. The Mission Impossible actor created history by declaring his love for Katie Holmes by jumping on the couch in 2005 on The Oprah Winfrey Show. April 2006 they welcomed their daughter Suri Cruise and in November Holmes and Cruise got married in a lavish ceremony. As per Instyle, the couple filed for divorce in June 2012, alleging disagreements over Church of Scientology doctrine.

2. Ben Affleck 

The couple did not start dating until four years after they initially met on the sets of Pearl Harbor. Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner became close friends after they starred in the 2003 film Daredevil, and by the summer of 2004, their friendship had taken a romantic turn. The couple welcomed three children after getting married in June 2005: a son named Samuel Garner and two daughters, Violet Anne and Seraphina Rose Elizabeth. As per People, the couple announced their separation in 2015 days after celebrating their tenth marriage anniversary. Their formal divorce filing was filed on April 13, 2017, along with a request for shared legal and physical custody of their three children. From the time Affleck and Jennifer Lopez first started dating in 2002 to their revived romance in 2021, their turbulent romance has been keenly watched for 20 years. The couple wed on July 16, 2022, in Las Vegas. "It's a beautiful outcome that this has happened in this way at this time in our lives where we can really appreciate and celebrate each other and respect each other," Lopez said then as per People. "We always did, but we have even more of an appreciation because we know that life can take you in different directions."

3. Brad Pitt 

Before their opulent 2000 wedding, Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston had a covert relationship after their managers introduced them. The couple announced their separation in 2005 with a formal statement, "We would like to announce that after seven years together we have decided to formally separate." "I really do hope that someday we can be friends again," Aniston told Vanity Fair after their shocking split. "I will love [Brad] for the rest of my life. He's a fantastic man. I don't regret any of it, and I'm not going to beat myself up about it," she said. In 2004 Pitt and Angelina Jolie fell in love while filming a spy thriller Mr. and Mrs. Smith, in May 2006 the couple welcomed their first daughter Shiloh Jolie-Pitt in Namibia. In July 2008 the couple welcomed twins Knox Leon and Vivienne Marcheline in Nice, France, they wed at their Chateau Miraval in France, in front of all six of their children. As per Glamour, in 2016 Jolie filed for divorce citing irreconcilable differences, and the couple has since then been locked in an ugly legal battle. 

4. Johnny Depp 

Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis were romantically involved in 1998. Daughter Lily-Rose Depp was born in 1999, and son Jack Depp was born in 2002. After spending 14 years together, the pair parted ways in 2012. Depp told Rolling Stone in 2013, "It wasn’t easy on [Paradis]. It wasn't easy on me. It wasn't easy on the kids. It doesn't stop the fact that you care for that person, and they're the mother of your kids, and you'll always know each other, and you're always gonna be in each other's lives because of those kids. You might as well make the best of it." "She was attentive, she was loving, she was smart, she was kind, she was funny, she was understanding. We had many things in common," Depp recalled meeting Amber Heard on the sets of Rum Dairy in 2011. In 2015, the pair exchanged vows in a secret island wedding, but they separated after only 15 months. As per People, Heard sued for divorce on the grounds of irreconcilable differences and, in response to accusations of domestic abuse, obtained a temporary restraining order against her husband. In August 2016, the couple came to a $7 million divorce settlement. The couple went through a humiliating defamation case, in June 2022 Depp won with the jury awarding him $15 million in damages. 

5. Ryan Phillippe

Ryan Phillippe met Reese Witherspoon at her 21st birthday party in 1997. They soon turned into the Hollywood 'it' couple with their 1999 hit Cruel Intentions. The same year in June Witherspoon and Phillippe tied the knot in Charleston, South Carolina at the Old Wide Awake Plantation. As per People, by September the couple welcomed their first daughter, Ava, in October 2003 the couple was blessed with a son named Deacon. "We are saddened to announce that Reese and Ryan have decided to formally separate," a rep for the couple said in 2006 while announcing their split. "They remain committed to their family and we ask that you please respect their privacy and the safety of their children at this time." Phillippe met Abbie Cornish in 2006 on the set of the film, Stop-Loss, amid divorce proceedings, the couple dated from February 2007 to 2010. As per People, “Abbie ended the relationship with Ryan and she moved out of their home,” a source said then amid Phillippe's cheating allegations. 

6. Marc Anthony

Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez first became together when the Rain Over Me hitmaker was playing in the Broadway production of The Capeman, which ended on March 28, 1998. After dating for six months the couple secretly tied the knot in June 2004 at Lopez's home in Beverly Hills. In February 2008 they announced the arrival of twins Emme and Max. In July 2011 they announced their separation, a close source revealed then, "after months of nonstop arguing" and "Marc and Jennifer decided it's best to go their separate ways for the sake of their two kids." In 2014 the famous couple finalized their divorce. Anthony started dating model Shannon De Lima, who was just 23 back then. He married De Lima after his divorce from Lopez was finalized, however, the Punta Cana singer divorced De Lima in 2017. As per People, he is currently married to model Nadia Ferreira, the couple tied the knot in a lavish Miami wedding in January 2023. The couple welcomed their first son in June 2023. 

Editor's note: This article was originally published on March 24, 2024. It has since been updated.