Love is a beautiful thing—especially when you’re watching it from the sidelines. In this column, we look at celebrity couples who inspire hope for our own love lives, learning what we can from their well-documented relationships.
As someone who writes a whole column gushing over celebrity romances, I’ll admit I’m usually not a fan of couples doing press tours together. (Too much awkward small talk between people who clearly know each other way too well for that!) But Alison Brie and Dave Franco’s recent promo run for Together—a new body-horror film where they play a deeply codependent couple who literally fall apart when separated—might be the exception.
The two, who’ve been together for 15 years, recently appeared on Today to talk about playing a miserable couple onscreen, and their easy, genuine chemistry was downright charming.
“Creatively, I think [Brie] is one of the best actresses working today, which makes my job very easy,” Franco said (he and Brie also produced the film). While I usually roll my eyes when men praise their partners (as they should in a perfect world), I can’t help but love how smitten Franco seems with Brie. To paraphrase Mindy Kaling’s mom, the best straight couples are the ones where the guy likes the girl just a little more.
Of course, I don’t actually know anything about their real-life dynamic—my only firsthand encounter was spotting them at a Highland Park wine shop and immediately texting everyone I knew. But I’ve adored Brie ever since BoJack Horseman (not to mention her brilliant turn in GLOW), and while I’m not a fan of his brother James, Dave seems like a different breed—even if Hollywood keeps casting him as the quintessential Douchey Frat Guy.
The best part of Together’s rollout? Distributor Neon is offering free couples therapy (via OurRitual) to anyone who sees the film opening weekend. (Yes, we live in a late-capitalist nightmare.) As someone who initially panicked about needing couples therapy (turns out, we’re fine—I was just being dramatic), I love this mental-health-meets-movie-marketing moment. Here’s hoping Brie and Franco do too.