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She was the 19-year-old model-actress best known for her seductive pool scene in 1982's Fast Times at Ridgemont High. He was a critically acclaimed theater actor 16 years her senior who'd recently starred in Sophie's Choice. Phoebe Cates and Kevin Kline first met while auditioning for 1983's The Big Chill. Cates didn't get the part she was vying for, but she did get a lifelong partner in Kline.
Their relationship didn't officially start up until two years later, though, when their paths crossed again, this time at New York City's Public Theater, according to Entertainment Weekly. Kline reportedly hired Cates' former assistant and tasked her with getting him a date with the actress.
But their long-term compatibility wasn't immediately evident. Cates was a native New Yorker, the daughter of a Broadway producer, who'd dropped out of high school to model and party at Studio 54. Kline was a Tony Award-winning Juilliard graduate from St. Louis with a penchant for Shakespeare.
"When I first met Phoebe, I remember thinking, She's too happy to be with me," Kline told EW in 2002. "She's too enthusiastic about life….What'll we talk about?"
But the pair found plenty to converse about and in 1989, Cates, then 25, and Kline, 41, tied the knot in a New York wedding.
They welcomed their first child, son Owen Joseph, in 1991. Their daughter, Greta Simone, came along in 1994, and Cates took a break from acting to focus on motherhood. The couple have an agreement to alternate so that they're never working at the same time and one parent is always at home with the kids, Kline told Playboy in 1998. But, "whenever it's been her slot to work, Phoebe has chosen to stay with the children," he added.
Cates made an exception in 2001 for her good friend and Fast Times costar Jennifer Jason Leigh. In fact, the whole Kline crew including Owen and Greta appeared in The Anniversary Party, cowritten and codirected by Leigh. The family maintains an intentionally low profile at home in Manhattan, though Cates and Kline occasionally walk the red carpet together at film premieres, and are sometimes spotted sitting courtside, cracking each other up, at New York Knicks games.
Kline, of course, has had a fruitful career, winning an Academy Award for his role in the 1988 comedy A Fish Called Wanda, as well as three Tony Awards, including one for the 2017 Broadway comedy, Present Laughter. In 1997 he made headlines for the passionate kiss he shared with Tom Selleck during In & Out, in which Kline plays a gay teacher accidentally outed by his former student's Oscar speech. The scene made for some interesting talking points during Kline's promotional press tour for the film. Kline told Scotland's Daily Record his wife once thought he was gay.
"Before I met Phoebe, she'd seen me in Sophie's Choice. And when we first started dating, she said 'You know, I'd sort of assumed you were gay,'" he revealed.
"I said, 'Oh really. Why?' And she said 'Well, you come from the theatre, you seemed so clean—and you really used your hands a lot on that movie.'"
"I don't think I use my hands that much. At least, no more than most Italian men," Kline added.
Next year, the couple will celebrate 29 years of marriage. Their kids are all grown up: Owen, 26, is a filmmaker who also acted in the 2005 film The Squid and the Whale and Greta, 23, is a musician who performs under the stage name Frankie Cosmos. The secret to their healthy union, according to Kline, is prioritizing it.
"We're both sensible, and we don't separate for long periods of time," Kline has said. "We take care of the marriage."
