People who have tuned into Friends will remember Jon Favreau’s six-episode stint as Monica’s boyfriend, Pete. 

Although he did not rise to massive fame like the show’s leads, he got something very important out of his appearance on the show. 

While filming his arc on the hit comedy series, Favreau met his wife, Dr. Joya Tillem. Tillem is not from the industry. 

She graduated from medical school at Georgetown University in 1996 and carved out a successful career as a physician at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles. 

The physician specializes in internal medicine. 

Jon Favreau and His Wife

During an interview with Los Angeles magazine, the actor that shared his classic car played an important role in their courtship.

After filming Swingers with Vince Vaughn, he bought a used Cadillac DeVille sedan. 

Vaughn, who had gotten a Bronco for himself, said he looked like a hillbilly who had just gotten a record contract, but Favreau loved his Cadillac. 

It was the same car his grandfather used to drive. 

He revealed that he met his wife not long after, who later told him she was impressed with his choice of car. 

“She told me later that, for her [his wife] and her mother, it was definitely a plus that I was a young guy driving around in a big old Cadillac. I was kind of an old man even then,” said the Friends actor. 

Jon Favreau with cast of Avengers Endgame

Jon Favreau during the premiere of Avengers: Endgame (Source: Jon Favreau/Instagram)

On November 24, 2000, the couple tied the knot in Sonoma, California, and naturally started a family afterward. 

In 2006, People reported that the couple had welcomed their third child, daughter Brighton Rose Favreau.

The baby was born at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Tillem’s workplace. 

At the time, Favreau updated fans about the birth on his MySpace blog, writing, “Last night I had my third kid. Her name is Brighton Rose Favreau, and she’s doing great.”

Jon Favreau Loses Weight Thanks to Wife’s Help

The couple is also parents to daughter Madelaine and son Max, named after a character in Favreau’s 2001 comedy Made.

Shortly after the birth of his third child, Favreau decided he was ready for a physical change after weighing almost 300 pounds. 

And luckily for him, his wife was there to assist him. 

“I finally said to her one day, ‘I think at my age I was pushing 40 at the time—that this is not the weight my body wants to be.’ So I went to Joya because she has always been my partner,” said the Iron Man director.

He shared that his wife was supportive of his journey and told him he could do it. 

The actor followed a diet that she recommended and lost approximately 5 pounds a week. Favreau lost over 80 pounds and went from 290 to 205 lbs.

He was pleased that his hard work had paid off and told People that going back to his old eating habit felt weird.

But despite the change, the actor noted it was “a lot easier looking at [himself] fatter than it was looking at [himself] thinner.”