Hearing wrong turned out to be oh so right! Donald Faison and CaCee Cobb named their precious baby girl Wilder — and now we know why! The Exes star revealed to Us Weekly that the parents were inspired by none other than Fifty Shades of Grey director Sam Taylor-Johnson and her husband, actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson.
Faison, 40, told Us that a huge misunderstanding is actually what led to choosing the unique name. “I was in London shooting Kick-Ass 2 and [my costar] Aaron Taylor-Johnson and his wife, Sam, have a child named Wylda. And I thought they were saying ‘Wilder’ and were dropping the ‘R’ because of their British accents. And it turns out their daughter’s name was Wylda,” he explained, laughing.
“When I came home — I [told CaCee I] heard the best name ever. ‘I think Wilder is a great name for a girl,'” he recalled saying. “And my wife was like, ‘I love that name.’ And it turns out that that wasn’t the name of their child at all.”
He gushed: “It was meant to be. And it is kind of crazy because Wilder means ‘wild animal’ and her middle name is Frances, and that means ‘free.’ And so accidentally, we named our kid ‘wild and free.'”
Faison and Cobb’s newborn joined big brother Rocco, 22 months, in April. “Rocco is starting to talk a lot now,” Faison told Us. “His personality is really coming through and he’s a lot like his mother and I. He’s pretty funny.” Wilder’s latest milestones, meanwhile, include lifting her head and scooting. “We’re having a great time being parents,” he said.
When not tag teaming at home, the couple are often setting up playdates with Jessica Simpson and Eric Johnson’s two children, Maxwell and Ace. Simpson was named Wilder’s godmother, with Faison’s former Scrubs costar Zach Braff already the godfather of Rocco.
“Whenever we’re over at Jessica’s house we bring our kids and the kids play together. They love each other,” Faison told Us. “They’re kind of like cousins more than they are best friends.”
Cobb, 37, is Simpson’s former assistant, and the two have been best friends for years. Choosing Braff for such a special role was also very important to Faison. “Zach is my best friend and the way he expresses love is very unique and very fun to be a part of and feels good to be around,” the Clueless star explained. “So if anything were to ever happen to my wife and I, he is the person that I would want to raise my kids because I know he would do it with nothing but love.”
Braff, after all, was there from the very start. Faison and Cobb first met at Braff’s birthday bash nine years ago. The twosome bumped into each other at the bar, and later took a photo together. “She’ll argue that she was saying, ‘Hey,’ thinking that she knew me, but then realized, ‘Oh, that’s the guy from television.’ That’s not what it was,” the actor teased. “In my opinion, she was like, ‘Hey, you look good.’”
“I remember looking at [the photo] and wondering, ‘Who is this girl?’ because I didn’t watch Newlyweds,” he added. “Then for two years straight I chased after her and she told me no every time…and then finally she said yes and we’ve been together ever since.”
