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Diplomat actor Rufus Sewell married actress and former model scout Vivian Benitez in July 2024 at Manorbia Castle in Wales. Benitez is a Cuban-American actress known for her work on “Criminal Minds,” “Arsenal,” and her work as Wilhelmina LA’s youngest model scout. She spoke candidly about her career, career, and relationship with Sewell, whom she calls her “best friend.”
Rufus Sewell’s personal life has taken some pleasant changes over the past year. The diplomat and Scoop actor married actress and former model scout Vivian Benitez in July 2024 after getting engaged the previous winter. Their relationship has remained largely absent from social media, but Benitez’s candid interviews and occasional glimpses on Instagram have provided insight into their relationship and her own multifaceted career.
Below is everything you need to know about Sewell’s wife, Vivian Benitez.
She and Sewell married in Wales in July 2024.
Mr Benitez and Mr Sewell exchanged vows on July 17 at Manabia Castle in Tenby, Wales. The actress described the ceremony as a “perfect day” and shared photos from the celebration on Instagram.
“July 17, ’24 was truly a perfect day,” she wrote. “I air-dried my hair, did my makeup with my middle school palette (we all still have it), put on a dress I bought at Century City Mall, and went to a castle in Wales to meet the best person I’ve ever met.”
Benitez’s mother walked him down the aisle, and his first dance with his grandfather was to Frank Sinatra’s “My Way.” She also paid tribute to her father, who passed away a few days before her wedding, writing, “I wish my dad was whirling around somewhere.”
The two announced their engagement in December 2023.
Benitez announced his engagement to Sewell on Instagram in early December 2023, posting two photos, including one in which he kissed her on the cheek while flashing a diamond ring. “Till death do us part (or until he keeps walking on the bath mat in his outside shoes),” she captioned the post.
Speaking on the In Good Company podcast in May 2024, she said the attention surrounding the engagement was “very strange for both of us. We were both shocked, like, wow, people care.” “It was the week of my birthday and we had just gotten engaged in Rome and were back in London. I posted a photo on Instagram for friends and family and the Daily Mail published it. People were talking about my mother, I posted an article about my dad being sick, and I was really sick of it. And I love talking about myself, but this is all I didn’t want.”
She said the experience made her more empathetic toward other women in public relationships. “I called a friend of mine who’s dating a famous actor, and she’s been struggling with it for the last few years, and she was like, ‘No one’s reading it. No one really cares.'”
Their relationship goes back several years.
The two made their red carpet debut at the New York premiere of “Old” in 2021.
Benitez had previously personally posted images of Sewell. In an Instagram post in February 2020, she hinted that they started dating in 2019, writing, “One year of love has really taken my personality hostage. I hope you come back safely.”
Since then, the two have appeared in multiple premieres together, including Netflix’s The Diplomat, in which Sewell co-stars with Keri Russell in 2023.
During an appearance on In Good Company, Benitez talked about how much Sewell’s support meant to her. “He’s enjoying the moment right now, which is very natural. He’s worked his whole life for this. He’s such a talented, phenomenal actor and I’m always in such awe of him when I watch his work,” she said. “He’s the complete opposite of the character. He’s just my best friend and I’m so challenged by him both intellectually and emotionally. He always pushes me to be better.”
Benitez has spoken openly about the public scrutiny of their age difference.
Benitez, who is 29 years younger than Sewell, spoke directly about the attention in an interview with In Good Company. “There’s a big age difference and people like to point it out. We know there’s an age difference. Anyone who’s met us knows, but we’ve never gotten any weird looks in public,” she said.
She elaborated that conversations surrounding their relationship revealed a deeper double standard. “What bothers me most is that the cliché about a younger woman being with an older man means that she’s doing it for the money or that she’s a naive girl, rather than just falling in love and choosing to spend her life together.”
Benitez emphasized that he and Sewell are equals: “I’ve been working away from home since I was 16 years old. We’re partners in every sense of the word. We both contribute equally to the relationship. We bought a house together, we split the house. He’s not funding my life.”
She is an actress who started acting when she was a teenager.
Benitez was born on December 6, 1996. Her credits include the thriller Arsenal (2017), CBS’ Criminal Minds, and the animated short Sky Dancers Grown Up (2021).
Before going full-time, she worked in the modeling industry. She joined Wilhelmina Miami at the age of 17 and later moved to Wilhelmina LA, where she became the agency’s youngest model scout.
In Good Company, she vividly recalls her start, saying, “When I was 17, I got a job as an assistant to the director of “Wilhelmina Miami.” I lied and said I was 18 and got the job.”
Her career gained attention in 2018. has started a Snapchat reality series titled “Vivian” that chronicles her life as a young scout in Los Angeles.
She spoke openly about her upbringing and heritage.
Benitez grew up in New Jersey in a Cuban-American family. On In Good Company, she explained, “I’m 100 percent Cuban. Spanish is my first language and I grew up in a very white town in New Jersey.”
She recalls that as a child, her classmates made fun of her accent, and her mother stopped speaking Spanish at home. She also talked about the similarities between her experience and Hollywood stereotypes. “When I came to Los Angeles to act, people were saying, ‘You don’t look Hispanic.’ Literally every time I went to an audition, I had to wear hoop earrings. I thought, ‘What do you want me to do? How many stereotypes do you have to fit me into?'”
She calls Sewell her “best friend.”
In In Good Company, Benitez described Sewell as “the complete opposite of the character he plays” on screen. “He’s such a stupid, goofy guy…I’ve been with him for a long time. It’s been years. He’s just my best friend, but I’m so challenged by him intellectually and emotionally,” she said.
“We are partners in every sense of the word,” she added.
