Mary Steenburgen & Ted Danson Crossed Paths With Her Ex While Supporting Her Son’s New Movie

It was a family affair for director Charlie McDowell, whose film, The Summer Book, premiered at 2024 AFI Fest on Sunday, Oct. 27. He was surrounded by his very famous parents and stepfather — yes, a nepo-baby moment — who cheered him on every step of the way. 

Charlie’s mother, Oscar winner Mary Steenburgen, was in attendance with her husband and Cheers star, Ted Danson. Charlie’s father, A Clockwork Orange actor Malcolm McDowell, was also there to support his 41-year-old son. The only person who was missing was Charlie’s wife, Lily Collins, who couldn’t be there because she recently made her stage debut in Barcelona in London’s West End. While the Emily in Paris star’s presence was probably a bummer for Charlie, his parents showed a united front even though they’ve been divorced for 34 years.

Steenburgen met her now ex-husband in 1979 on the set of Time After Time and married in 1980. Together, they share a son Charlie, and daughter Lilly, 43, as well as three granddaughters (Lilly’s children), Clementine, Goldie, and Vera. Even though they are no longer married, the blended family still comes together for major family milestones. Malcom was downright sentimental talking about the happy situation to People in March 2023. 

“I was sitting at my granddaughter’s 10th birthday party with Mary, Ted, and we were sitting there with the three granddaughters and my two children with Mary… And I was sitting there, and I looked at her and I went, ‘This is all because of Time After Time,‘ ” he recalled. The Halloween star also gets along with Steenburgen’s husband, describing her and Danson as “a wonderful couple.”

Steenburgen had equally kind things to say about her ex-husband, telling Saga in January 2014, per People. “He’s a very special, wonderful, bigger-than-life magical being, and we’re so lucky that we managed to remember we loved each other. I just thought, ‘This is my children’s daddy, there’s no way I can hate him.’”

That continued love and respect was evident on Sunday night’s red carpet as the modern family gathered to celebrate Charlie’s accomplishment.A divorce doesn’t have to mean the end of a family — Steenburgen and Malcom proved that co-parenting can be the beginning of a beautiful new chapter.

Before you go, click here to see celebrity exes who will always be friends.