On-screen siblings turning into off-screen couples is one of those showbiz curveballs that always makes people do a double take. It happens, it freaks some fans out, and yes, the actors know it is a little awkward. Here are two high-profile examples that had people talking.
Chris Pratt and Emily VanCamp met on Everwood and started dating anyway
Pratt and VanCamp met on Everwood back in 2004, where they played brother and sister. Then they started dating, which, as you can imagine, got a very specific reaction from parts of the fandom. Pratt, now a Marvel star, said at the time that the feedback ranged from supportive to... less so.
"Yeah, we've pretty much gotten used to the response of, 'Ew, that's weird. That's creepy,'" he told TV Guide in August 2006. "The people who know us are happy and probably expected it to happen eventually. But yeah, every once in a while we get that one person that's like, 'That's really creepy. You just kissed your sister.'"
They were together for nearly three years before splitting. After that, Pratt married Anna Faris in 2009; they were together until 2018 and welcomed their son, Jack, in 2012.
Lauren Graham and Peter Krause clicked on Parenthood
Parenthood premiered in 2010, and Graham and Krause played siblings on the show. Off camera, they grew close fast. Graham has said their connection was instant and built on real conversation, not set gossip.
"We couldn't stop talking," she told Good Housekeeping for her January 2017 cover story. "Not about ourselves, but about the world and books and family. "
When they finally got together, there was no confusion about what it was.
"Once we got together, there was no game play[ing]. It was like, 'You like me, and I like you.' It gave me an understanding of life: This is how things happen, and it's completely random."
So yeah, it is a little strange when on-screen siblings become off-screen partners. But in both cases, the people involved knew exactly what they were getting into — and everyone else eventually adjusted.