How Susan Sarandon's Wedding Became The Source Of Some Major Family Drama

Actors Chris and Susan Sarandon's chaotic wedding wasn't the celebration of love they probably imagined it would be. The celebrity couple met when they were drama students at the Catholic University of America, and it didn't take them long to fall madly in love, so they sought to get married when the "Thelma & Louise" star was only 20 and Chris about 24. The young couple was looking forward to a happy future together, but Susan's mother, Lenora Criscione Tomalin, wasn't exactly onboard with the idea of them tying the knot. During a 2023 appearance on Chris' podcast, "Cooking By Heart," Susan explained that her beau managed to win her parents over initially, but things changed immediately once she told them that the couple intended to marry. 

The "Atlantic City" star reckons that her mom's pregnancy made her sour on the idea. "I think she was embarrassed," Susan argued, adding, "She was 44. She didn't say that, she just said, 'No, now you can't get married.'" Susan offered to have an intimate ceremony to ease her mother's discomfort, but she shot down the idea. Thankfully, her dad, Phillip Leslie Tomalin, had no issues with the marriage. Although both of her parents ultimately attended the wedding, Lenora made her disdain evident by donning a "black raincoat" and sitting in a separate aisle from Phillip, which was also far away from the altar. To make matters worse, none of her siblings could make it except Susan's younger brother, who went home with one of the bridesmaids. 

During Susan Sarandon's appearance on "Cooking By Heart," she also admitted that the former couple's reasons for tying the knot weren't all that romantic. She and former husband Chris Sarandon only wanted to move in together at the time, but they were studying at a Catholic college, where the decision to share a home before marriage would be met with tons of disapproval. So, the couple was left with no choice but to lock things down. But, in a 2014 AARP interview, Susan acknowledged that she viewed making a seemingly lifelong commitment quite differently to most people. "Though it was a marriage and I took his name," Susan pointed out, "I never approached it like this is for the rest of our lives. We said, 'Every year we'll visit it and see if we want to renew.'" 

Furthermore, during the Oscar winner's 2021 interview on the "Uncut and Uncensored" podcast, she confirmed that both parties ultimately realized they didn't want to continue with their marriage after seven years, so they separated for a few years and then divorced in 1979. Reflecting on their relatively long-standing union, Susan revealed that she "never wanted to get married the first time." The beloved star and outspoken activist simply didn't see marriage as a top priority and never quite understood her parents' relationship either. Susan suggested that she may have been turned off the idea because she was fiercely protective of her individuality and didn't want to lose her sense of self. 

Nearly a decade after Susan and Chris Sarandon split up, her path crossed with Tim Robbins' when they co-starred in "Bull Durham" and quickly fell for each other. Over the next 20 years, the Hollywood power couple welcomed two sons, John and Miles Robbins, before splitting up in 2009 — notably, without ever tying the knot. Speaking to The Telegraph in 2010, Susan disclosed that marriage was never really on the table for either of them. Still, she asserted, "I've always liked the idea of choosing to be with somebody," before adding, "'I thought that if you didn't get married you wouldn't take each other for granted as easily. I don't know if after twentysomething years that was still true." The "Stepmom" star similarly followed her heart and went against societal standards by choosing to have kids later in life. 

As she argued in a 2017 interview with Good Housekeeping, several people cautioned Susan against having her first child at 39 because it could potentially end her acting career. However, she paid no mind to the doubters, went with her gut, and even welcomed her daughter, Eva Amurri, at the age of 45. Although parenting her three children and balancing a thriving career was undoubtedly difficult, she wouldn't have it any other way. Similarly, Susan doesn't seem to be harboring any regrets about her love life either, as she told Entertainment Tonight in 2024 that she was always ready and willing to meet someone and even revealed what she really wanted in a partner.