Duration: Three years
Ages: 45 and 33
Previous pairings: Thornton had been married four times before. Dern dated “Smooth Talk” co-star Treat Williams, “Blue Velvet” co-star Kyle MacLachlan for four years, director Renny Harlin, and “Jurassic Park” co-star Jeff Goldblum, to whom she became engaged in 1994. They separated in 1996.
Love story: Both appeared on the celebrity-filled “coming out” episode of ABC’s “Ellen” in 1997; Dern as the woman who helps Ellen DeGeneres‘ character realize she’s gay, and Thornton as a grocer during DeGeneres‘ dream sequence. They were together ever since, and Dern (as well as her mother, Diane Ladd) even reportedly turned down “The General’s Daughter” to star in Thornton‘s independent feature, “Daddy and Them,” which he directed and produced. Ironically, they play a married couple.
What went wrong?: The couple confirmed their split on April 6, and by April 7 Angelina Jolie (who co-starred with Thornton in 1999’s “Pushing Tin“) was seen sporting a “Billy Bob” tattoo. How did this happen? Thornton and Dern had often talked about marriage and even invested in a Hollywood Hills home. According to the New York Daily News, Thornton called Dern on May 1 to say he had no intention of marrying Jolie but was just “doing his thing” …
Post-split romance: … And four days later, Thornton and Jolie eloped to Las Vegas.
What they’ve said: Both Dern and Thornton were telling magazines earlier this year of their plans for marriage and their happy home life. Then … “I left home to work on a movie, and while I was away, my boyfriend got married, and I’ve never heard from him again,” Dern said in the October issue of Talk Magazine. “It’s like a sudden death.” After the split, Thornton was quoted as saying: “God bless her … I hope she’s so happy. I want her to be so happy. But it was over. That’s all.”
