Téa Leoni & Tim Daly Find Love All Over Again in ‘Newlyweds’

Married couple Téa Leoni, 60, and Tim Daly, 70, in a relationship since 2014, can still make us believe they’re experiencing love at first sight. The veteran film, TV, and stage actors showed us how it’s done at a cast table read of the new NBC sitcom Newlyweds at Universal Studios in Los Angeles last August. As Jeanie, a middle-school science teacher with two teens, and James, a philosophy professor, they flirted giddily during a first date scene. Cut to the morning after, quickly followed by happily-ever-after.

“They get married without really knowing each other,” Daly told TV Insider later as he and Leoni cozied up on a dressing room sofa together. “They’re of a certain age, so they have ways that they’re set in. She has two crazy kids. I’ve got a crazy ex-wife [played by executive producer Jamie Lee Curtis]. And there’s James’ assistant [Bill O’Neill] who hovers over and insinuates himself into their relationship. They’re trying to figure [it] out, like all couples. How do we live together? What are the habits? What are the deal breakers? What are the things that drive you crazy?”

Daly and Leoni know the drill in life and on screen. The couple, who tied the knot in 2025 and celebrated their first anniversary on July 12, found love with each other early in the run of Madam Secretary (CBS 2014-19) while, yes, playing a married couple. She was Elizabeth McCord, the secretary of state who eventually became president. He was her professor husband Henry. Both say these new characters are a departure.

Sure, James is a professor, but, Daly says, “James hasn’t figured everything out in the way that Henry McCord had. For someone who’s intelligent and accomplished, he’s incredibly naive, but he’s game. That naivete attracts me. James is not very pop culturally astute, which is fun because Jeanie’s involved with eighth graders and has to deal with all that stuff.”

Leoni notes, “Elizabeth McCord was one of the most mature individuals I’ve ever played or met. She was thoughtful, deliberate, and kind. The only thing she and Jeanie have in common is the kindness. Jeanie is utterly immature. She is a teacher who secretly is right in there with her eighth graders. Their problems seem as serious to her as they are to them. She just has the practice to know that they’re surmountable and her eighth graders don’t. I can relate.”

Both stars can draw from personal experience when it comes to splitting from a spouse. “We’re both divorced, and we both love our exes and have really good relationships with them. And it is hard because it’s a loss,” says Leoni, who was married to actor David Duchovny.  “I felt like I had had a marriage that was in its own way spectacular. And I love David and I got these two amazing gifts out of it. [Afterwards] I was really settled, and I knew I was going to get laid again.” Leoni laughs.

Daly looks at her with mock shock and says, “By who?”

Those two amazing gifts are, of course, their kids. Daughter West Duchovny has a role on Peacock drama Five Star Weekend and Leoni would welcome her on Newlyweds, saying, “It would be really fun to play with her in this medium because this is very different.”

Daly, too, has kids from his previous marriage, so the stars have a blended family. “We’re two shy of The Brady Bunch, but we have grandkids now, so that makes a perfect six,” Leoni says.

On the series, Jeanie is mom to teens Poppy (Emma Meisel) and the adopted Lolo (Ignacio Diaz-Silverio), who navigate a relationship with James.

The other person in Jeanie and James’ mix is Claudia, divorced from James for just eleven months. Curtis also writes and co-created the series with executive producer and showrunner Gail Lerner. “You love Claudia for a lot of reasons even though she’s such a royal pain in the ass. That’s the key to it, which Jamie does very well,” Daly says. As for whether she’s still in love James, Daly says he doesn’t know but, “sometimes when people fall out of love, they torment the ex.”

Despite the obstacles, Daly says, “[Jeanie and James] are still very curious people, which is I think what keeps them fun. They keep trying new things.” Leoni jumps in laughing, “This week is pickleball. And that to me is just hilarious. Just saying ‘pickleball.’” Their pickleball coach is scheduled to come directly after our interview for a practice session.

Daly does have a serious takeaway: “Staying open to the possibility of love no matter how old you are is really important. What’s the worst that can happen? Your heart gets broken. So what? Get up, dust yourself off, and stay open to it again. Neither of us were looking for it or forcing it.”

On their first anniversary, the couple shared the top tier of their wedding cake, which they’d socked away in the freezer. “We’re sitting next to each other on the couch. We did something silly, like took the knife and said, ‘Oh, we have to make a wish,’” Daly says. Leoni interjects with a laugh. “After that it was just forks!” Daly continues, “We cut it and we looked at each other and we both knew at the exact same moment that we’d made the same wish. And the wish was for 30 more years.” Leoni ups the number: “35!” That’s the kind of healthy disagreement Jeanie and James need to stay as solid as Leoni and Daly. Couple goals!

Newlyweds, Series Premiere, Friday, October 23, 8:30/7:30c, NBC