Judd Apatow Fell in Love With Leslie Mann the Moment He Saw Her

USMagazine, Wednesday, October 17, 2012, 8:15am (PDT)

It was love at first sight for Judd Apatow.

In the latest issue of ELLE, the megasuccessful director and producer (Knocked Up, Bridesmaids) reveals he's always had the hots for Leslie Mann, his wife of 15 years. The two met when Mann auditioned for The Cable Guy in 1996, which Apatow co-wrote and produced. "'There goes the future Mrs. Apatow,'" the filmmaker, 44, recalls himself as saying. "I had a soul connection instantly. I meant it. That's why I remember it."

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Mann, 40, didn't feel the same way. "I was in a panic. Auditioning is so nerve-racking." Though she had a crush on the film's director, Ben Stiller, 46, the actress agreed to have dinner with Apatow at his place before attending a basketball game. They ate "spaghetti with Ragu sauce and Wonder bread with Fleischmann's margarine," Mann recalls. Then Apatow showed his future wife his favorite parts of his 1995 movie Heavyweights. "Like he was trying to impress me," Mann remembers.

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"On the way to the basketball game, I was like, 'Oh!' It hit me. My previous boyfriend was really mean. And I thought, [Judd's] nice. This is the type of person I should be with," Mann tells the magazine. "And then we made out after the game."

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It didn't take long for Mann to see herself as the future Mrs. Apatow. "I think the morning after -- oops! I slept over, but nothing happened. We just kissed a lot," says the star, now mother to his daughters Maude, 13, and Iris, 9. "But I remember driving home feeling so happy and like. . .I felt like I was already in love."

"I was in love when I said, 'There goes the future Mrs. Apatow,'" Mann's husband tells ELLE.

This article originally appeared on Usmagazine.com: Judd Apatow Fell in Love With Leslie Mann the Moment He Saw Her