With an inspiring Christian love story, Ben and Molly Davies are quite possibly Hollywood’s sweetest couple. Their mutual appreciation and respect for each other can literally be heard in their voices as they recounted their dating period, and laughed with each other as they remembered details of their June wedding.
Brought together in an unconventional manner with the odds stacked against them, Ben and Molly proved that following God’s will through difficult circumstances is worth every second.
SCH: What was it like when you were searching for “the one?”
Ben Davies: Growing up in a Christian home, I knew qualities in a woman I was looking for. After transferring colleges, and traveling around for the films, I realized how hard it is to find the right fit and the one who God has for you. You want someone whose strengths are your weaknesses. But it was pretty clear when I met Molly. There were tons of people around, but when I started talking to her, I knew she was different. All the lights were going off in my head when I was talking to her that this girl is different than all the other ones I’ve met.
Molly Davies: I have a similar situation. I grew up in a Christian home and knew the kind of man I wanted to marry. I consider myself really picky when it came to dating, and it was hard to imagine finding someone. When I met Ben, it was a crazy situation when we met, and I instantly felt different. Over the course of getting to know him, it was almost immediate that I knew I could spend the rest of my life with him.
Mother of the groom and owner of Advantage Casting Nise Davies helps her son get ready for the big day
SCH: How did you meet?
BD: Like I mentioned, we met at the Florida versus Georgia football game. It was really a random situation where we were sitting on ledge and a buddy that I was hanging out with was recognized by a friend that Molly was with as they were walking by – out of thousands of people. She stopped to talk to my buddy, so then Molly and I started talking…and that’s how we met.
SCH: How long did it take before you knew the other person was God’s choice for you? In what ways did God confirm it?
BD: Neither one of us wanted to jump into a relationship. We met Halloween weekend at the Florida versus Georgia football game, and then I didn’t see Molly again until January. Then she started to come to track meets.
I was praying about it because I was in a time of my life where I was ready to date seriously. It took months and months of prayer and getting to know each other before committing to long-distance relationship, which is stressful in and of itself.
I knew that summer – almost a year after we met. We were visiting family and friends while I was filming A Matter of Time. I asked Molly to be his girlfriend, and go on this long-distance journey for the next two years.
MD: It was about six months back and forth visiting and getting to know each other. Six months is a long time, and you get to know how you feel about someone in that time. We both saw a great future together, so before we actually started dating, I felt like I could marry him. It’s a bit different set of circumstances since it was long-distance.
BD: Yes, if we had lived in the same city, we probably would have started dating sooner. Molly was a nurse in Florida and I was a student in Georgia, so with our schedules, I knew how hard long-distance dating would be, but I knew it would be worth it.
SCH: What are some tips for staying connected long-distance?
BD: Be understanding to each other and about situation—it’s not ideal. Make a conscious effort to reach out and reassure them in your relationship, especially in their love language. Knowing each other’s love languages in a long distance relationship is huge.
If your girlfriend’s love language is spending time together, you need to make time for that phone call and visit as much as possible. Or even if it’s just little gifts you send in the mail. You never know how much difference a little gift or call can make.
MD: Understanding the person is important. Ben is great at calling, but not texting. I love texting and would text him all the time, but it would hours before he would respond! (laughs) But I couldn’t take it too personally. Understanding he’s busy in school, and I was working, plus we were in different time zones so we weren’t doing the same things at the same time. Understanding what their daily life looks like is really important.
SCH: What are your love languages?
BD: Molly’s are Quality Time and Receiving Gifts. My family never gave gifts or wrote notes, so that one was hard for me. The Quality Time was easier because my dad is really big on spending time together. But the gifts…it was so different for me because it wasn’t something I did a lot of growing up. However, it really matters to Molly, so I had to work on that.
MD: The biggest thing for Ben is Words of Affirmation. He grew up with awesome parents who were always affirming him, so that was really big for Ben. So sending a text or calling on the phone and giving that affirmation was big, even though we’re not seeing each other.
His other one is Physical Touch, which is hard to fill when you’re dating long distance (both laugh), so I had to go really heavy on the first one.
BD: That was tough for me being Words of Affirmation in the entertainment industry. You have a hundred people telling you “no,” or “you’re not good enough to get this part.” When you come home from a bad audition or training, you need someone to be that rock and foundation to tell you that you can do this, because everyone else is telling you that you can’t.
SCH: Did you have a strategy for how you could remain pure until marriage? Any advice for the youth in this matter?
BD: It was easier to have boundaries in this area with thousands of miles between us. We both knew our goals and morals before we started dating. We had “the talk” about our situation and we had to respect each other.
SCH: How did you propose?
BD: We didn’t get to see each other very often, so I flew down for Christmas, and made sure we went back to that same place where we first met. I orchestrated with her friends.
MD: It’s so much better than just going out to dinner. It meant a lot.
SCH: What was that moment like when you first saw her in her wedding gown? What were some of the highlights of the wedding?
(Both laugh)
BD: They had a thing planned where I was going to be blindfolded…
MD: We did a “First Look.”
BD: Picture my tie tied waaaay too tight around my face for thirty minutes because everyone got behind schedule getting the camera and stuff. So I was standing there for a good thirty minutes with my eyes closed.
When Molly took the blindfold off me, I was blinded, so it was foggy and well-lit. So when I saw Molly, it was really like in a dream, seeing the person I’d waited for my entire life.
SCH: In what ways do you hope to serve the Lord as husband and wife?
BD: We want to help each other in our personal careers. I know Molly’s goal is helping people as a nurse, and also help people be financially free so they can do what they want to do. She knows my intentions of being a light in the entertainment industry—going into the secular field and still making an impact on people.
She knows the support system that I need to do that, and I know the support system that she needs. As a couple, we want to show people that you can get married at a young age and have a happy, healthy marriage in the entertainment world.
MD: In agreement with that, with Ben’s career, I don’t know how celebrity couples get married that don’t know the Lord. It’s such a hard industry to be in. Ben doing it in prayer and support, and having me praying and supporting him makes it so much easier and better. There’s no way we could do this without prayer and knowing this is what the Lord wants us to do.
SCH: What are some of the challenges of being married in Hollywood?
MD: It’s pretty much the same stuff we dealt with when we were dating. Ben’s filmed multiple movies, even something as simple as being jealous to having a different lifestyle. He’ll be gone a for few weeks at a time on set.
Really, it’s normal things that come up, but we’ve learned to talk through and it and pray through it.
It really comes down to communication and trusting each other. I know he’s called to this so I’ll support him.
SCH: What is your favorite characteristic about each other?
BD: That’s like picking a favorite child! I love her support and how loving she is towards me. She makes me better than I would be on my own. I don’t know how, I don’t know how it’s possible, but all the things about her make it possible.
MD: Ben is very outgoing, If I’m in a crowd, I’m going to be quiet, so in social settings it’s awesome because he makes me feel so at ease. He’s the life of the party and I never feel uncomfortable. I love how confident he is, and how safe I feel with him.
Want to learn more about Ben Davies? Check out authors interview on one of his favorite movie roles movie Courageous HERE
To learn more about author Bethany Jett, find her at Bethany Jett
Photos courtesy of Morgan Marie Photograhy
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