Celebrity Couples that Should Have Been?

Anyone who has watched one of the many Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan movies has had one thought: why didn't they ever try their romance out for real? The on-screen fireworks between the pair sizzle so brightly, fans clamor for their relationship to exist outside fictitious films. But for many years, Tom Hanks has been happily married to actress Rita Wilson, and Meg Ryan recently snagged one of Hollywood's top hotties, Russell Crowe. Their movies together include Joe and The Volcano (1990), Sleepless in Seattle (1993), and You've Got Mail (1998).

Another on-screen couple that doesn't seem to sizzle when the cameras are off were brought together on the sets of Speed (1994) and The Lake House (2006). Why do Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock look so great together? Is it their dark hair, her soulful eyes, his badboy stubble? Whatever the reason, audiences love to see them together - they look like a matched pair. But Sandra and Keanu haven't tried to take their passion any further than the big screen. The two have been friendly in the last decade, but haven't taken it any farther than that. Right now, Keanu is making plans to wed fellow actor Claire Forlani.

Richard Gere and Julia Roberts first lit up the screen in the enduring favorite Pretty Woman (1990), Julia's entrée into Hollywood. The superstar has been on a roll ever since, while Gere continues to get roles as the hunky leading man. The pair was reunited again for movie magic in Runaway Bride (1999). Their chemistry can't be denied, and though hot and heavy rumors hint at off-screen fireworks, both actors say they are just friends and have always been only that.

Are they all celebrity couples that should have been, or is it better that they restrict their fireworks to the set? Not all movie couples end up hooking up - but it seems the ones we most want to see in reality never make it there. Maybe movie magic can only be made between sets of good friends. On-screen fireworks may always lead to off-screen fizzles...who knows? One of Hollywood's most notorious movie couples, Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, made eight different films together. Neither ever married the other, but for many years they carried on a torrid affair that is still Hollywood legend. It hints that not all on-screen passion is just another job, so there may be more to movie couples than we see on the surface. Real or contrived, theirs are romances that could only exist in Hollywood.