PRODUCTION of "Grindhouse," the much-hyped Quentin Tarantino-Robert Rodriguez movie opening Friday, ground to a halt last year when Rodriguez fell for his leading lady, Rose McGowan, and his wife found out.
Rodriguez and his spouse of 16 years, Elizabeth Avellan, raised five kids and worked together, with Elizabeth serving as his co-producer on "Grindhouse," "Sin City," "From Dusk Till Dawn," "Desperado" and "Spy Kids."
But the marriage exploded last April when Page Six reported that Rodriguez, 38, had begun a torrid romance with McGowan, the raven-haired, French-Irish minx once engaged to shock rocker Marilyn Manson and previously linked with Kip Pardue, Ahmet Zappa and Men's Health stud Dave Zinczenko.
"It was the worst-kept secret on the set. They were going off to his trailer, having meals together," our source said. "Rose thought some of the crew were treating her differently, and the attitude was, like, well what do you expect when you're [bleeping] the director?"