Billy Crudup had a few high-profile relationships before settling down and finding his happily ever with Naomi Watts.
Crudup began dating Mary-Louise Parker in 1996 after meeting as costars in the Broadway play Bus Stop. The Almost Famous actor made headlines when he ended his relationship with Parker, who was seven months pregnant with their son William at the time, in 2003 to pursue a romance with Claire Danes. Danes and Crudup dated until 2006.
“That was really hard. I didn’t know how to not do that,” Danes said in an October 2015 appearance on The Howard Stern Show. “I was just in love with him. And [I] needed to explore that and I was 24. … I didn’t quite know what those consequences would be.”
Crudup later moved on with Watts in 2017 after meeting her while working on Netflix’s Gypsy. The couple confirmed that they tied the knot in June 2023.
Mary Louise Parker and Billy Crudup’s tumultuous split made headlines when the Almost Famous actor left the Weeds alum for Claire Danes. The former couple began dating in 1996 after meeting as costars in the Broadway play Bus Stop. The Red Sparrow actress was seven months pregnant with their son, William, when Crudup ended their […]
“They wanted to keep it low-key and have this moment to themselves, and they pulled it off beautifully,” an insider told Us Weekly at the time, calling the pair’s nuptials “stress-free” and “spur of the moment.”
Keep scrolling to learn more about Crudup’s relationship history:
Mary-Louise Parker
Crudup and Parker began dating after appearing in the Broadway play Bus Stop together in 1996. In 2003, when Parker was seven months pregnant with William, Crudup left her to pursue a relationship with Danes. She gave birth to their son in January 2004.
Following their son’s birth, Crudup emailed a New York Times interviewer writing a piece about him, requesting that “anything about the Mary-Louise Parker situation” be left out. The actor noted to the reporter that the matter was “personal, painful and involves an infant.”
While Parker has never directly mentioned what happened, in her 2015 memoir, Dear Mr. You, she alluded to the situation with Crudup. She recalled telling a cab driver that she was “pregnant and alone” and that it “hurts to even breathe.”
The twosome proved they were on good terms when Crudup attended the International Women of Vision Awards in New York City with William in 2019 to support Parker, who was being honored for her charitable work at the David Lynch Foundation.
In 2023, Parker also shared that she wished Watts and Crudup well after learning they got married.
“I honestly of course wish them every happiness because that’s my son’s father,” she told The Guardian at the time. “So, I’m happy for them. I’m happy they found each other.”
Claire Danes
Crudup left Parker to pursue a relationship with Danes in 2003. Danes and Crudup eventually called it quits in 2007. Danes went on to welcome three kids with Hugh Dancy.
Danes briefly mentioned her and Crudup’s split in an interview in 2009.
“That was a choice I made to fall in love,” she explained to Blackbook. “It’s unpleasant to be cast in such an unflattering role [in the tabloids], but I just had to remain steadfast. I was living with the same kind of integrity that I had always lived with.”
Several years later, Danes and Crudup reunited at the NYU Tisch Gala in April 2025. The twosome were seen sharing a hug and chatting after Crudup walked over to her table, per a video shared by People.
Naomi Watts
Watts and Crudup met while filming Gypsy in 2017, one year after Watts split from Liev Schreiber, with whom she shares sons Sasha and Kai. The couple confirmed they got married in June 2023.
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