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Paul DanoandZoe Kazanare partners in more ways than one.
While it can be difficult to balance their personal relationship with their professional one, all with two children at home, the couple have been candid about how they make it work. “Luckily we get along,” Dano toldVultureduring a 2018 interview. “It is sometimes hard when our work becomes such a big part of our lives. At the dinner table, in bed … if it filters in almost too much at some point you might have check that because when the [project] is done you’re like ‘Ok what are we going to talk about now?’ We have to keep that in mind and still giveussome time away from our work.”
Kazan has an active Twitter presence (@zoeinthecities) and she often uses her platform to raise awareness for women’s rights and other political issues. While the actress and screenwriter occasionally shares tidbits about Dano, referring to him as “PD,” the couple generally keeps their relationship private.
“I’m always shocked when I find out that she’s [tweeted about me],” Dano toldFlood Magazineof Kazan’s tweets. “I know that happens, but I think it happens more than I know. I’m sort of jealous. I love how active Zoe is socially and politically — that’s got great value.”
From co-writing a film together to raising a family, here’s everything you need to know about Paul Dano and Zoe Kazan’s relationship.
Early 2007: Paul Dano and Zoe Kazan meeton Broadway
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Dano and Kazan met for the first time during a rehearsal for theEthan Hawke-directed playThings We Want,which debuted Off-Broadway on Nov. 7, 2007.
While speaking withW Magazinein 2012, Kazan shared that she and Dano had their first kiss on stage, however, she noted that it was “totally different” from their first kiss in real life.
“Kissing in a movie or a play doesn’t feel real – there’s a remove,” she told the outlet. “Even when Paul and I met five years ago, we were doing a play together and falling in love and we kissed on stage before we had ever kissed in real life. When we did kiss in real life, it felt totally different.”
November 7, 2007: Paul Dano and Zoe Kazan take their first picture together
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While attending the opening night afterparty forThings We Wantat Metro Marche in New York City, Dano and Kazan took their first picture together. The pair posed for the camera as their director (Hawke) stood in between them with his arms around their shoulders.
January 24, 2008: Paul Dano and Zoe Kazan attendCome Back, Little Shebaafterparty
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The newly minted couple walked the red carpet at theCome Back, Little Shebaafterparty at Planet Hollywood in N.Y.C. on Jan. 24, 2008. Kazan wore a short maroon dress, while Dano wore an unbuttoned black tux. The outing marked one of their first red carpet appearances as a couple.
April 8, 2011: Paul Dano andZoe Kazanstar in their first film together
Dano and Kazan shared the big screen together for the first time in director Kelly Reichardt’sMeek Cutoff, a Western drama in which they played a married couple who traveled the Oregon Trail in 1845.
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January 18, 2014: Paul Dano and Zoe Kazan attend the SAG Awards
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Dano and Kazan attended the 20th AnnualScreen Actors Guild Awardsat The Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. At the event, Dano won an award for best cast in a motion picture forBirdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), which also starredMichael Keaton,Emma StoneandEdward Norton, among others.
May 20, 2015: Paul Dano and Zoe Kazan attend the Cannes Film Festival
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January 10, 2016: Paul Dano and Zoe Kazan attend the Golden Globe Awards
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Dano and Kazan dressed to the nines for the 73rd AnnualGolden Globe Awardson Jan. 10, 2016, with Dano in a navy blue tux and Kazan in a striped floor-length gown. The couple posed for pictures together on the red carpet, which was held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in L.A.
Continuing to make the 2016 awards season rounds, the couple attended theVanity FairOscar Party together the following month.
October 19, 2018: Paul Dano andZoe KazanwriteWildlifetogether
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Together, the couple co-wrote the script forWildlife,a drama starringJake GyllenhaalandCarey Mulligan. The project also marked Dano’s directorial debut.
While speaking withFlood Magazineabout the writing process, Dano shared that he and Kazan passed the script back and forth in edit mode for years. “I probably felt debilitated,” Dano added about Kazan “tearing apart” his writing. “It was my first time trying to write. I definitely needed the help, though. I mean, I was asking for it,” he explained.
During an October 2018 appearance onThe Tonight Show, Dano confirmed that he and Kazan hadwelcomed their first child together, a daughter, eight weeks prior.
“I’m so tired and I’m so in love,” Dano told hostJimmy Fallonabout becoming a father. “It’s so extreme. Your heart has gone supernova in one sense.”
He added, “And then we landed from London last week and she cried for like 24 straight hours and you kind of just want to talk through a wall.”
The couple have yet to publicly share their daughter’s name.
November 14, 2018: Zoe Kazan says parenthood with Paul Dano is “overwhelming”
In an interview with theEvening Standard, Kazan opened up about becoming a first-time parent.
“It’s a really weird time … altogether it’s a little overwhelming,” she told the outlet. “Everything looks different on the other side of having a child.”
She continued, “It’s terrifying. We are trying to learn a lot about this person and what they need, and how to do the really simple things that seasoned parents know how to do.”
April 29, 2019: Paul Dano and Zoe Kazan speak onstage at the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s 50th Anniversary Gala
The couple were some of the many speakers at theFilm Society of Lincoln Center’s 50th Anniversary Galaon April 29, 2019, where they spoke on stage at Alice Tully Hall in N.Y.C.
September 22, 2019: Paul Dano and Zoe Kazan attend the 71st Emmy Awards
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Dano was nominated for outstanding supporting actor forhis role as David SweatinBen Stiller’sEscape at Dannemoraat the 71stEmmy Awardson Sept. 22, 2019. He attended the event with Kazan, which took place at Microsoft Theater in L.A.
January 6, 2020: Paul Dano andZoe Kazanshare their “immense” appreciation for their nannies
“Paul and i have only been parents for a year & four months and we have employed at least a dozen women over three continents in that time, all of whom have made it possible for us to do our jobs; this is not to mention our family & friends who have pitched in,” she continued. “The debt is immense.”
When Kazan started filming the HBO showThe Plot Against America,where she starred as a mother named Bess, she had only recently become a mother herself.
July 14, 2020:Zoe Kazandiscusses parenting during the COVID-19 pandemic
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kazan opened up about thechallenges of balancing motherhood with her careeron Twitter. “I don’t feel like I have much to say here right now but I do want to reach my arms out to every parent with small kids trying to work from home in these last months. If hugging were allowed, I’d hug you all,” the actress and screenwriter wrote. “The way I RUN TO MY DESK as soon as she’s napping, the way I have to gasp sometimes because I’m trying to write so fast I forget to breathe.”
She also noted how thankful she was for her health and for Dano’s support, adding, “I’m so lucky to have my work and to have my child and to have my health and to have my partner, and for one million other reasons. But the reality of trying to do two things at once … all the time … I think about you all out there, doing your impossible juggle, and I send love.”
March 1, 2022: Paul Dano and Zoe Kazan attendThe Batmanworld premiere
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The couple attended the world premiere ofThe Batmanin N.Y.C. at the Lincoln Center on March 1, 2022. Dano starred in the blockbuster film asthe RiddleroppositeRobert Pattinson’s Batman.
March 2, 2022: Paul Dano opens up about life with Zoe Kazan and their daughter
In an interview withThe Hollywood Reporter, Dano said that he and Kazan live a quiet life with their daughter in Brooklyn, New York.The actor also shared what their family life looked like during the pandemic, when they lived in California near Kazan’s parents — screenwriters Nicholas Kazan and Robin Swicord.
“The first part of the pandemic was one of the only times where work didn’t seem to be a part of my life,” Dano told the publication. “That period of time was about my family and maintaining sanity.”
He added, “I would take a few hours in the morning to myself, Zoe in the afternoon. We shared all meal times, but we each needed a point of the day where we weren’t playing 2-year-old games.”
November 14, 2022: Zoe Kazan confirms she welcomed her second child with Paul Dano
During a November 2022 appearance onTodayto discuss her new filmShe Said, Kazan confirmed that she and Dano hadwelcomed their second child"three weeks ago."
January 16, 2023: Zoe Kazan and Paul Dano attend the Critics Choice Awards
Kazan and Danostepped outfor the 28th Critics Choice Awards 2023, one of their biggest outings since becoming a family of four.
TheBig Sickactress shared a photo of the couple on her Instagram Story, reposting the picture from stylist Leith Clark, who captioned the photo with, “Mom and dad are so damn cute.”
February 26, 2023: Zoe Kazan and Paul Dano attend the SAG Awards
source: people.com
