A Look At Vanessa Kirby's Dating History
Vanessa Kirby has dated a few fellow actors, which made the mission she set out on early in her career almost impossible. In a 2014 interview with the Daily Mail, she revealed that she was determined to avoid talking to the media about her personal life. "If it becomes about anything other than the work, people stop caring about whether you can do the job or not," she explained.
Kirby is clearly seen as someone who can do the work. She's won a BAFTA for her role as Princess Margaret in "The Crown," and she was cast as Sue Storm – also known as the Invisible Woman — in the latest iteration of the "Fantastic Four" movie. But when a rumor about her love life spread like wildfire online, she was forced to confront the reality that she doesn't become invisible to the world when she's not being watched on a screen. In 2017, In Touch Weekly published a report claiming she was dating her "Mission: Impossible — Fallout" star Tom Cruise. Kirby denied the romance gossip, telling the Daily Mail she was seeing someone else. "The rumors came out after I'd met Tom, once, in a roomful of people. We hadn't started filming, and all of a sudden we're getting married!" she said.
This wasn't the first time Kirby's love life made headlines. Before she met the man she was actually dating when the Cruise rumor gained traction, there was some rumored drama between two of her actor exes.
Her low-key relationship with Christian Cooke
In its 2011 profile of British actor Christian Cooke, the Daily Mail revealed that he and Vanessa Kirby were dating. The pair's three-year-long relationship reportedly started during their youth theatre days. Cooke's career was taking off at the time the piece was published, with a slew of shirtless scenes putting the former star of the long-running ITV drama "Where the Heart Is" at risk of becoming a heartthrob. Cooke told the Mail that he was so determined to avoid this that he asked for a similar scene in a project he was working on to be scrapped. "I don't want to be in my boxer shorts ever again!" he said.
There's little info about Cooke and Kirby's romance, possibly because they hadn't quite become big enough stars to attract a ton of attention from the media. By late 2012, Cooke was being photographed getting cozy with "Glee" actor Dianna Agron, and reports suggested his name was one of the many being bandied about for the role of Christian Grey in the "Fifty Shades of Grey" movie. This would have made him a household name, but instead, he found more modest success. He's appeared in the Starz drama "Magic City," the "Witches of East End" TV series, and the BBC adaptation of the Agatha Christie mystery "Ordeal by Innocence." He also landed a role in the 2013 "Romeo & Juliet" movie, which required him to act alongside the guy Kirby rebounded with.
Douglas Booth denied feuding with Christian Cooke
Vanessa Kirby's personal life started attracting more attention when she was romantically linked to her "Great Expectations" co-star Douglas Booth. When The Standard asked Kirby about Booth in 2012, she would only say, "I'm not interested in being known for anything other than the work." Booth seemed like he was potentially destined to become a star of the caliber of Robert Pattinson when he was cast as the Romeo to Hailee Steinfeld's Juliet. The Daily Mail even reported that Kirby was worried about a "Twilight" situation developing between Steinfeld and Booth. "She is keen to check that the on-screen chemistry between Douglas and Hailee isn't spilling over into real life," a source said.
It also didn't escape the media's attention that Christian Cooke was playing Romeo's bestie, Mercutio, in "Romeo & Juliet." The Daily Mail claimed that there was so much animosity between Booth and Cooke over Kirby that the movie's premiere in London had to be canceled. The tabloid also reported that the film required re-shoots, presumably because Booth and Cooke's chemistry was off. "Total bollocks. No scenes got re-shot for this movie. They re-recorded the score," Booth told the Independent.
Still, the Daily Mail did quote Cooke as saying, "We're not friends, no," when asked if he and Booth got along. Fast forward to 2023, and this dynamic had reportedly changed as some outlets noted that Cooke attended the wedding of Booth when he married his "Mary Shelley" co-star Bel Powley.
Vanessa Kirby and Callum Turner played siblings
Vanessa Kirby and Douglas Booth's shared screen time didn't end with "Great Expectations." While on the promo circuit for their 2015 film "Jupiter Ascending," Kirby had met the next castmate she'd fall in love with, "Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald" star Callum Turner. In the 2014 dramedy "Queen & Country," Kirby and Turner play siblings.
It was Turner whom Kirby was dating when the tabloids tried to play matchmaker with her and Tom Cruise. "My boyfriend found it hilarious," she told the Daily Mail of how Turner felt about the rumors. After being forced to publicly acknowledge their relationship, Turner and Kirby began mentioning each other during interviews on occasion. When Kirby spoke to Marie Claire, we learned that Turner was present when she binge-watched the first five "Mission: Impossible" movies. "My boyfriend was like, 'I will have that theme music in my head for the rest of my life,'" she recalled. And from Turner's interview with WWD, we learned he attended one SoulCycle class with Kirby. "She didn't really tell me what it was about and then I was dying, and I was shooting a movie and I couldn't work on Monday," he said.
While becoming more at ease with speaking about each other might seem like a positive sign for a couple, Kirby and Turner called it quits in 2020. Reportedly, the bane of Hollywood couples, the busy schedule, was to blame for the breakup.
Vanessa Kirby moved to America for Paul Rabil
After Vanessa Kirby and Callum Turner split up, Turner started spending time with Dua Lipa. It appeared that they were very much an item when they were photographed walking hand-in-hand at a 2024 BAFTAs afterparty. As for Kirby, she was next linked to Paul Rabil, a retired American lacrosse player who co-founded the Premier Lacrosse League. He'd previously dated Kirby's "Hobbs & Shaw" co-star Eiza González for seven months, according to some reports.
Kirby switched up her approach to her new relationship by going public with Rabil in a big way. In November 2023, the couple made their Instagram debut on Rabil's account. "From the very minute we first met in Des Moines, around the world and back, life is far better, more purposeful and more beautiful with you," read his sweet tribute to Kirby. That same month, Kirby told L'Officiel that she was moving to New York, where she and Rabil had purchased a home. This is a sure sign that the couple is the real deal — perhaps Kirby just needed to find a partner she hasn't shared the screen with to feel more comfortable about the public knowing about her love life. When The Times asked the "Napoleon" star about the relationship, she gushed, "He's the best thing ever. I can finally say that about someone."