What could’ve been? Rachel Bilson and Bill Hader were seemingly getting serious when the coronavirus pandemic put a strain on their relationship.
The O.C. alum and the comedian were first linked in fall 2019 and made their red carpet debut at the Golden Globes in January 2020.
“Bill is great and Rachel is so lovely,” Hader’s Barry costar Henry Winkler told Us Weekly about the pair at the awards show.
Bilson’s pal Nick Viall, meanwhile, told Us of seeing them at the Globes: “I didn’t get a chance to meet Bill. I’m a big fan of his and Barry. And Rachel’s a good friend and, yeah, I think it’s great. … They seem like a cute couple.”
As the world was in lockdown due to the COVID-19 crisis, however, things began to fizzle. Us confirmed in July 2020 that the twosome had split. Nearly two years later, Bilson appeared to address the end of their relationship for the first time, explaining she “went through a really hard breakup and it was during the pandemic.”
“I could not leave my house, you know what I mean? I had nothing else to do but sit in it, and deal with it and feel it,” the actress said on her “Broad Ideas” podcast in June 2022. “It was probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done, harder than childbirth.”
Bilson shares daughter Briar with ex Hayden Christensen. The former couple dated on and off for a decade, calling it quits in 2017.
“[Briar] has not met anyone as of yet and it would have to be someone I know I’m going to be with,” Bilson said on the “Viall Files” podcast of dating as a single mother in July 2019. “It would have to be a very serious relationship. … I always put it out there. She’s my world and I talk about her all the time. How f–ked up would it be if I hid that? … If you’re going to pursue something with someone, they have to be interested in the kid or be willing to be around the kid.”
Hader, for his part, has been linked to Anna Kendrick following his breakup from Bilson.
“Bill and Anna clicked right away. They dig each other’s sense of humor,” a source told Us in January 2022. “They’re really into each other and make each other laugh — a lot.”
Scroll through for a complete timeline of Bilson and Hader’s relationship:
