Actor Leslie Mann has opened up about how she’s been able to keep her three-decades-long marriage to director Judd Apatow going strong.
On an Aug. 20 episode of podcast “Not Gonna Lie with Kylie Kelce,” Mann, 54, revealed the key to the superstar pair’s marriage.
“Just accepting how hard it is and not trying to fool yourself,” Mann told host Kylie Kelce. “That’s the secret.”
She also got real about just how difficult a lasting relationship can be.
“When I see other people talking about their perfect marriages or like how they never fight or they’re I don’t know, just all the the stuff that I can’t relate to … That’s a red flag,” Mann said on the podcast.
Mann — who’s currently promoting comedy “Spa Weekend,” which hit theaters Aug. 21 — shares two daughters, Maude Apatow and Iris Apatow, with the director. The two have been married since 1997.
She first met Judd Apatow while she was auditioning for 1996 film “The Cable Guy.” In a 2017 interview with TODAY’s Willie Geist, Mann shared that for Apatow, it was love at first sight.
“He did say to Ben, ‘There goes the future, Mrs. Apatow,’” Mann said, seemingly referencing the film’s director Ben Stiller. “But I think he may have said that about Heather Locklear and, like, J Lo too.”
While on the recent podcast, Mann told Kelce that while the couple has their tiffs, she and Apatow, 58, still have a valuable connection.
“We find each other entertaining and funny — sometimes,” Mann said. “He is my best friend and I tell him everything.”
She added, however, that Apatow may not always reciprocate.
“I don’t know if he tells me everything. It comes out at certain times, and then sometimes he, like, shuts it down,” she said, before agreeing with Kelce that “it’s a universal man thing.”
Ultimately, Mann said, the relationship is an “important” one.
“You have a witness to your life also,” Mann said of marriage. “So your kids, growing all the memories — that’s important. That’s a that’s a big one.”
Mann and Apatow have not only been romantic partners, but they’ve also shared a professional relationship as collaborators. Beyond “The Cable Guy,” The pair have worked on “Knocked Up” and “Funny People,” “This is 40” and much more.
