1. He was in Harry Potter
image source: themirror.co.uk
Being in Harry Potter is like a rite of passage for a lot of celebs, and Tom Ackerley was an extra in the third movie, Prisoner of Azkaban. Margot herself is a huge HP fan, and long before the pair met, Tom played a Slytherin student who gets pushed out of the way by Draco Malfoy during the Buckbeak scene (time for a rewatch?).
2. He once wore very revealing shorts at the gym.. in front of the president
image source: dailymail.co.uk
During a trip away, the pair headed to a gym in the hotel, for which Ackerley had decided to wear rather revealing shorts thinking it didn’t matter much as they expected the gym to be quiet… only to bump into TV presenter Ellen DeGeneres, her wife, and former president Barack Obama. A very awkward workout session ensued!
3. They began in a long-distance relationship
image source: people.com
The pair first met on the film set for Suite Francaise, but the pair had to part ways as Margot was away working and Tom was based in London. They had to make their long-distance relationship work, which Margot has said she owes to the rule of not going three weeks without seeing each other.
4. He’s a film producer (and for movies that Margot has starred in!)
image source: ok.co.uk
Tom was brought up in Surrey before attending Godalming College, and then becoming a film producer. While being British, the producer has worked on many big American productions, too, including Maid and Promising Young Woman. He’s also worked on I, Tonya and even the new Barbie movie.
5. And they run a production company together
image source: people.com
The pair ended up going into business together, too, with the production company LuckyChap Entertainment, with their friends Josey McNamara and Sophia Kerr. Margot said she fully supports working with your partner (which many people might disagree with!) and thinks it’s super fun.
6. The pair got engaged and married in secret
image source: news.com.au
The couple have always been very private, and even more so for their engagement and actual wedding ceremony. They married in Australia in 2016 in a private ceremony, and didn’t release any official photos or interviews about their initial engagement or happily tying the knot!
7. And they sacrificed a honeymoon to shoot I, Tonya
image source: newstatesman.com
After their private wedding ceremony, the pair didn’t shoot off right away to enjoy a relaxing honeymoon together. Instead, they went right on back to work to go and shoot the movie I, Tonya – in which Margot plays the lead. The good news is, they did make up for it with a delayed honeymoon after they’d finished the movie!
8. He didn’t appear on the red carpet with her until a year after they married
image source: elle.com
The pair have been so private with their relationship that they didn’t appear on the red carpet as an official couple until 2017 – a year after they’d married, and many years after they first started dating! Many might have been surprised Margot even had a partner to then find out he was her husband!
9. He visited her on the set of Barbie
image source: justjared.com
Being the ever-supportive husband, he also makes sure to drop in on her during her movie shoots. He visited the Barbie set on Margot’s birthday in between her shooting scenes to celebrate – funnily enough, while Margot was still wearing one of her Barbie costumes!
10. There were false rumors she was dating other people while with Tom
image source: people.com
Even this year in 2023 there have been Tweets and reports circulating on the internet that Margot is involved with other people, specifically pro-athletes – despite the fact she’s married to Tom and has been with him for years! Luckily, the couple haven’t let it affect them.
11. He helps Margot with her movie nerves
image source: people.com
Despite her obvious acting chops, Margot always gets nervous before a new role, and her husband, Tom, is her rock in that regard. Whenever she’s feeling doubt about her work, she tells her husband that she doesn’t think she can do it – and, being the supportive partner he is, he tells her “you’ll be fine”!
12. Margot wasn’t looking for a relationship when she met Tom
image source: townandcountrymag.com
As these things often go, you can meet the right person at the wrong time! For Margot, she was single at the time of meeting her future husband and very much not looking for a relationship. “The idea of relationships made me want to vomit”, she said. Luckily, Tom changed that!
13. They lived as a foursome in a London apartment
image source: cosmopolitan.com
Margot and Tom, whilst dating, also lived in an apartment in London with two of their friends: the very two who they started their production company with, Kerr and McNamara. Kerr had already been the childhood friend of Margot, and hopefully the apartment wasn’t two tiny for the couple to get their privacy!
14. They were friends first
image source: usweekly.com
Margot and Tom’s love story began in 2013 when they met, but they were friends for a very long time first. Initially, Margot told herself not to make it “weird” by admitting her romantic feelings for her friend, but in the end, she did – and the rest, as they say, is history!
15. He’s afraid of snakes
image source: goldcoatbulletin.com
For someone who was a Slytherin extra, that doesn’t bode well! Wife Margot grew up in Australia and is used to snakes, but Tom, unfortunately, isn’t. He has a fear of snakes and when freaking out if they come across one, Margot is the one to stay calm in that situation and get rid of it!
16. He started his career as a runner on set
image source: hollywoodlife.com
Like most people in the film industry, Ackerley started at the bottom by taking on a set runner role before working his way up the career ladder and eventually becoming an assistant director before becoming a producer. He worked as a runner on films including Rush and Gambit.
17. He isn’t big on social media
image source: glamourmagazine.co.uk
Margot herself isn’t known for social media, and her husband, Tom, only has one account: an Instagram account, @alpha_meows. He isn’t very active on this account, though, with years between posts, though occasionally he has posted snaps of trips with Margot herself!
18. It caused friction with their flatmates when they started dating
image source: uk.finance.yahoo.com
While Margot and Tom kept it secret for a while when they started dating, they eventually had to tell their housemates – who didn’t take it very well, at first. Initially, they all thought it was going to ruin the friendship group or compromise the living situation – but in the end, it all settled down!
19. Their first ‘public’ date was a New York Rangers game
image source: cosmopolitan.com
Once the secret was out, Margot and Tom were more open to being seen together in public, and news of their relationship broke when they were spotted attending a New York Rangers game together – and on a very PDA date at that! It was clear the pair was smitten.
20. They’ve hinted at children in the future
image source: dailymail.co.uk
Now that the pair are very happily married, there have obviously been questions about whether children are on the cards. Margot has said she hopes to have a big family one day and have children with Ackerley, but admits that it won’t be happening any time soon!
