Meet the Real-Life Loves of the Nobody Wants This Cast (Who Ship Noah and Joanne Just as Hard as We Do!)
In Nobody Wants This, Noah and Joanne’s romance faces many ups and downs as they navigate an interfaith relationship doomed to fail by their friends and family. Luckily, the cast’s real-life love stories are much less complicated.
Season 1 of the Netflix series follows the unexpected chemistry between “Hot Rabbi” Noah (Adam Brody) and sex podcaster Joanne (Kristen Bell). Off-screen, Brody has been married to Gossip Girl star Leighton Meester since February 2014, while Bell wed actor Dax Shepard in October 2013.
Although characters in the show aren’t rooting for Noah and Joanne, Bell revealed to etalk in October 2024 that her real-life husband is a lot more supportive of their relationship, including the steamy scenes.
“Even I can acknowledge watching it, like, ‘Whoa, that’s hot,’ ” Bell told the outlet. “My husband said the same thing. Like, watching the first episode, he was like, ‘Oh my God, I want you to kiss him so badly.’ ”
Meanwhile, their costars — whose characters are also caught up in their own love triangles and romantic drama in the series — are also in real-life relationships.
Justine Lupe, who plays Joanne’s sister, Morgan, has been dating Tyson Mason since at least August 2023, while Timothy Simons, who portrays Noah’s brother, Sasha, has been married to Annie Simons since June 2008.
Here’s everything to know about the real-life partners of the Nobody Wants This cast.
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Adam Brody and Leighton Meester
Brody and Meester have been married since February 2014.
They met for the first time while individually starring on the hit teen shows, The O.C. and Gossip Girl. Both shows were produced by Josh Schwartz, who introduced the two at a Los Angeles deli.
In April 2023, Brody revealed during an interview on Podcrushed that he was “smitten instantly” upon meeting Meester.
In 2011, they worked together on the film The Oranges, but it wasn’t until 2013 that they started dating. Ten years later, they would work together again in Netflix’s thriller River Wild.
Brody reflected on the early days of their relationship during an interview on SiriusXM’s The Jess Cagle Show in March 2023.
“My wife and I actually got married very fast after we started dating,” he said. “That’s how sort of easy a decision it was for me and us. I was never scared of the idea of marriage or kids. It always seemed, you know, like a route I would go eventually.”
Together, they share two children: a daughter, Arlo, born in 2015, and a son, whose name has not been revealed, born in 2020.
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Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard
Bell has been married to Shepard since October 2013. The Good Place actress revealed on CBS Sunday Morning that they tied the knot in a “tiny room” in a Beverly Hills courthouse — adding that it was “one of the best days of my life.”
The couple first met while at an intimate sushi dinner to celebrate the birthday of Shauna Robertson, producer of Forgetting Sarah Marshall, which starred Bell in her breakout role.
Although Shepard was also an actor who had recently risen in stardom on the MTV series Punk’d, Bell didn’t recognize him. But two weeks later, the Michigan natives met again at a Detroit Red Wings hockey game, prompting Shepard to ask for Bell’s number from Robertson. Shortly after, the two started dating.
In 2009, the actors starred together in When in Rome, and he proposed to her after filming wrapped. Now, Shepard has been jokingly jealous of Bell’s spark with Brody on-screen in Nobody Wants This.
When Shepard was asked directly about his “incredible chemistry” with his wife during the New Yorker Festival in October 2024, he jokingly said, “Not as good as her and Brody.”
He recalled watching a particular kissing scene with a friend, which he claimed was “the very best kissing scene ever, ever put on film.”
“And my best friend, Aaron, from childhood, he goes, ‘Does she ever kiss you like that?’ No, I didn’t even know she could kiss like that,” Shepard quipped.
A passion for acting isn’t the only thing they share. They welcomed their first child, daughter Lincoln Bell Shepard, on March 28, 2013, followed by their second daughter, Delta Bell Shepard, on Dec. 19, 2014.
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Justine Lupe and Tyson Mason
Although Lupe hasn’t shared much about her current relationship, she has been posting on Instagram with her boyfriend, Tyson Mason, since at least August 2023.
In January 2024, he attended the HBO post-Emmy Awards celebration with her, which she joked on Instagram that he agreed to attend “because there was a promise of no dancing.”
Ahead of the premiere of Nobody Wants This, Lupe revealed she and Mason welcomed their first child together in August 2024 — and she had tried to hide the pregnancy from her costars while filming the show.
She later clarified on Instagram that she did share her news with the cast and crew of the show as soon as it was safe for her to, and they couldn’t be more excited.
“@kristenanniebell ran around her living room in a sheet mask screaming in celebration when she found out and vowed to make this experience as cushiony and sweet and soft as possible…,” she wrote, adding that the crew came in every week to refit her and adjust her outfits when her baby bump continued to grow.
In November 2024, Lupe posted her first Instagram photo as a family of three — a selfie of her, Mason and their baby with two “I Voted” stickers.
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Timothy Simons and Annie Simons
Like his character in Nobody Wants This, Simons is a husband and father in real life. He married his wife, Annie Simons, in June 2008.
Although she isn’t starring in Hollywood films like her husband, Annie shares his passion for the arts.
According to the Friends of Los Angeles High School of the Arts website, Annie is a former middle and high school theater teacher who took over as president of the organization in 2020.
On the personal front, the couple welcomed twins in December 2011.
“Happy Mother’s day to Annie who’s worked harder than most people you’ll ever meet while still being an amazing mom to these two weirdos,” Simons wrote on Instagram in May 2017.
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Jackie Tohn and Joe Gillete
Jackie Tohn has been dating her boyfriend, Joe Gillette, since late 2021.
Over the years, she’s shared sweet notes to Gillette online, including a birthday tribute in July 2023.
“Listen, we love each other and support each other and talk (so much) to each other and laugh at / with each other. Oh boy, what a find. Love you @joegillette 🎂,” she wrote.
According to his Instagram bio, he is an actor, writer and director.
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Emily Arlook and Will McCormack
In Nobody Wants This, Emily Arlook’s character Rebecca might be facing heartbreak after her split from Noah, but in real life, she has a family of her own.
Arlook began dating her longtime partner, Will McCormack, in September 2013, per his Instagram. Together, they share two kids.
McCormack is an actor, producer, screenwriter and director best known for his 2020 short film If Anything Happens I Love You, which earned him the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.
He also wrote the screenplay for 2012’s Celeste And Jesse Forever, alongside Rashida Jones.
Source: People
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