Who Is Sean Astin's Wife? All About Film Producer Christine Astin (2024)

Sean Astin has been married to his wife Christine Astin for more than 30 years.

The actor, known for his roles in Rudy, The Goonies, The Lord of the Rings trilogy and Stranger Things, was a teenager when he got engaged to the film producer.

“We were kids. I was 19 when we got engaged. We got married when I was 21,” Astin said in a 2023 TikTok.

Sean’s argument for tying the knot at a young age was because he thought if he was “lucky and blessed enough to live a long life, it would be amazing” if he was with someone who he “had lived a lot of that long life with together.” He explained that in order for that to be “more true” and to be together longer, “you got to get married sooner.”

The actor has called his wife, whom he married in 1992, a “rock” and “pillar.” During an appearance on Great Day Houston in 2018, the Encino Man star admitted that if it wasn’t for Christine’s “stability” and “decency,” he doesn’t know what he would be.

Christine is an “unbridled optimist,” according to her husband. "She grieves, and she cries, but she retains her faith and her belief in the inherent goodness of people,” Sean wrote of his wife in his 2004 memoir There and Back Again: An Actor's Tale. “I'm a compulsive worrier; Christine is an unbridled optimist. She's a pretty amazing woman in that way.”

So, who is Sean Astin’s wife? Here is everything to know about Christine Astin and her relationship with the Hollywood star.

She is from Indiana

Sean’s wife, who is the daughter of a fireman, is from Indiana. That state served as the setting for Stranger Things and where Sean's famous character Rudy played football at the University of Notre Dame.

The Lord of the Rings star penned in his book that the life Christine had known in Indiana was "one of stability, unquestioning love, loyalty and support from her family and community.”

She and Sean first connected over the phone

The couple met via a phone call while Sean was at a hotel in Tokyo. In his book, There and Back Again: An Actor's Tale, Sean revealed that Christine was working for a commercial agent at the time and meetings had been set up for him while he was in Japan.

Remembering their phone call, he wrote, “The voice on the other end sounded as though it belonged to a beautiful young woman and, as it turned out, that was precisely the case.”

After connecting on the phone, the pair met in person at Christine's office in late January 1991. “We were almost instantly inseparable,” Sean shared in his memoir. “We became life partners in every way imaginable.”

They got married in Idaho

Sean and Christine got married on July 11, 1992, in Idaho. Astin revealed in his book that T.E. Russell agreed to sing an acapella version of“You Send Me” at their wedding.

Months after tying the knot, Sean gushed to Entertainment Tonight that married life is “wonderful.” At the time he said, “Everyone says you are so young. For me, married life is beautiful."

She and Sean are girl parents

Chrstine and Sean have three daughters. The pair’s first child, Alexandra “Ali” Astin, was born on Nov. 27, 1996, followed by Elizabeth Astin on Aug. 6, 2002, and Isabella Astin on July 22, 2005. Christine’s three daughters share her middle name, Louise.

Speaking to PEOPLE in 2002, Sean said that his “priorities are clear. I provide for and protect my family.”

In 2023, the proud dad celebrated his eldest child graduating from Harvard University with her master’s degree. “Ali also has a day job working in her family’s industry, which is actually bringing us opportunities to collaborate. Selfishly, I’m beyond excited that she has asked me to direct her in a film this summer that she wrote,” Sean told PEOPLE following his daughter’s graduation.

He added, “Maybe we’ll be able to test some of her thesis ideas. Ali is an original, and the sky is the limit with her future.”

She’s been nominated for an Academy Award

Christine and her husband co-produced the short film Kangaroo Court. The film, directed by Sean, was nominated for best live-action short film at the 1995 Oscars, which the couple attended.

The producer is also vice president of Lava Entertainment, the production company that Sean started. In There and Back Again: An Actor's Tale, The Goonies actor wrote about his wife being his “business partner in Lava Entertainment ventures.” He also expressed his pride over “the fact that her name” was next to his on the Academy Award nomination certificates that they received.

She’s a fan of Sean’s movie Rudy

The 1993 film is a special movie for Christine. Twenty-five years after Rudy was released, Sean told Entertainment Tonight that his wife “really likes” the sports movie because “for her it’s the beginning of our marriage.”

“We had just gotten married," he explained. "To me, it’s kind of a defining moment, not just in my career, but my life."

The Toy Soldiers actor said that the movie is about him and his wife, adding, "The experience of making this film and what it means to me, it’s about Christine."

The couple hit the red carpet together at the Westwood premiere of Rudy in September 1993.