Rooney Mara and Joaquin Phoenix Keep It Smart

A launch event for AI glasses may seem like an unconventional date-night setting, but for Rooney Mara and Joaquin Phoenix, it is rather fitting. The couple first met while filming Spike Jonze’s 2013 sci-fi film Her, wherein Phoenix plays a man who falls in love with an AI operating system. And last night, they stepped out in New York City to celebrate Gentle Monster’s first intelligent eyewear collection, of which Phoenix is a campaign star.

While the couple’s joint red carpet appearances are few and far between, they managed to look sartorially in sync last night despite adhering to totally different dress codes. Mara donned a deconstructed lingerie get-up, complete with a bra-exposing top and a sheer skirt over black briefs. Phoenix, on the other hand, looked cozy in a black sweater and slim-fitting trousers. Both, ostensibly, sported Gentle Monster intelligent eyewear.

Her earned an Oscar and has since been hailed as a prophetic look at the complex relationship between humans and AI. Over a decade later, intelligent eyewear is a pretty meta project for Phoenix to front. He stars in the accompanying campaign film, directed by Jonathan Glazer. It finds him struggling down a long hotel hallway, with the lines of reality blurring as the perspective shifts to and from the glasses.

As for Mara and Phoenix, the notoriously private pair were last spotted together at the Airbnb.org Gala (along with, inexplicably, the rest of Hollywood). But prior to that, the last high-profile event they attended was the 2025 Venice Film Festival while promoting the documentary-drama The Voice of Hind Rajab, which they both executive produced. This year, Phoenix was absent from the event, while Mara attended with her sister Kate for the premiere of their dark comedy Bucking Fastard.

The couple, who have been together for about 10 years and share two children, seldom do large-scale couple appearances. But last night proved to be a rather stylish occasion for parents’ night out.