Take The Odd Couple, make one of the roommates a woman and the other a gay man and you’d have a pretty good sense of the premise behind Will and Grace, the NBC sitcom that ran from 1998 to 2006 before getting a rebirth between 2017 and 2020. The show was a huge hit, built largely on the comic chemistry and relationship between Eric McCormack’s Will Truman, Debra Messing’s Grace Adler, Megan Mullally‘s Karen Walker and Sean Hayes’ Jack McFarland.
On-screen, there was no romance between any of the four main characters — though the show spent much of its time chronicling their romantic misadventures as they searched for true love. It’s a search that the cast pursued in their private lives as well — and with much greater success — as you’ll see in this exploration of the real-life couples of the Will and Grace cast.
Which ‘Will & Grace’ star would you like to read more about?
Eric McCormack and Janet Holden
Eric McCormack (Will Turner) has only been married once, to Janet Holden. They met on the set of the 1994 television series Lonesome Dove, where he portrayed Colonel Francis Clay Mosby and she was working as an assistant director. In the beginning, since romance between cast and crew was frowned upon, they kept things secret, but finally went public at the first season wrap party in December of 1994. They married in 1997 and in 2002 Janet gave birth to their son, Finnigan Holden McCormack, whose name was inspired by a puppet dog on the TV show Mr. Dressup, which Eric loved as a kid.
Everything seemed great in the marriage, although in November 2023, after 26 years of marriage, she filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences. There have been no public comments on what happened.
2002
Eric McCormack (R) and his wife Janet Holden take their son Finnigan for a walk October 31, 2002, in New York City.
2007
Janet Holden McCormack, son Finnigan and actor Eric McCormack attend the In Style party celebrating the publication of Joyce Ostin’s book A Tribute to Hollywood Dads at Spago on May 17, 2007 in Beverly Hills, California.
2010
Eric McCormack with his wife Janet Leigh Holden-McCormack at Tod’s Benefiting Project Angel Food, which was hosted by the duo.
In this handout photo provided by The Hub, (L-R) Actor Eric McCormack, son Finnigan McCormack and wife Janet McCormack pose with watches at The Hub TV Launch event on October 1, 2010 in Los Angeles, California.
2018
Eric McCormack (C), son Finnigan McCormack (L) and wife Janet Holden (R) attend the ceremony to receive his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on September 13, 2018 in Hollywood, California.
2020
Eric McCormack and Janet Holden attend the 28th Annual Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Awards Viewing Party sponsored by IMDb, Neuro Drinks and Walmart on February 09, 2020 in West Hollywood, California.
2024
Despite the end of their marriage, Eric McCormack and Janet McCormack attended the Elton John AIDS Foundation’s annual viewing party with Tequila Don Julio at West Hollywood Park on March 10, 2024 in West Hollywood, California.
Debra Messing and Daniel Zelman
Debra Messing(Grace Adler) met her husband, screenwriter and actor Daniel Zelman, in 1990 on the first day that they attended New York University as graduate students. It took a decade, but they married on September 3, 2000, with their son, Roman, being born on April 7, 2004. Sadly, in December 2011 they separated, with Debra filing for divorce on June 5, 2012, it becoming official four years later.
2015
Post-divorce, Daniel Zelman, Roman Zelman and Debra Messing attend New Jersey Devils vs New York Rangers game at Madison Square Garden on April 4, 2015 in New York City.
Debra Messing and Will Chase
From 2011 to 2014, Debra dated Will Chase, her co-star from the television series Smash. Here they attend The New York Pops 31st Birthday Gala at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel on April 28, 2014 in New York City.
Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman
Megan Mullally (Karen Walker) has been married three times. The first was to James Thomas Hines, from 1982 until their divorce in 1987. From 1991 until 1996 she was married to talent agent Michael Katcher, and then, in 2000, she was performing in a play called The Berlin Circle, which is where she met third husband, actor Nick Offerman (Parks and Recreation).
2022
(L-R) Co-hosts Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally speak onstage during the 2022 Film Independent Spirit Awards on March 06, 2022 in Santa Monica, California.
Sean Hayes and Scott Icenogle
Sean Hayes (Jack McFarland) met Scott Icenogle when the latter was a DJ on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. They began seeing each other in 2006 and were married in November of 2014, currently celebrating their 10th anniversary. The duo have worked together on a number of projects.
2024
L-R: Sean Hayes, Scott Icenogle and Jason Bateman attend the 2024 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted by Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 10, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California.
‘Will and Grace’ facts
- Sean Hayes and Megan Mullally each won three Screen Actors Guild Awards for their portrayals of Jack and Karen
- Eric McCormack won a Screen Actors Guild Award as well as an Emmy
- Debra Messing (whose Grace Adler was an interior designer) also won an Emmy and SAG award, was nominated for five Emmys and seven SAGs
- Two of the most beloved recurring characters on the show were Shelley Morrison as Karen’s maid, Rosario Salazar; and Leslie Jordan as Beverley Leslie. Leslie would appear in a number of storylines on American Horror Story
- Will and Grace was nominated for 83 Emmy Awards, winning 18, among them once for Outstanding Comedy Series in 2000
- Between 2006 and early 2007, Megan hosted her own talk show
- Harry Connick Jr played Grace’s husband (for a time), Marvin “Leo” Markus
- Will and Grace, which premiered on September 21, 1998, ran for a total of 11 seasons and 246 episodes
