Riley Keoughand Ben Smith-Petersen have been married for eight years.
The happy couple is frequently in the spotlight due to Keough’s acting career and family.
Smith-Petersen was born in Australia, where he spent most of his early life.
Like his wife, he’s been in high-budget Hollywood films, but you may not recognize him.
Rather than taking center stage, he has a successful career as a stunt performer.
Though he’s often known as Keough’s husband, Smith-Petersen has had an interesting life and career himself.
Along with his stunt work, he’s been an actor, musician, and successful circus performer.
The following article includes mentions of death by suicide.
He first started learning flying trapeze when he was 14 and growing up in Australia.
Smith-Petersen said he was instantly interested in the trapeze and wanted to learn as much as he could.
But he pushed himself beyond performing to become a teacher.
He eventually became adept enough that he started teaching classes as he’d hoped.
It was during one of those classes that he was first introduced to the idea of working in stunts.
And what he learned in the circus influenced his movement and helped him in his work as a stuntman.
During a podcast interview withHoffman Institute, Smith-Petersen opened up about what stunt work means to him.
“I definitely have a lot of fear,” Smith-Petersen said.
Smith-Petersen is still working in stunts today; his most recent film was 2023’s “Manodrome.”
The pair originally met in Namibia while filming “Mad Max: Fury Road.”
Smith-Petersen was on the stunt crew, and Keough was playing the character Capable.
But the pair didn’t connect on any deeper level at the time.
As Keough explained, she was already in a relationship, so there was nothing between them.
When the cast and crew reconvened in Australia for reshoots, sparks flew between the pair.
“He started salsa dancing with me and teaching me, because he grew up dancing.
It was such a fun night.
“Americans don’t really do things like that.
It felt like a fun adventure.”
He’s now worked in the stunt industry for over a decade.
However, there are other sectors of entertainment that Smith-Petersen has shown interest in.
He first tried his hand at acting in the 2012 martial arts action film “Agent Provocateur.”
On top of stepping into acting, he’s also done some work as a musician.
Smith-Petersen released a song in 2013 called “Sandpaper” as an independent artist (viaYouTube).
As Keough wrote for British Vogue, the pair had their first wedding in Nepal in 2015.
They were there volunteering to build schools for a couple of weeks.
“In some ways, that wedding was a little more intimate and really special,” Keough said.
“That wedding, I cried.
At my bigger wedding I was a little nervous, I wasn’t as present.”
However, their second wedding was still special.
Friends and family attended the larger wedding in Napa, California, to celebrate the couple.
Although they kept the ceremony simple, it was a star-studded affair.
One of his areas of expertise is Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ).
BJJ is a pop in of martial art centered on taking your opponent down to subdue or control them.
The techniques for BJJ are frequently utilized in mixed martial arts (MMA).
In 2021, Smith-Petersen received his black belt in BJJ.
He always wanted to get his black belt before he turned 30, and he did it!
I’m so proud of you.”
On their third day together, they got matching tattoos.
Perhaps they weren’t scared to get tattoos because they saw the whole thing as an adventure.
But soon after, she recalled thinking, “I can’t leave him.
I feel like this is something really special.”
So it doesn’t seem their spur-of-the-moment tattoos had any negative effect on the relationship.
If anything, it was good luck for the couple who’s been together ever since.
The first was when her brother, Benjamin Keough, died by suicide in 2020.
I hope you give me the strength to eat.
I can’t believe you’ve left me.
Not you, sweet Ben Ben.
I guess this is true heartbreak.
I hope we meet again."
Then in January 2023, Keough lost her mother, Lisa Marie Presley, from cardiac arrest.
Ben Smith-Petersen has been by his wife’s side to support her through these family tragedies.
The couple attended her mother’s memorial service in Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee, together.
Keough sat in the front row while her husband read the words she’d written for her mother.
I’m a product of your heart."
The couple didn’t give any further details about their child’s age or name.
However, a representative for Keough confirmed toPeoplethat the couple had a baby girl in 2022.
I love you to the moon and back.
7,000 more years, just."
The couple still seems happy to spend as much time together as possible, including at work.
“They were like, ‘Do you want Ben to do this?’
And I was like, ‘Yeah, that’s hilarious.'”
