Rufus Sewell is hoping the third time will be the charm after marrying Vivian Benitez last week in the grounds of Manorbier Castle in west Wales.
The 56-year-old actor married American actress Vivian Benitez just months after announcing their engagement during a romantic getaway in Rome.
While the bride, 27, wore a gorgeous white dress, Rufus, who plays Prince Andrew in Netflix show The Scoop, opted for a cream suit paired with black shoes and tie.
Vivian’s family doesn’t seem to be worried about the 29-year age difference. Her Cuban grandmother, Mirna, is 83 and has previously said: “Age is just a number and we all think Rufus is a wonderful man. We’re teaching him salsa.”
But who is Vivian, Rufus’s new wife?
Rufus Sewell is hoping the third time is the charm after marrying Vivian Benitez last week in the grounds of Manorbier Castle in west Wales.
The 56-year-old actor married American actress Vivian Benitez just months after announcing their engagement during a romantic getaway to Rome, but who is his new wife?
Career
Vivian is an actress who has had roles in several television and film projects.
Her acting credits include Arsenal, Criminal Minds and the short films Sky Dancers Grow Up and Don’t Worry, It’s Gonna Be OK.
After moving to Los Angeles when she was 20, Vivian became a modeling scout for Wilhelmina.
The beauty became the youngest modeling scout in Los Angeles and a key player in the expansion of the leading agency’s talent scouting perimeters into the digital space.
In 2018, Snapchat launched a series titled Vivian. The now-defunct show gave viewers an inside look at her life as she pursued her modeling talent scout dreams across New York and Los Angeles.
Vivian is an actress who has had roles in several television and film projects. She moved to Los Angeles when she was 20 and became a modeling scout for Wilhelmina.
Public appearances
Despite keeping their romance fairly private, Rufus and Vivian have made several public appearances together at star-studded events.
In July 2021, the loved-up couple walked the red carpet together at the premiere of Old.
The couple also appeared in the premiere of Benitez’s Netflix series The Diplomat in May 2023.
Vivian also shared a glimpse of her relationship with Rufus on social media and announced their engagement with a photo on Instagram on December 6.
It looks like Rufus popped the question during a romantic getaway to Rome, as Vivian shared a photo of herself in the city just a day before her exciting announcement.
She wrote in the caption: ‘Until death (or him still walking on bath mats in his outdoor shoes) do us part.’
While it is unclear when and how the newly engaged couple met, Benitez has been posting glimpses of their relationship since February 2020.
She hinted that they had been dating since 2019 when she wrote in a post: ‘1 year of being in love has really taken my personality hostage. Pray for his safe return.’
Despite keeping their romance fairly private, Rufus and Vivian have made several public appearances together at star-studded events.
Vivian also shared a glimpse of her relationship with Rufus on social media and announced their engagement with a photo on Instagram on December 6.
Vivian wore a gorgeous white dress for the ceremony in Wales, while Rufus, who plays Prince Andrew in Netflix show The Scoop, opted for a cream suit paired with black shoes and tie.
Family
Vivian was born in New York and has a sister named Emma.
Her mother works at an immigration law firm and is divorced from her father, Eduardo, who is the son of her grandmother Mirna.
Despite the split, Vivian remained close to her father and previously revealed on Instagram that he had some serious health issues.
She wrote: ‘A couple months ago, out of nowhere, my dad collapsed and was admitted to the ICU where he suffered multiple seizures, a stroke, a heart attack, a burst intestine, but still, he woke up and asked the nurse if they had taken her lol.
‘The worst part of all is that they found a brain tumor. They diagnosed him with a grade 4 glioblastoma.
“He is the funniest, sweetest, most sensitive, most beautiful man you will ever meet. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers, as I expect to have to apologize for his off-color jokes for a long, long time.”
Her grandmother Mirna confirmed that Vivian’s father received chemotherapy and revealed that the first time she met Rufus was when her granddaughter took him to the hospital to meet her father after his diagnosis.
“It’s good for Vivian to have Rufus by her side,” Mirna said. “My son is happy about the engagement, very excited. He’s looking forward to the wedding.”
Vivian recently revealed last week that she was heartbroken over her father’s tragic death.
She wrote: ‘To all who loved him and prayed for him: My father breathed his last yesterday. There is nothing poetic about it. His fight was cruel and merciless. I cannot understand why and I never will.
“I don’t know how people are going on. I feel like my world has turned grey and my joy has been stolen from me. I loved him so much and I will miss him forever.”
Vivian was born in New York and has a sister named Emma. Her mother works at an immigration law firm and is divorced from her father, Eduardo, son of her grandmother Mirna.
Despite the split, Vivian remained close to her father and previously revealed on Instagram that he had some serious health issues.
Vivian recently revealed last week that she was heartbroken over her father’s tragic death.
Rufus’s Previous Relationships
Rufus’ first wife was his long-term girlfriend, Australian fashion journalist Yasmin Abdallah, 47.
Yasmin met Rufus in Australia at the age of 19 and the couple married when Yasmin was 23 in 1999. They divorced in 2000.
Yasmin previously spoke about her short-lived marriage in an interview with Elle.
She met Rufus in a bar in Australia and after several months of dating, they moved to the UK and fell in with the Primrose Hill crowd.
“I don’t really know if they accepted me… a weird Australian-Lebanese girl, with a shaved head, who wasn’t part of the group,” she said.
‘I ended up making some bad decisions, bad business decisions, and I ended up losing the store, which was devastating for me. Rufus and I were no longer together, and that was pretty traumatic. I was broke. It was a time of great loss, but it was also a time of great healing, where I went on, dare I say it, a spiritual journey.’
The actor married his second wife, screenwriter and producer Amy Gardner, in 2004. Unfortunately, they divorced in 2006.
They are the parents of a son, William Douglas. Amy married film producer Will Ricker.
Rufus’ first wife was his long-term girlfriend, Australian fashion journalist Yasmin Abdallah. They married in 1999 and divorced in 2000 (pictured in 1997)
Rufus married his second wife, screenwriter and producer Amy Gardner, in 2004 and they sadly divorced in 2006 (pictured with Amy in 2001)
Rufus previously said that both Amy and their son William visited him on set. He told The Telegraph: “They would come to lunch with me every day and I would go home with them at night. I guess it was a bit like having a regular job in the sense that I felt very stable.”
Rufus also has a 10-year-old daughter named Lola from his relationship with Ami Komai.
Rufus previously said about his love life in an interview with the Mail: ‘It’s always been important to be in a relationship when I’m in one, but I don’t actively seek one out.
‘I’ve gone a long time without being with someone, but that hasn’t happened for a while.’
