Since Rose Byrne’s acting debut in the 1990s, the actor has had a prolific film and television career, with credits in comedies like “Bridesmaids” and the Insidious movie franchise. Byrne got her start on screen in the 1994 Australian film “Dallas Doll” and continued to appear in a number of Australian television shows throughout the remainder of the decade. In 2002, she made her debut in Hollywood as Dormé in “Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones,” which helped her land larger roles in films like “Troy,” “Marie Antoinette,” and “28 Weeks Later.” Most recently, Byrne is known for her role as Sheila Rubin on the Apple TV+ series “Physical” and Sylvia in the new series by the streamer titled “Platonic.”
In addition to her busy acting career, Byrne is also a mom of two children, whom she shares with fellow actor Bobby Cannavale. The two met through mutual friends in 2012 and have two sons together: Rocco (born in 2016) and Rafael (born in 2017), as reported by People. Despite both Byrne and Cannavale being high-profile actors, the pair prefer to keep their romance and family life out of the spotlight. “We’re generally pretty private,” she revealed in a joint interview with Vanity Fair in 2019. Cannavale also has an older son named Jake from his previous marriage to Jenny Lumet.
Read on to learn more about Byrne’s two boys!
Rocco Cannavale
Byrne welcomed her first child, Rocco Robin, in February 2016, according to People. Cannavale revealed the news during an appearance on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” telling the show host, “We’re just really, really over the moon. We’re in bliss right now.” Cannavale explained to People how the middle name Robin came to be, saying, “His middle name is [Byrne’s] dad’s name, Robin, and we liked the way it rang together.” Byrne and Cannavale share snippets of Rocco’s personality or funny moments in interviews but opt to keep his life private.
Rafael Cannavale
The couple’s second child, Rafael “Rafa,” was born in November 2017, per Us Weekly. Like Rocco’s middle name, Rafa’s name holds a special meaning to the pair. Cannavale shared the inspiration behind his son’s name in an interview with Entertainment Tonight in December 2017, telling the outlet, “I hadn’t given one of my children a Latin name yet, so I wanted to honor my mom’s side of the family . . . And, you know, Rafael Nadal had such a great year and we were constantly keeping up with him and watching all his matches so we were like, ‘How about Rafa? That goes well with Rocco.’ And that was it.” Like his older brother, Rafa is kept away from the spotlight and details of his life remain under the radar.
