Wes Anderson, the director of films including Moonrise Kingdom, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Grand Budapest Hotel, and others is married to his wife Juman Malouf, a writer, illustrator, costume designer, and voice actress.
Juman and Wes have been together since the late 2000s. However, the couple has rarely shared the insides of how they met or even the answers to when they married. The two, nonetheless, have been by each other’s sides on and off their professional lives. Turns out Juman has collaborated with her husband multiple times.
One could say, Malouf has a huge hand in giving Anderson’s films that dreamy, slightly creepy children’s storybook-like theme (in terms of visuals). So read on to know how the couple actually came to be husband and wife as well as the other aspects of their relationship.
Wes Anderson’s Wife Juman Malouf Was His Girlfriend For A Longtime
As said above, Juman was Anderson’s girlfriend for many years before tying the knot sometime in the mid to late 2010s. Anderson and his wife Malouf reportedly have been together for over 15 years.
According to The Daily Beast, the two met around the year 2007 through mutual friends. This was at the point when Malouf was starting to write her first novel. However, some sources, conversely claim that the Texas-born filmmaker and Juman met each other in the late 90s.
Regardless, Aderson and his wife are yet to disclose the early stories. In fact, the couple hasn’t even revealed when did they actually marry. They live primarily in Paris but travel around the world frequently. The couple occasionally also resides in New York.
Malouf and her filmmaker partner Wes Anderson have also worked together on several projects.
Anderson is the Father of One Child With His Wife
Wes and Juman are additionally parents to a daughter Freya whom they welcomed in 2016. The Anderson pair took inspiration from the lead character of the 1940s film, The Mortal Storm to name their little girl.
Wes Anderson Wife, Juman Malouf Was Born In Lebanon
Anderson’s wife Malouf is Lebanese. Juman was born in 1975 in Beirut Lebanon. She however grew up in London, England. She is the daughter of reputed Lebanese novelist Hanan al-Shaykh and the construction engineer Fouad Malouf. Malouf also has an older brother Tarek.
She and her family had to flee their home nation after the start of the Lebanese Civil War. They initially went to Saudi Arabia. At the time, the future Mrs. Anderson was just a few months old.
The family later eventually settled in London. In the early 1980s, Juman would also spend many summers in Antibes, France with her maternal grandmother.
While in England, however, Wes Anderson’s wife Malouf struggled with her identity due to displacement. She, therefore, attended an American school in London and identified herself as American. She nevertheless developed a fascination with British and French history, and fashion, particularly of the Victorian era.
She also picked up a Dickensian sense of humor thanks to her mother’s writing style.
Anderson Spouse Juman Is A Graduate Of Brown University
For her further education, Malouf moved to the United States and there Anderson’s spouse studied at Brown University from where she graduated with a degree in BA in fine arts and art history. Later on, Juman pursued an MFA in the Tisch School of the Arts for set and costume design.
Over the years, Malouf has designed and illustrated for theater, film, and fashion in the United States and Europe.
It was in New York that Malouf started designing theaters. As such, after completing her Master’s in set and costume design, Juman Malouf began her career as a set designer for various theaters in New York. However, she soon realized that she preferred to have control over her own creations, rather than working on someone else’s vision.
In the early 2000s, Wes Anderson’s wife Juman, therefore, formed an alliance with Jen Mankins and Jonathan Schmitt. Together the three launched an indie fashion label, Charlotte Corday. But sometime later, Malouf would find that the industry lacked the depth of theater.
Juman Has Also Worked With Her Husband Wes Anderson
Despite her initial reluctance, the now 47 years old also began writing in the late 2000s and found it to be a fulfilling and satisfying way to have full control over the creative process. Eventually, Juman also began collaborating with her then-boyfriend, director Wes Anderson, on his films. The middle east-born illustrator indeed has handled the art department of some of her director husband’s films namely The Grand Budapest Hotel, Young Ones, and Moonrise Kingdom among others. The Brown University graduate was also the voice of Agnes in the 2009 Fantastic Mr. Fox.
The raven-haired celebrity spouse voiced the character Agnes in her husband’s movie “The Fantastic Mr. Fox” and designed covers for “Moonrise Kingdom.”
She also created character sketches for “The Grand Budapest Hotel” which her director spouse used to set the mood on set and also included in the film’s screenplay. In addition, Anderson mostly collaborated with Luke Wilson and Owen Wilson for his movies.
Anderson’s Wife Juman Career A An Author
In 2015, Wes’ spouse Juman published her first novel, The Trilogy of Two, which she illustrated with her own intricate pencil drawings. Despite feeling insecure about starting her writing career later in life, the book received positive reviews and a spot on TIME magazine’s “Top 10 Children’s Books of 2015” list.
Malouf says it’s the writing where she found her true calling. She once said her writing prowess comes from her grandmother’s storytelling while her sense of fashion is thanks to her mother.
Along with her spouse, Juman has also served as the curator at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, Austria in Nov 2018. During a month-long exhibition named, Spitzmaus Mummy in a Coffin and other Treasures, the couple showcased around 400 objects.
Wes Anderson’s Girlfriend and Past Love Affair
Before his wife Juman Malouf, Anderson hadn’t been in any kind of open relationship with anyone. He never came forward with his relationship status nor revealed his love affair and girlfriend to the media.
The 53 years old American filmmaker has also remained the same about his ongoing ultra-secretive marriage with Malouf.
