Who Is Woody Harrelson’s Wife?

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Woody Harrelson’s reputation expands far beyond his nearly 40 years as a Hollywood actor. The 61-year-old Emmy award winner has always marched to the beat of his own drum. He’s an environmental activist, a bit of a conspiracy theorist, and at one point, was a total Casanova. But despite his notoriety and superstardom, Harrelson has managed to stay grounded, thanks to one woman. Meet Laura Louie, Woody Harrelson’s wife, mother to his children, and partner of over 30 years.

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Laura Louie Met Woody Harrelson When He Was on Cheers

Woody Harrelson and Laura Louie first met in 1987, at the start of the actor’s career. He was born in 1961 and she was born in 1965, so they were about 26 and 22 years old, respectively. At that point in Harrelson’s life, he’d been in a couple of films but most importantly, he’d been a regular on Cheers for two years. Remarkable to say the least, as the Texas native grew up poor. He studied theatre at Hanover College in Indiana, and less than 2 years after graduating, he’d found consistent work in one of the world’s most iconic TV sitcoms.

Woody Harrelson told The Hollywood Reporter that he was “anonymous and poor” before joining the Cheers cast. But once he did, the roles came quickly. He worked on several films while filming Cheers, but credits Doc Hollywood, White Men Can’t Jump, and Indecent Proposal for helping him make his break. Perhaps more importantly, he had Laura Louie diligently helping him manage his career behind the scenes, thanks to an unlikely meetup.

“This media workshop came to see Cheers. I was there eight years, and in all that time, we only talked to one group, and it just happened to be this group. UCLA put it on, but it was people from all over,” Harrelson told The Hollywood Reporter. “And at some point, I was like, ‘Hey, does anybody here have secretarial skills? ‘Cause I could really use an assistant.’ And this young woman, Laura Louie, raised her hand.”

Louie Worked as Harrelson’s Assistant For 3 Years

Harrelson saw Louie and asked her to walk down from the stands so they could talk. He said he asked her to come out to his house in Marina Del Ray the next day but couldn’t remember his own address.

“I told her the intersection, and she parked, and she wasn’t quite sure where she was going, and then she hears this music blasting,” Harrelson recalled. “I had on Elton John’s ‘Funeral for a Friend,’ which segues into ‘Love Lies Bleeding.’ We had one of the greatest conversations I ever had, so she became my assistant. She was so great that every other person in Cheers got an assistant after that. She became my assistant the day after I met her and for the next three years.”

Louie continued to work for Harrelson until they realized they were in love with each other. Up until that point, the actor described himself as someone who couldn’t settle down. It wasn’t even a serial monogamy kind of thing. He just didn’t want to be with anyone for an extended period of time.

“I never believed in the concept of [marriage]. I just never believed that it made any sense, this long-term monogamy thing that humans do,” Harrelson told THR. He added that he thought he’d feel that way forever. “I just was incapable of long-term relationships. I was with whoever would have me. Then I met my wife.”

To be fair, the Natural Born Killers star had tried marriage, but it didn’t work out. He married actress Nancy Simon in 1985 and they divorced the following year. Maybe part of him knew he wanted to settle down, but he hadn’t met the right person yet.

Woody Harrelson Wrote a Song for Laura Louie to Profess His Love

Once Harrelson realized his feelings had drastically changed, he was the one who made the first move. He was visiting artist Peter Beard on his ranch in Kenya, Africa, and staying up late smoking spliffs with a guard. Harrelson would play guitar and then he’d start thinking about Louie.

“I remember I just started thinking about Laura, fantasizing about her. I mean, talk about forbidden fruit! It was, ‘Do not have these thoughts! But I’d have the thoughts, and they would tantalize me in such a way, I remember it was as if my teeth were itching, like an unscratchable itch inside the teeth. That’s how much it was suffusing my being,” said Harrelson. But when he asked his friends in LA if he should express his feelings to Laura, they emphatically told him not to.

“100 percent of them said, ‘No!’ because they knew my track record — I mostly just had one-night stands,” Harrelson admitted.

He followed his heart instead. Harrelson wrote a song and played it for her one night. Calling it “direct,” he shared some of the lyrics:

I’m only 28, but I’m bored with everything I do.

I’ve got nothing when I’m not next to you.

Are you thinking about me, baby?

‘Cause I’m thinking about you.

Woody Harrelson’s Song for His Future Wife, Laura Louie

Louie Told Harrelson That She Felt the Same Way

Apparently, the bold move was the right choice. Laura Louie admitted that she’d been in love with him for two and a half years.

“The insecure actor in me is like, ‘What about the other six months?!” Harrelson said. “But I moved through that, and I picked her up and carried her inside to my bedroom, and we made love, and we began a great relationship.”

Laura Louie became Woody Harrelson’s longtime girlfriend after that. They have three children together. But it wasn’t until 2008 — nearly 20 years after they first started dating — that they got married.

Their Maui Wedding Only Cost $500

They wed in Maui, Hawaii, in December 2008. The ceremony was small with family and friends. It was so lowkey that Harrelson later admitted it only cost $500! That didn’t include the rings which were $300 each or airfare, but it certainly contrasts to a typical A-lister’s over-the-top marriage ceremony. According to Heavy, the couple’s wedding attire was quite simple. Laura Louie wore a white dress while Woody Harrelson wore a Hawaiian shirt. In attendance were family and friends including Owen Wilson, Sean Penn, Alanis Morissette, and William Nelson.

“We didn’t feel the need to shell out a ton of cash and do anything over the top,” he told Davy Rothbart of Weathsimple (via CNBC). “It was basically just a bunch of good friends getting together in Maui. I paid for some food and drinks, a few hundred bucks, and that was about it.”

Harrelson and Louie have maintained a strong element of frugality, not just with finances but in an acute awareness of their impact on mother earth. After they officially started dating in the early 80s, Louie switched her career focus towards environmental causes. The former Business Management and Environmental Sciences student no longer needed to worry about finances, but she found ways to utilize her unique skillset and education. But first came children.

Louie and Harrelson Have Three Daughters

Laura Louie and Woody Harrelson welcomed their first child, daughter Deni Montana, on February 28, 1993. Their second daughter, Zoe Giordano, was born September 22, 1996. Their third child, also a girl, wouldn’t be welcomed onto the planet until a decade after Zoe. Makani Ravello was born June 3, 2006.

But it was while Deni and Zoe were quite young that Harrelson and Louie did some serious soul searching about what they wanted to contribute to the world. That is, of course, beyond beautiful children and iconic screen roles.

Laura Stood by Woody During Multiple Arrests

Harrelson told Gregory Dicum of San Francisco Gate that he started paying attention to environmental politics in 1991.

“Congress was trying to pass a law to make six million acres available to extractive industries —timber and mining. And it was wilderness, you know? They aren’t making any more of those ancient trees — we’re down to a very small percentage of what there was,” he said.

After his epiphany, Harrelson became a prominent activist for environmental campaigns. It started with bringing awareness to the usefulness of hemp. Hemp has a low carbon footprint, is cheap and easy to grow, and can be used for a wide range of industries including oil. But there has been pushback across the globe, and it used to be illegal, often confused with marijuana. In 1996, Harrelson symbolically planted some hemp seeds in Kentucky to protest the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 and the 60-year-long ban on hemp cultivation. He was subsequently arrested.

That same year, Harrelson was again arrested. This time he was alongside other demonstrators after climbing the Golden Gate Bridge to protest logging. Despite the widespread media attention, Harrelson decided to become more involved in environmental activism.

“You only get so much mileage outta doing this kind of thing before people just don’t care,” he told SF Gate. “These actions are a bit gimmicky, you know? Not that it’s a bad thing — it’s what the environmental movement has to do to break through the media.”

They Are Both Environmental Activists

Of course, Harrelson was not alone in any of this. By his side, this whole time was his supportive wife, Laura Louie. Together, they made drastic lifestyle changes. They founded Voice Yourself in 2001 to promote awareness of sustainable living practices and healthy diet choices as a way to take care of the planet. Then Harrelson embarked on a 1,500-mile journey along the West Coast in a biodiesel-powered bus with some friends. The tour, and its message about sustainable living, were later shared in the 2003 documentary Go Further.

They Lived in a Sustainable Commune Together

Then Louie, Harrelson, and their two eldest daughters moved to Maui, Hawaii, to live in an eco-friendly commune along with about 200 other people.

“It’s a really beautiful place,” Harrelson told SF Gate in 2005. “Everybody cares about this Earth and they’re all biodynamic farmers and just really cool people. It’s really a loving community and I’m blessed to be a part of it.” He added that they grow about 90% of their food and practice sustainability in nearly every aspect of their daily lives.

“Nobody in our neighborhood has any power lines — we’re all solar,” he said. “I try to walk the talk as much as possible. I run my car on biodiesel. All the paper I use is non-wood, post-consumer waste. I’m vegan and eat raw as much as I can.”

Louie and Harrelson still own property in an eco-friendly community of Maui, although it’s not clear if it’s the same commune as before. According to Kaui-Hawaii.com, they maintain their gorgeous residence in the remote area of Huelo, Maui. However, they’ve also been known to reside in Los Angeles and Texas.

Laura Louie Founded Yoganics

Laura and Woody also founded an organic food delivery service called Yoganics. According to People, the company was based in Texas but shut down in 2015. Louie then started a new business based in Hawaii, called Yoganics Maui.

Currently, there seems to be a business called Yoganics Hawaii and it is run by another woman. It’s not clear if this is the same company that Laura Louie co-founded. Sources differ on this point.

Regardless, Laura Louie is quite the chef. Harrelson shared one of her recipes with People for “Painted Fruit.” It’s essentially a step-by-step process for making a delicious superfood “paint” which can be applied to any fruit of your choosing. Check it out here.

She Forgave Him After a Tabloid Set Him Up in a Foursome

Laura Louie has been Woody Harrelson’s partner in life, love, and activism for nearly 4 decades. Perhaps the biggest testament to her love is found in how she reacted to a massive public fiasco about 20 years ago. It was 2002 and they hadn’t yet married, but they were partners, and they were raising their two eldest daughters together.

Woody Harrelson was set up by London paparazzi one evening as he left a bar. Two women asked him to “take a walk on the wild side” and invited him into their car. It turns out that one of those women worked for News of the World. He obliged them and a third woman hopped in the car. The four went to Harrelson’s place and proceeded to have a foursome. The photos ended up going viral. One week later, Harrelson got in a non-violent altercation with a taxi driver and ended up running away from the cops. He went to jail and Laura bailed him out.

Despite how terrible that week was for her famous husband, Laura Louie responded like a saint.

“This really gives you a sense of the depth of her compassion,” the Hunger Games actor told The Hollywood Reporter. “What she said to me after finding out was, ‘That must be really hard for you, to have this shit exposed.’ She just said that. Now that doesn’t mean she wasn’t upset. How did I apologize? You know, just your standard Texan grovel. But she forgave me, and we’re still together.”

Read More: Woody Harrelson’s Father Was A Texas Hitman Who Claimed to Kill JFK

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