"Maybe he just told me that to be sweet" — Maya Rudolph says husband Paul Thomas decided to marry her after seeing her in a sketch

Actress and comedian Maya Rudolph reveals that her husband, Paul Thomas Anderson, decided to marry her after seeing her in a sketch. The 51-year-old actress recalled the love story with her filmmaker husband in an interview with Town & Country for their May cover story, stating:

"He said he saw me in a sketch and said, ‘That’s the girl I’m going to marry.’ But I don’t know. I wasn’t there. Maybe he just told me that to be sweet."

Rudolph has been in a relationship with Anderson since November 2001, and they have kept their personal lives away from the limelight. The couple shares four children: Pearl, 18, Lucille, 14, Jack, 12, and Minnie, 10. Despite being together for over two decades, the pair never married.

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Paul Thomas attended one of the Saturday Night Live afterparties to meet Maya Rudolph

Anderson dated singer Fiona Apple (from 1997–2000) before meeting Maya Rudolph in 2001. As per Maya's interview with Town and Country, Paul Thomas attended one of Saturday Night Live's afterparties, intending to meet Rudolph.

The couple welcomed their first child, Pearl, in October 2005. At the time, Paul Thomas wanted to move his family to his hometown in the San Fernando Valley, and Maya Rudolph began commuting from Los Angeles to New York City to film SNL, sometimes with her daughter. Talking about the time, she stated:

"I thought, 'This is all going great! I'd always wanted to have kids. I'd always wanted to live in New York. I'd always wanted to be on Saturday Night Live... This little bald baby, listening to the musical guests warm up. I look back and I can't believe I did that. It was crazy. I don't think I slept for two years."

The pair have kept their relationship and family life ultra-private, rarely divulging anything about their lives in interviews or even on social media. Despite not being married, the SNL alum affectionately calls Paul her husband.

In a 2018 interview with the New York Times, she admitted she felt "ooky" calling him her boyfriend after the birth of their first child.

"People know what that means. It means he's the father of my child, and I live with him, and we are a couple, and we are not going anywhere," she told the publication.

When questioned about her early romance with her husband, Maya Rudolph told The Guardian in 2015, "No, it's a sweet thing... Too personal. I don't want to share it."

Meanwhile, Paul Thomas Anderson is a critically acclaimed director best known for his movies like Boogie Nights, Punch Drunk Love, Phantom Thread, and Licorice Pizza. The 53-year-old's work has earned him several accolades, including being nominated for 11 Academy Awards, 3 Golden Globes, and 8 BAFTA Awards.

Maya Rudolph has also appeared in two of Adnderson's films: Inherent Vice and Licorice Pizza. The comedian plays matchmaking nurse Petunia Leeway in Inherent Vice and a casting director in the latter.

In a 2018 panel discussion for his film, Phantom Thread, Anderson revealed the movie was in part inspired by his partner, Maya. The film explores the relationship between a dressmaker and his muse, his later wife, Alma. Alma becomes his caretaker and begins secretly poisoning him to keep him weak and dependent on her.

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Maya Rudolph's full interview is available in Town & Country's May 2024 issue.