Geena Davis shares biggest marriage regret, and the surprisingly relatable reasons she won't use dating apps
The Buroughs actress gets candid about her four marriages, and the one thing she wishes she'd done differently
Actress Geena Davis has shared candid insight into her marriages, revealing her biggest regret when it comes to her failed union with Jeff Goldblum.
Currently starring in the absolutely fantastic The Buroughs on Netflix (if you haven't seen it, this is definitely one to add to your watch list immediately - think Stranger Things, but in the coolest retirement home you've ever seen,) the 70-year-old has been married four times.
This might not be particularly surprising when you find out Geena's parents raised her to be "profoundly polite" at all times.
In conversation with The Times, she explains that this level of politeness even extended to being expected to refuse a glass of already poured water when a guest in somebody's house. "You couldn’t put anyone to any trouble," she says.
This led to an apparent degree of apathy and not wanting to cause any upset when it came to relationships with boyfriends.
"I was unassuming to an annoying degree," she shares, adding, "If we went out to dinner they’d be, ‘What do you want to eat?’ I’d say, ‘I don’t mind, whatever you want.’ People didn’t know how to deal with it."
The actress was married to restauranteur Richard Emmolo between 1981-1984. However, they simply "drifted apart." It was her second marriage to fellow actor Jeff Goldblum that Geena carries her biggest regret.
She says she was "too hasty" in letting the marriage come to an end, adding, "I should have given it more time."
The couple were married from 1987-1990, and the star refers to their time together as "magical."
"Our relationship was joyful, it really was," she tells People, adding, "That was a magical chapter in my life. The pair remain great friends, despite their marriage not working out.
It won't come as a surprise to hear that Geena has few positive things to say about her third husband, Finnish director Renny Harlin.
She reveals their divorce was "painful," after he "betrayed me in the worst way possible." Renny was unfaithful to Geena Davis, fathering a child with her personal assistant. The actress filed for divorce in August 1997, one day after her assistant gave birth.
The star remains fairly quiet about her fourth husband and father to her three children, cranio-facial surgeon Reza Jaharry. The couple split 2017, and she simply shares, "He’s a fantastic father."
During their marriage, Geena gave birth to daughter Alizeh, 24, at the age of 46. She later had twin sons, Kaiis and Kian, 22, at the age of 48.
She has no current plans to date at 70, and would rather her children moved back in with her instead.
When asked whether she'd consider using dating apps, Geena says she's far too "self-conscious" to use them, which is surprisingly relatable coming from somebody who appears to ooze confidence. She's also "unconvinced" by celebrity dating app Raya.
While unconcerned with dating, she says of her three children, "We’re very, very close. I wouldn’t mind if they moved back in with me."
She's glad she had her children later in life, "because by the time I had them I’d changed a lot. I had a different perspective on things."
She concludes, "I was a badass on screen way before in real life, but I’d been transformed by playing these really powerful women. These brave, strong people rubbed off on me," and now she's in a position to pass on that strength to her children.
