Paul Bettany was in Italy when he watched the second plane hit the Twin Towers on television on September 11, 2001.
Jennifer Connelly was in New York, where he had met her earlier that same year while filming A Beautiful Mind. They were both in other relationships and had never been on a date, but Bettany spent the next two days trying to get in touch with her.
That was when he wondered why he was so desperate to know she was okay. “I realized I was in love”, he recalled years later.
When he finally managed to speak to her, he was direct: “I’m coming over and let’s get married”. According to Bettany, at that point they hadn’t even been formally dating.
The couple eventually married in Scotland on January 1, 2003. More than two decades later, they are still together.