If you grew up watching ’80s movies and ’90s television, chances are you know Mare Winningham and Anthony Edwards from more than one favorite. What you may not know is that the two beloved actors had been friends for 35 years before their relationship took an unexpected turn. After crossing paths in Hollywood, the two went on to live separate lives, marry and raise families before reconnecting years later. In 2021, their relationship took an unexpected turn, turning a decades-long Hollywood friendship into a love story fans didn’t see see coming.
Mare Winningham and Anthony Edwards Go Way Back
View this post on InstagramThe love story of Mare Winningham and Anthony Edwards reads like a classic romantic comedy, except their story took decades to reach its final act.
They first crossed paths as young actors when they screen-tested for the 1985 romantic comedy The Sure Thing. Neither landed the lead role, but Edwards was cast as John Cusack’s best friend, and the audition marked the beginning of a friendship that would last for decades.
The two starred together in Miracle Mile, the 1988 cult film about a young Los Angeles couple whose new romance is upended by the threat of nuclear war. They later appeared together on ER, with Winningham playing a woman who becomes fixated on Edwards’ Dr. Mark Greene.
Behind the scenes, though, their relationship was something even more lasting: a friendship that survived decades of changes in both of their lives.
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Their Friendship Eventually Turned Into Love
Both actors went on to marry, have families and build successful careers, all while remaining friends.
After their respective divorces, they found themselves living in New York City at the same time. Their longtime friendship unexpectedly became something more, and in late 2021, the pair quietly eloped.
There was no lavish Hollywood wedding. It was just the two of them, along with a friend who officiated the ceremony.
“We’re too old to throw weddings,” Edwards told Esquire in 2022.
Mare Winningham Was a Familiar Face of the ’80s and ’90s
For anyone who grew up with ’80s movies and television, Winningham’s career is filled with familiar touchstones.
She played Wendy Beamish in St. Elmo’s Fire and starred opposite Edwards in Miracle Mile. She later appeared in projects including Turner & Hooch, Mildred Pierce, Grey’s Anatomy, American Horror Story and Dopesick. She also earned an Oscar nomination for her performance in Georgia and has won two Emmys.
Her career has continued well beyond the era when audiences first came to know her, including a Broadway run in Girl From the North Country around the time her marriage to Edwards was revealed.
Anthony Edwards Grew From ’80s Movie Star to Beloved TV Doctor
Edwards was equally woven into the pop culture of the era.
Audiences knew him as Goose in Top Gun and from Revenge of the Nerds before he took on the role that would make him one of television’s most recognizable stars: Dr. Mark Greene on ER. He played Greene for eight seasons, becoming one of the central faces of the hit medical drama.
The eventual pairing of Edwards and Winningham is especially fun for longtime fans. These weren’t simply two actors who happened to meet later in life. They had been part of the same Hollywood story for decades.
Their Hollywood Friendship Took 35 Years to Become a Love Story
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♬ original sound – NickiThat’s what makes their relationship revelation so charming.
We watched Winningham and Edwards on screen while many of us were figuring out our own lives, from the angst of St. Elmo’s Fire to the romance and uncertainty of Miracle Mile and the emotional drama of ER.
All those years later, two actors who had known each other since they were young found themselves in the same city, at a different stage of life and looking at their longtime friendship in a completely different way.
It’s the kind of Hollywood love story that feels almost too perfect for a movie: Two people meet when they’re young, build separate lives, stay friends through it all and eventually discover that the person they’ve known for decades may have been the person they were meant to find all along.
“I had no idea. This was the best news I heard all day!!!!!” one fan wrote on social media, echoing the reaction of many longtime viewers.
For fans who watched Mare Winningham and Anthony Edwards become familiar faces of the ’80s and ’90s, their enduring friendship turning into love feels like an especially sweet surprise — and a reminder that sometimes the best stories take a very long time to unfold.
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