published on in Breaking News

Naomi Watts and Billy Crudup are dating after working together on Gypsy

I’ve only heard bad things about Billy Crudup as a partner, I’ll start with that. I only remember how he left seven months pregnant Mary-Louise Parker to hook up with his costar, Claire Danes, in 2003. Danes was 24 and Crudup was 35 at the time. Danes has since said that she was in love with Crudup back then, didn’t realize what she was getting into, and that they’re still friendly after having dated four years. (Soon afterwards she met and married her husband, Hugh Dancy, but we’re not gossiping about Danes.) For her part, Parkere has only referred to the affair in a roundabout way, only discussing how it affected her and never saying Crudups’s name. Respect.

It’s been almost 15 years, Crudup, now 49, could have changed since that high profile affair. I can’t find any details of whom he’s dated since, and that may be deliberate on his part after the fallout. So I’m surprised to hear he’s dating Naomi Watts. Watts, 48, announced back in September that she was splitting from her longterm partner and the father of her children, Liev Schreiber. That was maybe not-so-coincidentally the same time that she was filming Gypsy, her widely panned new series for Netflix. Crudup and Watts play husband and wife. Crudup has a history of hooking up with his costars and here we are again.

Naomi Watts and Billy Crudup, who star as husband and wife on the series Gypsy, are now dating in real life, a source confirms to PEOPLE.

The pair was spotted holding hands in New York City over the weekend, according to Page Six, which was first to break the news of the new couple.

An eyewitness told the outlet they spotted Watts, 48, and Crudup, 49, holding hands as they walked into a cafe for lunch. The witness said they “looked happy and were laughing a lot, then left again holding hands.”

[From People]

So did Watts wait until she knew this relationship had staying power before confirming it? Did Watts and Crudup plan this rollout or did they get seen and decide that it was ok to come out as a couple? I like that they’re both around the same age and hope that Crudup has mellowed and changed as a partner. Watts seems circumspect about getting into relationships and was with Schreiber for over a decade. It’s not like she has a perpetually broken picker, although I bet she went through a lot with him behind the scenes. I can see a similar dynamic playing out with Crudup, but maybe this is something fun for her and she’s taking her time with it. Also, I hate to be that person but this also gives Gypsy a lot of publicity. I don’t think Netflix is above hyping a relationship between costars, but I do believe it’s happening.

This photo is from 2009 so they’ve obviously known each other a while. Notice how drunk Liev looks. (Also, Crudup and Mendez were in a 2005 movie together called Trust the Man. She wasn’t linked with Gosling until 2011 but I don’t think she ever dated Crudup.)

Photos credit: Getty images

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