Trust goes a long way in a marriage — which is why Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard consider it the foundation of their relationship.
The couple, who share two daughters, is still going strong after 18 years together, a feat Bell credits to the “foundational trust” that binds them. Like any marriage, insecurities still arise — especially when it comes to seeing each other share intimate onscreen moments with costars — but the actress recently told E! News that they know better than to take those moments to heart.
“Even if Dax hooks up with the most beautiful person in the world at work, I know he’s committed to our family,” she said firmly. “I know he’s coming home. I know he loves our children. I know he strives to be a great husband and father.”
And if doubts ever seep in, Bell and Shepard make sure to talk them all out.
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She explained, “We’re just human, right? So maybe there could be a day where I’m like, ‘I’m actually really nervous that you spend time with that person.’ And he could say, ‘Oh, OK, let’s talk about it. What makes you nervous? What are you thinking?’ We have a very open communication.”
She added that above all, they both “root for each other” and joked, “When he got to make out with Minka Kelly on Parenthood, I was like, ‘Yes. Get it!’ We’re married, we’re not dead.”
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The two-way street means Shepard is rooting for her as well and was similarly unbothered by her onscreen romance with fellow 2000s heartthrob Adam Brody in their rom-com series, Nobody Wants This.
“Dax also knows there’s no real threat there, because Adam and I, if you were to see us in person, there is not chemistry,” Bell added. “We bicker all the time. We’re like an old granny and grampy. It’s not hot and heavy on set at all.”
Brody and Bell even joined Shepard for an episode of his Armchair Expert podcast last September, where the host asked his wife if she recalls watching The O.C. and having a crush on Brody.
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Bell then made a startling confession: “I’ve… never seen any episode of The O.C.,” she revealed, prompting Brody and Shepard to burst into laughter. “Now, did I have a crush on Adam? Of course. Everybody did… [But] I have never seen an episode of The O.C.”
Brody, who starred as the dreamy nerd Seth Cohen in the hit teen drama, made his own confession: “I’ve never seen an episode of Veronica Mars.”
It sparked disappointment with Bell admitting, “That one hurts.” Shepard was quick to defend his wife’s iconic detective show, joking that her missing out on The O.C. is fine but Brody never seeing a single episode of Veronica Mars is “amoral.”
Bell and Shepard met at a dinner party in 2007 and began dating later that year. They announced their engagement three years later and — after waiting for same-sex marriage to be legalized in California as a show of solidarity — tied the knot in 2013, seven months after welcoming their first child together, Lincoln. The couple welcomed their second daughter, Delta, in 2014.
