Paul Giamatti’s Girlfriend Is The Actor’s Biggest Supporter During Award Season

Who is Paul Giamatti's girlfriend, Clara Wong?

Paul Giamatti’s girlfriend, Clara Wong, is an actress born in Skokie, Illinois. She’s held several TV and movie roles, including The I-Land, What We Do in the Shadows, Goliath, You Hurt My Feelings, Dear Edward, and Billions. Her on-screen debut was in Pacific Rim in 2013.

Most recently, she appeared in Season 2 of HBO Europe’s Spanish mystery horror series 30 Coins, per her IMDb page. Giamatti also joined in the second season as billionaire villain Christian Barbrow. “I’m a horror fan. I’d heard of it, and I thought, ‘Oh, I should watch that, it sounds kind of crazy,’ but I never have,” the actor said in an interview with Bloody Disgusting in December 2023. As for his character, he described him as Bond villain. “This is my shot at playing a Bond villain. I’m never going to play a Bond villain other than this.” Meanwhile, Wong played one of Barbrow’s friends in two episodes of the series.

Wong is an “actor, animal enthusiast, people-watcher, Oxford comma user, and student of life,” per her Instagram bio. She’s reportedly 34 years old and is a Scorpio, according to a now-deleted Instagram post that celebrated her birthday on Oct. 29, 2019. Meanwhile, Giamatti’s June birthday means he’s a Gemini.

How did Paul Giamatti meet his girlfriend?

It’s unknown when Paul Giamatti and his girlfriend, Clara Wong, started dating. The pair likely first met in 2016 on Showtime’s drama series Billions, which ended in October 2023. For seven seasons, Giamatti portrayed U.S. Attorney Chuck Rhoadesfor, while Wong appeared in seven episodes as Troy, a dominatrix that Giamatti’s character visits.

In August 2020, Wong shared a dimly lit photo of what appears to be Giamatti sitting on a couch on Instagram. “Awe awe big hugs to you both,” one person commented on the post, which Wong liked. In March 2021, she also posted a photo of Giamatti wearing a mask on the set of Billions. 

The actress went Instagram public with their relationship when she wished the 56-year-old star a happy birthday in June 2021. “Happy birthday to this firecracker!!” she penned. The following year, she posted a photo again to celebrate his B-day. “Happy Birthday to YOU! May it be filled with all the treats you can eat, all the books you can read, and all the Unsolved Mysteries podcast episodes you can listen to!” she wrote alongside a slideshow of pictures of Giamatti.

How many kids does Paul Giamatti have with his wife?

Before dating his current girlfriend, Clara Wong, Paul Giamatti was married to his ex-wife, Elizabeth Cohen, formerly a co-director of admissions at St. Ann’s private school in Brooklyn. The couple married in October 1997, according to the New York Times, but it’s unclear when they divorced.

Giamatti and Cohen have one child together, a son named Samuel Paul Giamatti, who was born 2001. During his 2024 Golden Globe acceptance speech, he mentioned that his son recently graduated from college.

“I want to give a shout-out to my son Samuel, who recently graduated from college,” Giamatti said on stage while accepting his Golden Globe award for best actor for The Holdovers. “And it’s a movie about a teacher. I play a teacher in it. My whole family, they’re teachers. All of them, going back generations.”

He continued, “Teachers are good people. Gotta respect them. They do a good thing. It’s a tough job, so this is for teachers as well. Thanks, guys. Thank you.”

According to Sam Giamatti’s reported LinkedIn page, he attended Brown University, where he earned a BA in Comparative Literature in English and Italian. He resides in Brooklyn, New York, and his current title is a production coordinator.