Kate Mara and Jamie Bell have kept their romance mostly private since marrying in 2017
As is true for many Hollywood couples, Kate Mara and Jamie Bell met on the job.
While the exact date is unknown, Mara told Jimmy Fallon in 2017 that she crossed paths with her husband for the first time about 12 years prior, around 2005.
Bell’s career kicked off to great acclaim at a young age: After starring in the 2000 comedy-drama Billy Elliot when he was just 11, the actor became one of the youngest in history to win the BAFTA award for best actor in a leading role.
While Mara also started acting as a child, she largely performed in community theater, later cementing her name in the industry as an adult. In 2014, she received a Primetime Emmy nomination for her role in Netflix’s House of Cards.
The following year, Mara and Bell were publicly linked when they both starred in Fantastic Four alongside Miles Teller and Michael B. Jordan. Prior to his relationship with Mara, Bell was married to fellow actor Evan Rachel Wood. During their two-year marriage, Wood gave birth to her and Bell’s son in 2013.
After Mara and Bell wed in 2017, they added two more children to their family. The Martian star gave birth to a baby girl in May 2019 and a baby boy in November 2022. While the two children’s names remain private, Mara shared birth announcements for both children on her Instagram.
From their introduction to their secret wedding, here’s everything to know about Kate Mara and Jamie Bell’s relationship.
They met during a screen test
While it’s commonly thought that Mara and Bell met as film costars, their initial meeting was actually years earlier, around 2005, during a screen test.
Neither of the actors got the part — fate that would repeat itself in another screen test together a few years later — but they later connected after successfully landing roles in Fantastic Four.
They both starred in 2015’s Fantastic Four
Mara and Bell have been connected in the public eye since 2015 when they both starred in Josh Trank’s sci-fi film Fantastic Four. During an appearance on What Happens Live with Andy Cohen in 2017, she revealed that they “fell in love on the press tour.”
In the action movie, Mara portrays Susan Storm and Bell plays Ben Grimm, both based on Marvel comic book characters of the same name.
Ahead of the project’s release that summer, the couple sparked dating rumors when they attended the Met Gala together and held hands on the red carpet in May.
A few months later, PEOPLE confirmed that Mara and Bell started dating in early fall 2015.
Bell became a Giants fan for Mara
Originally from England, Bell is a lifelong Arsenal F.C. fan, but he quickly learned the rules of American football after establishing a relationship with Mara.
The actress’s paternal great-grandfather, Tim Mara, founded the team in 1925. Her uncle, John Mara, is currently president, CEO and co-owner of the team, per his bio.
On The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon in 2017, Mara recalled attending regular Giants games on Sundays throughout her upbringing in upstate New York. She also shared that Bell helped her build a collection of vintage Giants T-shirts after he dove into the fandom.
They got married across the street from their home
Mara and Bell married in July 2017 and they revealed details afterward.
On The Late Late Show with James Corden, Bell shared that he and Mara were wed only a few feet from their L.A. home.
“We had a lovely wedding. It was very small and intimate,” he said. “There was only about 60, 70 people there, which was lovely. We actually got married right across the street from our house.”
The Rocketman star explained that they lived across from a beautiful old home at the time and the pair asked the woman who owned the property if they could use it as a wedding location, who agreed.
Afterward, Mara and Bell would see the house they exchanged vows in and considered it “beautiful.”
Bell and Mara share two children together
In May 2019, Mara announced on Instagram that she had given birth to her first child, a baby girl, “a couple weeks ago.”
Over three years later, in November 2022, she shared on Instagram that they welcomed a second child, a baby boy.
In both Instagram posts, Mara showed photos of the babies’ feet, and the couple have kept their kids’ names private.
Bell cooked Mara vegan meals during quarantine
On CONAN, Mara — a longtime vegan — told host Conan O’Brien in 2018 that her husband gave up meat for “a little over two years.”
While she thought it was the most romantic thing he had ever done for her, “the second we got married, he would start ordering things, and he would think that I didn’t notice that there was bacon in his salad.”
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Mara revealed on Live with Kelly and Ryan in 2020 that Bell “started cooking these incredible vegan meals,” saying, “It blew my mind, I didn’t know who I married.”
Still, much like Bell’s stint of refraining from red meat, it soon became “Postmates every night,” Mara chuckled.
They keep their relationship out of the spotlight
While Mara and Bell’s careers put them on the big screen, the actors prefer to enjoy their romance away from the cameras.
In an interview with Shape in 2018, the actress revealed her stance on putting their love out there. “I’m very protective of our marriage,” she said.
According to Mara, no matter how busy they get with projects, both dedicate time to visiting each other wherever they might be.
“All the traveling we both have to do for work can make it hard, but we have a rule that we will never go longer than two weeks without seeing each other,” she explained. “Even if we have to spend all day traveling to have just 24 hours together, it’s worth it in order to have a strong relationship.”
Still, Bell doesn’t shy away from sharing heartfelt sentiments about their relationship. “There was an instant connection, like we’d known one another forever,” he told The Standard in 2017.
