Michael Weatherly Learned to Never Date a Co-Star After His Relationship With Jessica Alba
Actor Michael Weatherly was once in a well known relationship with Jessica Alba during their time on James Cameron’s Dark Angel. Although it didn’t last, it taught Weatherly an important lesson regarding dating co-workers.
Michael Weatherly vowed not to make the same mistake after dating Jessica Alba
Dark Angel didn’t last long, as the sci-fi series was only in production for two seasons. Although it was short-lived, it had an impact on Weatherly and Alba’s personal lives that lasted longer than the show. The two started dating not long after meeting each other on set. Weatherly was 12 years older than Alba at the time, and had much more experience in the dating department than Alba did. He was coming out of two relationships by the time he was linked with Alba, one of which was a marriage.
Meanwhile, Alba was only 18-years-old, and hadn’t really been in a serious committed relationship before Weatherly. So much so that Alba suggested Weatherly was the first person she slept with.
“I was so young, 18, when I started dating him. I was a virgin. I knew I wanted to be in love with the first person I slept with, because for almost everyone I knew, the first experience made them feel like s***. So I wanted to be really careful that he was going to be in love with me and wasn’t just going to leave me,” Alba once told Cosmopolitan.
No specifics were given about why the relationship didn’t last. Weatherly proposed to Alba on her 20th birthday. But the two would end their engagement and relationship, in 2003. Alba hinted that their occupation as actors had more to do with their split than anything else.
“It’s really, really, really difficult to have the same occupation as the person you’re with—especially when you’re both actors,” Alba said. “Actors are pulled in so many different directions that unless you both are absolutely into it through thick and thin and completely sure about each other, it’s just hard. I’ve decided I’ll never date an actor again.”
It was a vow that Weatherly also agreed with, and one of his main takeaways from being on Dark Angel.
“I learned two lessons on another show [Dark Angel]: The less I say the better, and don’t date your costar. So Mark Harmon and I have never dated. Though the Silver Fox and I did spend a week in Vermont that nobody knows about,” Weatherly once told TV Guide.
Did Jessica Alba and Michael Weatherly keep their promise?
It seemed Michael Weatherly stuck to his vow of dating non-actors for the most part. He did date and marry fellow actor Amelia Heinle at one point, who’s known for the soap opera Young and Restless. But that was before his relationship with Alba. Weatherly’s next high-profile relationship after Alba was with Bojana Jankovic, who is a physician.
Alba followed a similar path of dating and marrying a non-actor. Although she did end up exchanging vows with someone in the film industry. Alba met Cash Warren on the set of Fantastic Four in 2004, where Warren worked as a director’s assistant. The two hit it off quickly afterwards, with Warren and Alba marrying in 2008.
Before Warren, Alba’s last known relationship was with baseball star Derek Jeter. The two never outright came out and confirmed their relationship, but multiple sources linked the pair together in 2004.
According to Ranker, however, Alba might’ve dated a few actors after Weatherly after all. She was once linked to the late Paul Walker in 2003, who she acted alongside with in Into the Blue. That same year, Alba was reportedly seen mingling with Mark Wahlberg as well. But neither of these two relationships were ever confirmed or substantiated.
