Rachel McAdams' Boyfriend Jamie Linden Was Serious With Zooey Deschanel First
Before dating Rachel McAdams, screenwriter Jamie Linden was involved with none other than Zoey Deschanel — and their approach to the spotlight couldn't have been more at odds.
After being in high-profile relationships with Michael Sheen and "The Notebook" co-star Ryan Gosling, McAdams opted to take a totally different approach to her love life. When McAdams started going out with Linden in 2016, McAdams chose to keep her relationship away from the spotlight — entirely. McAdams has never taken Linden to a red carpet, showing just how much she likes to preserve her personal affairs. But some aspects of life are hard to hide forever.
In April 2018, McAdams welcomed her and Linden's first child, less than two months after the media caught wind she was pregnant at all. During that time, McAdams noticeably skipped the "Game Night" premiere and had previously been seen wearing only oversized clothes. In 2020, McAdams became pregnant with their second child. This time, she wasn't so strict about hiding it, displaying her baby bump while out and about in Los Angeles. McAdams and Linden appear to be going strong, even if they don't like to show it. Linden, however, wasn't this secretive when he was in a relationship with Deschanel.
Jamie Linden dated Zooey Deschanel for two years
Jamie Linden was linked to Zooey Deschanel in mid-2012 when the two attended a "Magic Mike" after-party hand-in-hand. To those around them, the couple made sense. "Jamie's a really nice guy. He's funny, and a little geeky ... He's into her!" a source told Us Weekly that June. Unlike Rachel McAdams, Deschanel did walk a few red carpets locked arms with the "We Are Marshall" and "Dear John" screenwriter, as seen above at the 2013 Vanity Fair Oscar Party.
When their relationship took off, Deschanel had just filed for divorce from Ben Gibbard months earlier. In fact, the divorce wasn't finalized until December 2012, at least half a year into her relationship with Linden. In April of that year, Deschanel contended that getting into a new romance was the last thing on her mind. "Honestly, I'm just going through a divorce, so I don't really think that's something I want to get into now," she told Marie Claire (via People). "I don't have time to date. I literally don't have time."
But two months later, "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" actor was taking Linden to events as her date, so they must have gotten together shortly after her interview. The pair didn't last, though. He and Deschanel called it quits after two years together in July 2014, according to Us Weekly — two years before Linden started going out with McAdams. Once again, Deschanel didn't need a lot of time to find love again.
Zooey Deschanel wasted no time before moving on
By August 2014, just a month after splitting from Jamie Linden, Zooey Deschanel was spotted getting a bit too close to Jacob Pechenik on the set of the 2015 comedy "Rock the Kasbah," which he produced and she starred in. "[They were] definitely acting like a couple," a source told the Daily Mail, adding he wasn't shy about feeding her blueberries. Deschanel went on to marry Pechenik in June 2015 and welcomed their first child, a daughter, that July, just a year after she broke up with Linden.
Deschanel and Pechenik added a son to the brood in May 2017. But the relationship wouldn't go past their second child's toddlerhood. In September 2019, the couple shared they were separating. This time around, the "New Girl" alum needed even less time to move on to a new beau. Deschanel met Jonathan Scott when they participated in an episode of James Corden's "Carpool Karaoke" a month before her split from Pechenik was announced. The "500 Days of Summer" actor and the "Property Brothers" star went public just a week later.
Nothing reportedly happened at first. "They had a really fun time shooting the show," a source told People. "They started talking as friends and realized there was more to it." Deschanel's second divorce was finalized in June 2020, and her relationship with Scott appears to be going strong since. After quarantining together during the COVID-19 pandemic, Deschanel and Scott purchased a home in December 2021.