Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick’s Relationship Timeline: From Broadway to Babies

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Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick’s Relationship Timeline: From Broadway to Babies

Forever and always! Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick bonded over a shared love of musical theater in the ‘90s and nearly 30 years after meeting, they are keeping the music and their love alive. In November 1991, shortly after Parker split from longtime boyfriend Robert Downey Jr., the couple met through the world of Broadway. Broderick was introduced to his future wife thanks to two of Parker’s brothers, Pippin and Toby, who helped start the Naked Angels Theater Company in New York City. It wasn’t until a few months after they first crossed paths, however, that the Ferris Bueller’s Day Off star asked Parker on a date. In 1996, the pair starred alongside one another for the first time in Broadway’s How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. Ahead of the show’s debut, Parker opened up to the Los Angeles Times about her budding romance with the Inspector Gadget star, calling him “the funniest fellow I’ve met in my whole life.” “He’s so bright, so handsome, I think he’s the most handsome man I’ve seen in my life,” she told the publication. “And he inspires me. I’m mad for him, totally.” After tying the knot in 1997, the couple welcomed their first child, son James in 2002. Seven years later they became parents to twin girls, Marion and Tabitha, via surrogate. [jwplayer QdpiAFHP-zhNYySv2] Throughout their 20-plus year romance, the two stars have kept their relationship as private as possible, which Parker attributed in 2013 to their background in the theater. "Matthew and I come from a different time and place,” the Divorce alum told Harper’s Bazaar in 2013. “When we were young people, all we ever wanted was to be good working actors. [My dream] was to work in theater, to be around those people whose work I was in total awe of. Nobody talked about being a celebrity.” She continued: “So, when our marriage came up in conversation, it wouldn't occur to us that we were obligated to respond to allegations or gossip. You have to be a bit circumspect, but you also have to take up a position, and you have to stick to it.” The Sex and the City alum, did, however, gush about her husband and explain why her marriage works. "I love Matthew Broderick. Call me crazy, but I love him,” she told the outlet. “We can only be in the marriage we are. We're very devoted to our family and our lives. I love our life. I love that he's the father of my children, and it's because of him that there's this whole other world that I love." The duo have maintained a professional distance from one another for the most part, but in 2020 they prepared to take the Broadway stage together for Plaza Suite. “I feel I’ve waited a lifetime,” Parker wrote via Instagram in September 2019, announcing her stage comeback with her husband. Their show was put on hold amid the coronavirus pandemic, but Parker told Rosie O’Donnell in an interview in March that they were “optimistic about the opportunity to do it in the future when it’s safer to gather again.” It’s now scheduled to run from March 19, 2021, through July 18. Scroll down to see Parker and Broderick’s relationship over the years. [podcast_block]

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Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick’s Relationship Timeline: From Broadway to Babies

Forever and always! Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick bonded over a shared love of musical theater in the ‘90s and nearly 30 years after meeting, they are keeping the music and their love alive. In November 1991, shortly after Parker split from longtime boyfriend Robert Downey Jr., the couple met through the world of Broadway. Broderick was introduced to his future wife thanks to two of Parker’s brothers, Pippin and Toby, who helped start the Naked Angels Theater Company in New York City. It wasn’t until a few months after they first crossed paths, however, that the Ferris Bueller’s Day Off star asked Parker on a date. In 1996, the pair starred alongside one another for the first time in Broadway’s How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. Ahead of the show’s debut, Parker opened up to the Los Angeles Times about her budding romance with the Inspector Gadget star, calling him “the funniest fellow I’ve met in my whole life.” “He’s so bright, so handsome, I think he’s the most handsome man I’ve seen in my life,” she told the publication. “And he inspires me. I’m mad for him, totally.” After tying the knot in 1997, the couple welcomed their first child, son James in 2002. Seven years later they became parents to twin girls, Marion and Tabitha, via surrogate. [jwplayer QdpiAFHP-zhNYySv2] Throughout their 20-plus year romance, the two stars have kept their relationship as private as possible, which Parker attributed in 2013 to their background in the theater. "Matthew and I come from a different time and place,” the Divorce alum told Harper’s Bazaar in 2013. “When we were young people, all we ever wanted was to be good working actors. [My dream] was to work in theater, to be around those people whose work I was in total awe of. Nobody talked about being a celebrity.” She continued: “So, when our marriage came up in conversation, it wouldn't occur to us that we were obligated to respond to allegations or gossip. You have to be a bit circumspect, but you also have to take up a position, and you have to stick to it.” The Sex and the City alum, did, however, gush about her husband and explain why her marriage works. "I love Matthew Broderick. Call me crazy, but I love him,” she told the outlet. “We can only be in the marriage we are. We're very devoted to our family and our lives. I love our life. I love that he's the father of my children, and it's because of him that there's this whole other world that I love." The duo have maintained a professional distance from one another for the most part, but in 2020 they prepared to take the Broadway stage together for Plaza Suite. “I feel I’ve waited a lifetime,” Parker wrote via Instagram in September 2019, announcing her stage comeback with her husband. Their show was put on hold amid the coronavirus pandemic, but Parker told Rosie O’Donnell in an interview in March that they were “optimistic about the opportunity to do it in the future when it’s safer to gather again.” It’s now scheduled to run from March 19, 2021, through July 18. Scroll down to see Parker and Broderick’s relationship over the years. [podcast_block]

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November 1991

The couple met in 1991 thanks to Parker’s brothers, Pippin and Toby, and their love of Broadway. After Broderick got involved with the Naked Angels Theater Company, which Parker’s brothers helped start, the two were introduced and quickly became an item.

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March 1996

The two lovebirds starred in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying on Broadway together in 1996, marking Parker’s first time singing onstage in 16 years. “I’m so nervous acting opposite him,” the former Annie star told the Los Angeles Times ahead of the show’s debut. “I don’t know how we’re going to manage this without laughing hysterically at each other. We do not discuss it. I don’t even want to rehearse — I’m going to go onstage with a big blinder on my head — I don’t know what I’m thinking.”

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May 1997

The couple surprised 100 guests on May 19, 1997, when they tied the knot at New York’s Angel Orensanz Synagogue. The pair’s friends thought they were coming for a party, not a wedding. In typical SATC fashion, Parker donned an unconventional gown, which was black, not white — and it was off the rack. Their reception featured show tunes that blasted until 2 a.m., according to Brides.

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October 2002

The lovebirds welcomed their first child, son James, named after his late grandfather, James Broderick, on October 28, 2002.

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June 2009

Seven years after welcoming their first child, the couple became parents to twins Marion and Tabitha via surrogate on June 22, 2009.

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December 2011

During an interview with The Telegraph, the Hocus Pocus actress admitted that her marriage hasn’t always been easy. “We’ve been together for 20 years and you have good days, you have decent days, and you have bad days. That’s a marriage,” she told the outlet. “That’s a relationship. That’s a friendship, even — relationships outside the marriage run the same course.”

Parker continued: “If you’re in it for the long haul and you want meaningful relationships, you are going to go through lots of different periods.”

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August 2013

“I love Matthew Broderick. Call me crazy, but I love him,” the Sex and the City alum said in the September 2013 issue of Harper’s Bazaar. “We can only be in the marriage we are. We’re very devoted to our family and our lives. I love our life. I love that he’s the father of my children, and it’s because of him that there’s this whole other world that I love.”

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November 2014

"We really are friends beyond everything else and we talk a lot," the Tony-winning star said on the Meredith Vieira Show in November 2014. "Keep talking I guess, I know how cliché that is. Too much silence is definitely not a good idea." Broderick also revealed that his wife is “really fun” and makes him laugh which is “good” in a relationship.

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October 2014

The couple have always trusted one another, especially when it comes to their relationships with their exes. After Robert Downey Jr., who dated Parker from 1984 to 1991, said he wanted to catch up with his former flame in October 2014, Broderick told Us that he was totally cool with it. "Of course, he’s more than [OK to connect her] — they’re great friends,” the Tower Heist actor said at the time. “What would I say? No? Who do you think I am? No, I love Robert Downey and Sarah Jessica Parker so [yes].”

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January 2018

“I know this sounds nuts, but we have lives that allow us to be away and come back together,” the Divorce alum said during an appearance on Girlboss Radio with Sophia Amoruso. “His work life takes him here, and mine takes me there. In some ways, I think that that’s been enormously beneficial because we have so much to share in a way.”

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September 2019

“We’ve grown,” Parker told Us exclusively on September 26, 2019. “We have a family, we have children, we have friends that have passed away, we have relationships … We don’t talk about it — that’s how it stays strong!” The actress added that she and Broderick have kept their marriage “nice and private” for more than 20 years.

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February 2020

In February, the couple returned to the theater together and kicked off their show, Plaza Suite, with a short pre-Broadway run in Boston. The pair announced their joint venture in September 2019, with Parker writing, “I feel I’ve waited a lifetime,” via Instagram. The show’s Broadway run was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, but has been rescheduled for a March 2021 opening in New York City.

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March 2020

Looking back at her time on Sex and the City, Parker revealed in a New York Times profile in March 2020 that she’d “get so nervous” when her husband came to visit on set. “Like, ‘Matthew’s here! Don’t look at me!’” she told the outlet, noting that “it’s all so embarrassing” thinking back. “[I’m] getting hives just thinking about [Matthew being on set],” she joked.

Although the two didn’t cross paths on the HBO series, the timing was right in 2020 to team up for Broadway. “This is the first time since we’ve had three children that we … are even prepared [to work together],” the Girls Just Wanna Have Fun actress told WSJ Magazine in March. “And it’s hard.”

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November 2020

Broderick called Parker his "best friend" when asked about the key to their successful marriage on SiriusXM’s "Quarantined with Bruce" at the time. "I don't know the secret [to marriage] at all, but I'm very grateful and I love her and, it's amazing,” he said.

The actor also praised his "talented" wife's acting abilities in their play, Plaza Suite. "And I had never acted with her onstage and had never really acted with her at all," he explained. "And I was just reminded of how funny and smart and what a great actor she is. But, she just, she's very good at it. So, I hope everybody gets to see her do it.”

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March 2021

Parker posted a sweet message in honor of Broderick’s 59th birthday, sharing a photo of a cake covered in candles on Instagram and writing, “Happy birthday Husband. We love you are we are oh so happy, grateful you were born. XXX, your SJ and 3 besotted Broderick’s.”

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February 2022

Ahead of the couple's return to Broadway in The Plaza Suite, Parker told Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen viewers that she knew Broderick was her soulmate shortly after they met. She also recalled their first and second kisses, the latter of which was more memorable.

While the first lip lock "was outside an apartment building," the second occurred as she was heading into a subway station.

"I had a Ricola [cough drop] in my mouth. It was the dead of winter, and I thought — well, it just seemed like a third party. So I spit it out into my gloved hand because I was getting on the subway. ... It was stuck on my glove."

She explained that it was "a huge investment glove," but there was no reversing the damage to the designer dud. "It made a sort of mark forever."

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February 2022

“The fear is that I don’t want [us being] a real couple to make you not believe the fantasy of it,” Broderick told Hemispheres magazine of the couple’s costarring roles in Broadway’s Plaza Suite. “I want it to be a believable play. So I always get scared that you might not get lost in the play enough. But as soon as we started it, I didn’t feel that. [Sarah Jessica's] such a wonderful actor and a wonderful comedian, and people maybe aren’t as aware of her stage chops. They really are something. I think it’s a real pleasure to watch her and be reminded of how good she is at that. As far as the personal, luckily we don’t seem to have gotten into any fights that bleed over from the practice into the theater, or vice versa.”

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April 2022

“I was very reconfirmed how good on stage,” Broderick said on SiriusXM's The Jess Cagle Show in April 2022. “And just how her comedy chops, as they say, are just so good, which certainly wasn't in any way a surprise, but it might be a surprise just in she's just so, so good in it. And so easy to act with! People say, ‘Is it hard to work with your wife?’ or whatever. And it probably would be harder if I wasn't so at ease with what she does. She's a good partner on stage. We don't have too many problems and we try avoid the ‘Could you possibly say that line a bit quicker when I come in so that I…’ You know?”