Is it just me or was anyone else surprised at their marriage? I know little about him, but I always envisioned him with a different type female. As I recall reading, she was performing as a ballerina in London. He became enchanted with her performance on stage and arranged to meet her. I guess love at first sight does happen once in a while.
shareGabriel Byrne and Ellen Barkin (she didn't age well)
What an odd choice. Gabriel B is one of the most colourless actors I have ever seen, and as a women, i find him completely unappealing. His characters often seems like such sad sacks - I think I'd want to say snap out of it, and stop feeling sorry for yourself. He may be absolutely delightful in real life; I'm only talking about how he appears in movies to me. Having said that, I love everything about "The Usual Suspects."
Back in the day, Ellen Barkin was considered extremely "hot" - eg, have you seen her in "The Big Easy" or "Sea of Love"? Not traditionally pretty, rather, a more subtle, unusual yet striking appeal and quite overtly sexy. She was 34 when she & Byrnes married, 45 when they were divorced (about the time of "Drop Dead Gorgeous") and she hadn't "aged" then.
Warren Beatty and Anette Benning
When they married, she was completely beguiling and he looked liked Dorian Gray's picture, brought down from the attic.
In any case, even if someone extremely handsome/beautiful is partnered with someone who doesn't match up in (what society considers to be) the beauty stakes, congratulations to them for not being shallow and for loving the real person.