Love Stories: Succession star Matthew MacFadyen's wife was married with a baby when they first met

Long before winning a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor for his role in hit TV series Succession, Matthew Macfadyen was Mr. Darcy in the 2005 version of Jane Austin's Pride and Prejudice.

His Mr. Darcy was dark, brooding and left the audience swooning, far from his character in Succession, Tom Wambsgans who is described as servile and ruthless.

Macfadyen's private life has been equally contrasting, but it has a happy ending. The British-born actor has been married to actress Keeley Hawes for the past 19 years.

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The couple met when they were both up and coming actors and they were each in relationships with other people.

Macfadyen, 48, and Hawes met on the set of BBC spy drama Spooks in 2002. Hawes was only months into her marriage with cartoon designer Spencer McCallum and the pair had a 20-month-old son.

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Macfadyen was dating actor Surita Chowdry at the time.

Hawes spoke about the early days of their relationship, describing the moment Macfadyen declared his love to her.

"Matthew just came straight out with it and said 'I love you' in the rain one day. I thought, Oh dear, here we go," she told Vanity Fair.

Hawes left her husband and they finalised their divorce in 2004. That same year she and Macfadyen wed.

They have been going strong ever since. They have two children – Maggie, 18, and son Ralph, 16 – and Macfadyen is stepfather to her son from her first marriage, Myles McCallum. They also share a dog named Buster.

Macfadyen and Hawes are notoriously private about their relationship, which sparks even more interest.

Theirs remains a personal and professional collaboration.

They next worked together n 2007 comedy Death at a Funeral and with Succession coming to a dramatic end in 2023, they are working together once more.

The pair both star in the series Stonehouse about British politician John Stonehouse who faked his own death before running off with his mistress and later being exposed as a spy.

Hawes told The Mirror: "We have worked together before, but not for several years. And so when this came up, it seemed like the perfect project on so many levels really, mostly because the Stonehouses are so different to Matthew and I and to our relationship.

"So it's nice to see us, I think, and interesting for people who may know that we are married to see us as the "other" couple."

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The pair showcased their bond during the interview with banter during which they poked fun at the experience.

Hawes told Macfadyen: "It was really wonderful. It was very jolly, wasn't it?"

Macfadyen responded: 'Yeah, it was very difficult working with Keeley. She's... it was hard. It was hard. No, that's a silly answer. It was joyful working with Keeley. It was nice, wasn't it?"

He told the Radio Times working together was "just great" as they are used to spending time apart.

"So often we're sort of scattered in different countries. But the idea of going to work together was just great," he said. "We even took the dog."

He described his wife as a "brilliant actress" and described working on Stonehouse with her as "really lovely."

In an interview in 2021 with The Evening Standard, Macfadyen told the publication he and his wife make sure they are only apart for three weeks at most.

"Keeley and I have a three-week rule – neither of us wants to be apart for any longer. So after three weeks on my own, I started to go a bit mad," he explained. "You start to think. 'What am I doing?' I'd be walking around Brooklyn, thinking, 'where do I live?' It was odd and hard."

Hawes spoke of their relationship during an interview with The Telegraph UK in 2010, telling the publication they love being married.

"I love being married to Matthew, and I know Matthew loves being married too," she said. "It ties everything up and it's a statement to each other and to the world. Marriage and being a mother are absolutely crucial to my happiness and my life."

The pair are both homebodies and prefer staying home to going out and socialising.