Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy writer-director, James Gunn is engaged to actress Jennifer Holland. The filmmaker revealed the news by posting a picture of the performer wearing an engagement ring on his official Instagram account yesterday. The producer’s photo engagement announcement was later verified by The Hollywood Reporter.
In the picture Gunn posted on his social media account, Holland is sipping from a mug while showing off a diamond engagement ring on her left ring finger. He only captioned the photo with a smiley face emoji and one heart emoji. In response to the picture, she posted a single smiley face emoji that’s decorated with three hearts.
The actress’ response came after she posted a photo of her and her new fiancé earlier in the day on Instagram, in which they’re standing in front of a rainbow. She captioned the picture with the word happiness, as well as several emojis, including a smiley face, a sun behind a cloud and a heart.
After announcing the news, the couple were congratulated in the photo’s comment section by several actors who have appeared in Gunn’s films and television shows. Those actors include The Suicide Squad actresses Viola Davis and Daniela Melchior, Guardians of the Galaxy actress Karen Gillan and The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker actor Steve Agee.
Gunn and Holland’s engagement comes after they worked together on several accessions. She’s known for playing Emilia Harcourt in The Suicide Squad. She then reprisied the role on the recently released first season of the HBO Max television series, Peacemaker, opposite John Cena. Her other credits include the television shows Sun Records and American Horror Story.
The couple met in, and have been together since, 2015. They were introduced by Gunn’s friend Michael Rosenbaum, who’s known for his role as Lex Luthor on the Superman television series Smallville. The actor was dating one of Holland’s friends at the time he introduced the newly engaged couple.
Rosenbaum offered to set Gunn and Holland up after the filmmaker saw a photograph of the actress and asked who she was. When Rosenbaum’s then-girlfriend later approached Holland with the offer of setting her up with Gunn, the actress admitted she had never heard of the filmmaker. The admission came despite the fact that he essentially became a household name the previous summer with the theatrical release of the original Guardians of the Galaxy.
Holland told The Hollywood Reproter last month that she was initially hesitant about going out with Gunn. Rosenbaum’s then-girlfriend “described James as a producer-director. I guess the fact that she put producer first just kind of gave me weird vibes,” the performer admitted.
But Holland then looked Gunn up online, where he “seemed so incredibly charming in interviews.” She added that they instantly connected on their first date. “I just told him my whole life story. We spent like seven hours together and that’s it. That’s how it started.”
The filmmaker was previously married to The Office star Jenna Fische. They divorced in 2007 after six years of marriage.