There was no way Drew Barrymore was going to let Annette Bening go through an entire interview without bringing up her love story with actor Warren Beatty.
On this morning’s episode of The Drew Barrymore Show, the two stars played a game of “Behind the Scenes” when Barrymore asked Bening about her 1991 crime drama Bugsy. But what the talk show host was really wondering was how Bening fell in love with Beatty, who was her co-star in the movie.
“He was making this movie so they hired me to play the woman in the movie and yeah, we fell in love,” Bening, who played Beatty’s mistress in the flick, recalled.
She continued, “For me, I have to be honest, I was going to meet him. He was incredibly intelligent. That was honestly the biggest aphrodisiac. Funny and super smart. Now, he’s also very handsome.”
While Bening said it was “love at first sight” for Beatty, she admitted that it took her a little bit longer to catch feelings for the actor.
“I thought, ‘Wow, this is quite a guy,'” she explained. “But I really thought about it professionally, to be honest. I really did when I first met him. I never thought there would be a thing between us.”
The couple officially wed in 1992 and went on to have four children. Now, they are gearing up to celebrate 32 years of marriage.
“I think marriage is the greatest thing and the greatest challenge to really make it all work and to stay together and that is the thing that I am so, so proud of with us,” Bening said.
The actress has been garnering praise for her role as Diana Nyad in the biographical sports drama Nyad, which follows the swimmer’s 2013 attempt to swim from Cuba to Florida without a shark cage.
Following its release, Bening scored a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in A Motion Picture — Drama as well as a Screen Actors Guild nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role.
“You’re the most impressive person both personally and professionally,” Barrymore told her on today’s episode. “To hear from you and watch, especially in Nyad, the demonstration of how we persevere in this world and in this life.”
The Drew Barrymore Show airs on weekdays on CBS. You can check the website for local airtimes.