Who Was Morena Baccarin's Ex-Husband And Why Did They Split?

"Deadpool And Wolverine" star Morena Baccarin is no stranger to the public eye. The actor made her feature film debut in 2001's "Perfume," and she went on to score roles on TV shows like "Firefly" and "How I Met Your Mother." As her career continued to gain steam, she managed to more or less keep her personal life out of the spotlight for years. Alas, that all changed when her first marriage fell apart. 

For years, Baccarin's relationship with filmmaker Austin Chick seemed to be unbreakable. However, Hollywood is the land of make-believe, where nothing is as it seems. When they two did split, things took a major turn, and the otherwise private actor's behind-the-scenes drama was laid out for all the world to see. "I understand people are curious, but it doesn't matter," she once told People. "My personal life is my personal life. All I think about is my son, my family and my future family."

Celebrity breakups are rarely without drama, and Baccarin's split from her ex-husband had enough juicy details to fuel an entire season of "Days Of Our Lives." From infidelity accusations to timeline disputes to a lengthy custody battle to money drama, the whole thing was quite the ordeal. And yes, as Baccarin and Chick's relationship unraveled, it made a lot of headlines along the way.

Morena Baccarin's first husband, Austin Chick, has worked in Hollywood as a writer, director, and producer. The first feature film he wrote and directed, "XX/XY," starred the MCU's Hulk himself, Mark Ruffalo. The flick premiered at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize. An impressive debut for the filmmaker, no question. He would then go on to work with more A-list stars.

Chick continued this upward trajectory by co-producing "Before The Devil Knows You're Dead," which not only starred Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke, but was directed by Hollywood legend Sidney Lumet. His next production saw him gather a cast that included the likes of Josh Hartnett, Adam Scott, and David Bowie. Chick's next directorial effort came in 2012 with "Girls Against Boys," a grisly thriller starring Danielle Panabaker. 

Unfortunately, "Girls Against Boys" wasn't exactly a smash with critics or audiences. However, as Chick told Entertainment Weekly, the response wasn't totally negative across the board. "The reaction that's been somewhat surprising is that women, especially middle-aged women, seem to like it a lot more than they expect to," he said. "A lot of the time I'll get approached after screenings by women who tell me that they didn't think they were going to like the movie and that it completely surprised them." As of this writing, this movie is his last directorial credit. 

Morena Baccarin and Austin Chick met via mutual friends and dated for five years before tying the knot. They got married on Thanksgiving Day in 2011, and a little less than a year later, Baccarin offered the Daily Mail an update on their relationship. "We are solid," she said before noting how important it was that they made time for each other despite her busy work schedule. "You have to talk...a lot. Which guys love," she quipped to the outlet. "You have to keep checking in, being aware of what is happening in each other's worlds, otherwise you miss things, and then it becomes very hard to go back and connect the dots."

Baccarin announced she was expecting her first child in 2013. At the time, she was on the hit AMC series "Homeland," and her real-life pregnancy had to be digitally edited out of the show. As far as Baccarin was concerned, this was no big deal. "Everybody's been really lovely, it's not as hard as you think these days with technology with everything they've got going on. We're just going along as if everything's normal, and they're dealing with it in post," she told the Los Angeles Times. "We have body doubles, and we just sort of cheat, which is fantastic." (Funnily enough, when she was pregnant with her second child, the show she was on at the time — "Gotham" — wrote her pregnancy into the show.) Baccarin and Chick's son, Julius, was born on October 22, 2013. 

Less than two years after they became parents, Morena Baccarin and Austin Chick's relationship came to a screeching halt. Citing the age-old diplomatic reason of irreconcilable differences, Chick filed for divorce from Baccarin in June 2015. Chick reportedly wanted joint custody of their son as well as spousal support. Lest anyone think this was going to be a smooth split, this Hollywood divorce took a turn for the messy.

According to court documents obtained by TMZ, Chick alleged Baccarin cheated on him with her coworker, "Gotham" star Ben McKenzie. "Austin was totally shocked when he found out about the affair," a source told ET (via Yahoo!). "Totally blindsided. When Morena left him for Ben, Austin was devastated — completely shocked." They also claimed that someone sent Chick a photo of Baccarin spending time with McKenzie while she was away filming "Deadpool" — and apparently, this photo was the final straw. "Austin confronted Morena about the photo," the source stated. "She didn't deny it and said she no longer wanted to work on [their] marriage."

It seems safe to assume Chick's filing did not catch Baccarin totally off guard. As Baccarin stated in court docs, "In March 2015, Austin and I were talking about separating as I told him I thought our marriage was not working and we should possibly divorce." 

Morena Baccarin's split from Austin Chick came just a few months after her first episode of "Gotham" aired on Fox. In 2014, it was announced that Baccarin joined the cast in a recurring role, and she was quickly bumped up to the main roster. "I really liked the world, I really liked the story and how it was being told, and thought it'd be really fun to be part of the cast and have such amazing actors and such a talented group of people all around," she told The Hollywood Reporter in January 2015. 

As it turns out, she'd worked with one of those amazing actors before — even if he didn't realize it. Before he was on "Gotham," Ben McKenzie was in the cast of "The O.C." Wouldn't you know it, one of Baccarin's earliest credits was that very show. She briefly met McKenzie on the set, even though they didn't share any scenes together. Years later, McKenzie revealed on "The Late Late Show with James Corden" that he not only didn't remember meeting her, but that he actually snubbed her when they crossed paths. "I'm thinking, what kind of idiot would blow off this beautiful, gorgeous, sophisticated, intelligent, and successful woman?" he recalled. "And then I thought about what sort of boy I was at 25 — and that kind of idiot."

"Gotham" was a hit, and Baccarin received acclaim for her performance. As if being part of a successful primetime series wasn't exciting enough, Baccarin also fell in love behind the scenes. Which, in many ways, cemented Baccarin's split with ex-husband Austin Chick.

On "Gotham," Morena Baccarin played Dr. Lee Thompkins, the love interest of Ben McKenzie's Jim Gordon. After she joined the cast in the middle of Season 1, life wasted no time imitating art. "Morena came on the show pretty early on ... and I just remember connecting with her in a way that I'd never really connected with anyone before. I generally didn't date actors that much, and I don't think she did either," McKenzie recounted on an episode of "Drama Queens." "I think we were really at a place in our lives where we were ready for the real thing."

In September 2015, just a few months after Austin Chick filed for divorce, Baccarin and McKenzie were spotted looking cozy at an Emmys afterparty together.Soon thereafter, the two confirmed to Us Weekly that they were expecting their first child together. Baccarin and McKenzie welcomed their daughter Frances in 2016. Later in the year, they also officially announced their engagement. Baccarin and McKenzie tied the knot in June 2017.  In 2021, their second child, Arthur, was born.

Baccarin's life transformed a stunning amount in just a few short years, and as much as she loves being a mom to her three kids, she hasn't been one to sugarcoat how tough parenthood can be. "I'm a disaster all the time," she told Page Six in 2022. "It's really tough. I just have to get through these next five years and then it'll become a little bit more feasible and enjoyable."

If you have some questions about when Morena Baccarin's relationship with Ben McKenzie began and when her marriage to Austin Chick ended, you wouldn't be the first. The timeline is murky, to say the least. 

According to court docs obtained by TMZ in September 2015, Baccarin revealed that she and McKenzie had some major life changes in the works. "Today, I am in a new committed relationship. I am planning to re-marry. Also, I am 3 1/2 months pregnant," she stated. Apparently, Chick only found out about all of this not from Baccarin directly, but from those aforementioned court documents. What's more, according to ET (via Yahoo!), Chick apparently learned of Baccarin's pregnancy just days before the news was released to the public. 

Baccarin maintained she and Ben got pregnant after she and Chick split up, but Chick insisted this was not the case. As Chick said in an aforementioned court doc, "This places the moment of conception right in the first week of June, 2015, the time she was telling me she wanted to work on our marriage and well before we stopped sharing a bed." It's a lot of he said, she said — which is often the case in contentious divorce battles. So while we may never know the entire truth, it's clear that Chick was confident Baccarin had started her new chapter when they were still together.

If the timeline of Morena Baccarin's new relationship wasn't messy enough, there was also the very public custody battle with Austin Chick. The couple shared joint custody, while Baccarin got physical custody of their son Julius, who was 2 years old at the time in September 2015. Given Julius' age, Baccarin got permission to move Julius to New York City where she was shooting "Gotham." Baccarin was the sole earner in the relationship and now had to financially support Chick too (more on that later), so the move only made sense. Chick was also on board, with Baccarin even renting an apartment in the city for him. So far, so good, right? 

Things took a turn when Chick suddenly went back on this agreement after finding out about Baccarin and Ben McKenzie. According to court documents obtained by People, "Apparently he changed his mind and returned to Los Angeles with the child when he learned that [Baccarin] had a new boyfriend." This caused Baccarin even more stress, as she was also pregnant. In court documents filed in February 2016, obtained by E! News, the actor requested to delay a divorce deposition because of this. "I am now almost eight months pregnant, and I continue to have a high-risk pregnancy," she stated. "My physician, who I last saw on Jan. 29, 2016, has advised me to have as much bed rest as possible and limited activities." As if the custody struggle wasn't enough, the divorce took a financial drain on Baccarin as well.

Morena Baccarin ended up having to shell out a serious amount of cash to her ex-husband. After the New York City drama, in November 2015, a judge ordered Baccarin to pay Austin Chick over $23,000 a month in spousal support. Given that Baccarin is the more successful of the two, steadily working in film and television since her 2001 debut, she ended up having to support her then unemployed ex-husband. Who says success and wealth doesn't come with strings? 

The ruling would see Baccarin financially supporting Chick for the rest of his life, or until he remarried. The amount is by no means a small sum, even for a successful actor such as Baccarin. But on top of this hefty monthly amount, which totals over $270,000 a year, Baccarin also was shelling out dough for Chick's NYC apartment.

Divorce lawyer Michael Stutman, who was not directly involved in the case himself, offered his take on the situation to People: "In my opinion, Ms. Baccarin got the shortest end of the stick." Stutman went on to describe the decision as a direct insult to Baccarin. "Not giving Ms. Baccarin credit for the N.Y.C. apartment she had been paying for was a slap at her," he said. 

Morena Baccarin's messy divorce with Austin Chick continued for another two years. By 2017, Baccarin was clearly more than ready to move on from Chick, wanting a definite end to their marriage. In February 2017, she requested a judge to reduce that exuberant monthly alimony amount. The actor finally won and settled her divorce with Chick in 2018. 

The final judgment seemed to be more in Baccarin's favor for the most part. For starters, she no longer was expected to pay over $20,000 a month in spousal support. Rather, she was ordered to pay the arguably more reasonable amount of $5,000 a month, as outlined in the court documents obtained by People. The documents also revealed that Baccarin was set to pay Chick an additional $3,500 a month for child support for her son until he turned 18. And then there were the assets.

While Baccarin, who was born in Rio de Janeiro, kept her apartment in Brazil as well as her home in Los Angeles, Chick was awarded a property in NYC. As TMZ reported at the time, Baccarin was also ordered to pay Chick a chunk of the residuals she receives from projects like "Deadpool," "Gotham" Season 1, "The Good Wife," and so on. 

After all the dust settled from the Morena Baccarin and Austin Chick split, Baccarin embraced her next chapter with open arms. The star lives a lovely and lavish life with husband Ben McKenzie, their two kids, and the son she shares with Chick. While Baccarin continues to rack up the acting credits, her family always takes priority over her career. "I've tried to follow my gut with a lot of these things and when projects come my way," she told Rose & Ivy in 2022. "Since I have kids and have a family, a lot of it has been about the time away versus the time with my kids, which informs the jobs I do take."

Baccarin has also been pretty open about being a working actor with three kids and the struggles that come with. In the aforementioned Page Six interview, Baccarin acknowledged the extra effort it takes to get ready for red carpet events now that she has three little ones. "I'm happy to have clothes on right now, but people help me. They were zipping me up and putting stuff on my face," she quipped. The actor also gave credit to her nanny for handling things at home. "She's the best. She keeps our household running," Baccarin said.

Though Baccarin hasn't said much about coparenting with Chick since their divorce, she has noted that McKenzie wasted no time in adjusting to dad life. "It's wonderful to watch him every day with our kids," she told People in 2018. "I couldn't ask for a better partner."