Who Is Charlie Day's Wife? All About Mary Elizabeth Ellis

Charlie Day and Mary Elizabeth Ellis have been together for over two decades and share a son

Charlie Day and Mary Elizabeth Ellis have charmed audiences ever since they began costarring on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia together.

The couple met at a bar in 2001, years before they became an on-screen couple on the long-running FX sitcom. They got married in 2006 and welcomed their son five years later. Day confirmed their pregnancy to PEOPLE and said at the time, "We're five months along, and she's feeling great. We're excited. We decided now is the time, and we were fortunate that it happened."

Of their experience working together on It's Always Sunny, Day told Kelly Clarkson during an appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show, "It's good, I mean I feel a certain amount of pressure if we're in the writer's room and no storylines have popped up for her character I'm like 'Well can't go home and tell her this.' " He added jokingly, "But it's a blast, although she's very mean to me on the show ... She really enjoys it. I think that's also healthy, though, she gets to act out all her frustrations."

On March 5, 2023, Ellis celebrated their 17th wedding anniversary by posting a picture on Instagram of her and Day admiring a pile of stuffed animals inside a claw machine. "This guy. What a prize. Glad I snatched you up in the claw of my heart @charliedayofficial," she wrote in the caption. "Happy #17thanniversary (and over 21 years together!) You're pretty great."

Read on for everything to know about Charlie Day's wife, Mary Elizabeth Ellis.

She worked as a hostess before becoming an actress

Like a lot of actors and actresses, Ellis worked a few odd jobs before heading to Hollywood. As she told GQ in a February 2016 interview, these jobs included hostessing at an Olive Garden and catering at a Jewish Cultural Center in Los Angeles.

At the time, Ellis saw those jobs as a kind of rite of passage, especially hostessing. "That's definitely one of those jobs where you're like, 'You know what I'm doing? I'm paying my dues. And something good is going to happen to me because I'm paying my dues,' " she said.

Years later, Ellis was cast as The Waitress on Day's show It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia.

She met Day after he beat a friend at arm wrestling

Ellis and Day met in 2001 when they were both at the same bar in New York City. As Day later told Sean Evans on Hot Ones, he and a friend both saw Ellis at the bar and wanted to talk to her. The actor then challenged his friend to an arm-wrestling competition to determine who could go talk to her. He explained, "[He was] One of my skinniest, weakest friends. And I was able to beat him in an arm-wrestling competition. We arm-wrestled and I won, and I met my wife."

But Ellis tells the story a little differently. In a 2016 interview with Conan O'Brien, she said that she didn't even notice the match. She joked, "It's usually the first thing I do when I walk into a bar is see where the arm wrestling is happening. But I didn't notice any that night. There was a very, very drunk Irish man talking very close to my face …[Day] came and rescued me."

In a separate interview in 2018, Ellis also joked that she and Day are essentially a one-night stand that made it work. "The professional answer [to how we met] is we met each other and thought each other were great and had a very above-the-board, classy relationship. The true story is, it's a one-night stand that's still happening this many years later. So, you know, just go for it, it might work out," she told AfterBuzz TV.

She married Day in 2006

The couple tied the knot on March 4, 2006, in New Orleans.

In honor of their 15th wedding anniversary in 2021, Ellis shared a shot from their big day on Instagram and wrote a sweet tribute to her husband in the caption. "Happy 15th wedding anniversary to us, @charliedayofficial! Damn, I miss dancing at weddings with you. When we can, let's throw a giant party and dance until we fall down," she wrote.

They have costarred on a few projects

Prior to It's Always Sunny, Day and Ellis costarred as "inbred twins" on an episode of Reno 911! in 2004.

During a 2022 appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show, the I Want You Back star explained how he and Ellis nabbed the role. "We auditioned together for an episode of Reno 911! and they used to do improv auditions," Day explained. "So Mary Elizabeth and I went into the audition and told them we were brother and sister and then we started making out during the audition. They were like 'Oh my god! We have to cast them.' "

While talking with reporters on the red carpet at an It's Always Sunny event in 2019, Day discussed what projects he and Ellis will work together on in the future. "My wife is in my film El Tanto that I'm finishing up right now that I directed this last year," he told MEAWW. "Anytime I'm writing something I think 'Gosh I have to find something for Mary Elizabeth to do in it because she's the best.' "

Ellis also made an appearance in Day's 2023 film Fool's Paradise as "makeup woman #1." Day wrote, directed and starred in the comedy.

"Congratulations to the truly singular @charlie_day on Fool’s Paradise! I’d watch it a million times," the actress captioned photos from the movie's Los Angeles premiere on Instagram.

She has one son with Day

Ellis and Day announced that they were expecting their first baby together in 2011 at that year's San Diego Comic-Con. Day confirmed the news while speaking to PEOPLE and said that the two were ready for parenthood. "We've got a kid due in December. We're five months along, and she's feeling great," the dad-to-be shared. "We're excited. We decided now is the time, and we were fortunate that it happened."

The couple's son, Russell Wallace, was born on Dec. 15, 2011, in L.A. A representative for the couple confirmed the news to PEOPLE and shared that the baby boy weighed a little over 7 lbs. at birth. The two issued an official statement that read, "We are overjoyed and overwhelmed at the amount of love that ushered our baby into the world."

She thinks their son might become a director

While speaking to Conan O'Brien in 2016, Ellis shared that she thinks her son might end up working in Hollywood one day like his parents. "I mean 4-year-olds are just so dramatic but ours, I think he might be a director. He likes to tell us what to do a lot, and it kind of works because we're both actors," she said. "He'll be like 'I fell down and I'm crying, now you fall down and you cry!' "

She says she and Day talk about work at home a lot

Ellis has been open about the fact that when it comes to work-life balance, she and Day talk about their work at home a lot. As she told GQ, it's hard for her to imagine life any other way. "It's a really beautiful and exciting part about our relationship; I can't imagine as an actor or an artist not having someone that I couldn't talk to about [the] process. It's really an enrichment for me," she explained.

She starred in a Taylor Swift music video

In October 2022, Ellis starred in the music video for Taylor Swift's "Anti-Hero," which is a track on the artist's 10th studio album, Midnights. The video, which Swift wrote and self-directed, features a two-minute comedy sketch about her own funeral. Ellis stars as Swift's future daughter-in-law Kimber, alongside fellow comedians John Early and Mike Birbiglia, who play Swift's other adult children.

The money-obsessed kids are distraught over their inheritance, with Ellis' character particularly upset about not being left the beach house.

Swift tweeted about the video on the day of its release writing, "Watch my nightmare scenarios and intrusive thoughts play out in real time ... with some help from the excellent @birbigs, @bejohnce, and @meellisday who fabulously portray… get ready for it… my grown sons and daughter in law?"

For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.