As far as rock-solid celebrity couples go, Irish actress Laura Donnelly and English playwright and screenwriter Jez Butterworth are it. The duo met nearly a decade ago while at the premiere for Butterworth’s 2012 play The River and spent the better half of a decade together before welcoming their eldest child and firstborn daughter Radha. Shortly thereafter, the Outlander star found out she was expecting another baby girl and the couple became a family of four within a two-year time span. They named their youngest Ailbhe.
From the start, Donnelly and Butterworth have chosen to keep their family life under wraps, as most celebrity families like to do. For them, it’s never been a question as to whether they work too much because they’ve never let it get to that point. Radha and Ailbhe have always come first no matter what. Even when their Broadway production The Ferryman, which was ironically inspired by Donnelly’s family written by Butterworth, was at the peak of its fame – nominated for nine Tony awards – Donnelly stepped away from the stage and Butterworth from behind the curtain so they could spend more time with their girls. When asked about their abrupt departure, Donnelly tells Broadway.com, “We have two small children,” meaning, what other explanation is there? Family comes first.
We admire and applaud the couple’s choice to keep their children, especially at such a young age, out of the public eye. Perhaps in the future, we may see a glimpse into their family life on social media.
