Millennial icon Adam Brody is back with the second season of his Emmy-nominated comedy Nobody Wants This. Starring alongside Kristen Bell, the 44-year-old plays a rabbi named Noah Roklov who falls in love with Joanne, an agnostic sex podcaster, and together they must navigate their different cultural backgrounds – and meddling families. Noah earned nominations for the Golden Globes and the Emmy Awards, and he won the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actor in a Comedy Series. Adam is adored for his previous roles in Gilmore Girls and as Seth Cohen in The OC, but away from the small screen, Adam's love life has been smooth sailing since he's been happily married to fellow actress Leighton Meester, 38, for a decade.
Adam met Gossip Girl actress Leighton in March 2010 when they were both working on the film The Oranges in Westchester, New York. Three years later, Adam popped the question in November 2013, and they married three months later on February 15, 2014. A year later, they expanded their family when Leighton gave birth their daughter Arlo Day, now 10. In 2020 they welcomed their son, now four; his name has never been revealed.
How Adam Brody and Leighton Meester met
Adam previously revealed that he met his future wife in a deli shop in Los Angeles. Though he didn't specify the year, he explained that, at the time, Leighton was with her fellow cast mates from Gossip Girl, meaning they would have first crossed paths circa 2007.
Speaking with Penn Badgley – Leighton's former co-star – on his podcast, Podcrushed, Adam opened up about more about the moment he first laid eyes on Leighton.
"I used to eat [at this deli in LA] all the time and I was there on my own with maybe a friend or two, and [screenwriter and executive producer] Josh [Safran] happened to be taking a bunch of the cast of Gossip Girl through after a prop party after your first upfronts, and that's when I saw her. I was smitten instantly."
He added: "I was smitten for a long time. I didn't get to know her for many years after, even though we worked together briefly, and she's so lovely and she's so sweet, she's so nice, she's so good."
© Getty ImagesDespite knowing Adam had met The One, he did candidly reveal that Leighton kept things cool at first and didn't show an interest until much later.
"This is to her credit, she remained elusive to me for so long. And aloof! I couldn't get a total read because even though she professes to have been interested in me and all those things, not only did she not pursue that, but she was perfectly willing to let that never happen."
He continued: "There were many false starts, and she was perfectly willing to let that message in the bottle return to sea."
© ERIN SIMKIN/NETFLIXIn 2010, Adam and Leighton's paths would cross again when they were both cast in the film The Oranges and they have been together pretty much ever since, though their romance didn't become public until a few years later. By November 2013 they were engaged
A private, romantic wedding
Adam and Leighton married in early 2014 in an extremely private and intimate ceremony. The couple chose to keep the details of their nuptials to themselves and so not much knowledge is out in the public domain.
However, around the time they wed, E! News reported that they said 'I do' in a "beautiful" ceremony in north California by the ocean surrounded by family and friends.
© Dimitrios KambourisWhat Adam and Leighton have said about each other
The couple prefer to keep themselves as private as possible, but they both have shared the odd anecdote about what their life is like as a married couple.
In a previous interview with GQ, Adam explained how they manage to keep themselves so private: "She's more inherently private than I am. We're homebodies. We don't go to a lot of things that perhaps we could, and don't seek out promotion in that way."
He added: "I'm not [criticizing] anyone who monetizes that aspect of their life because I get it. But we've found this great balance so far that really works for us. We're also not very active on social media."
© Getty ImagesIn a more recent interview, Adam told Today with Hoda and Jenna the secret to a happy marriage: "Pick someone good. Be in love with someone who's great and listen to them. If you're with someone great, then you're on third base.
"It takes sacrifice and humility and you have to grow together, and you have to be willing to grow because you're not going to be able to stay 100 per cent right where you are, but yeah if you're with someone wonderful then you're on third.
© ABC via Getty ImagesLeighton has also shared how lucky she is that she and Adam found each other. Chatting with E! News, she described their relationship as the same as any "normal relationship – with all the good and the bad."
She added: "We're super, super lucky, and I think we recognize how lucky we are with one another. We give each other a lot of respect and time and attention and focus. Like, really put our time and energy into a relationship."
© FilmMagicAdam and Leighton's rare comments on their children
Adam and Leighton are parents of two children: daughter Arlo, aged ten, and a son, four.
In 2019, before welcoming their son, Adam told GQ about his close bond with his daughter: "She's the thing I'm most proud of and gives me the most joy. She's just so dang awesome. It just gives you a new perspective in the best way – something to focus on that's greater and more important than yourself. She has even become my security blanket for the outside world in terms of 'I don't need your approval I have my daughter'."
During the same chat with Today with Hoda and Jenna, he said he and Leighton are very "honest" in their style of parenting. "We have some truthful conversations, for better or worse, but other than that I wouldn't say we're overly strict. But I keep them safe!"
