Actor Leslie Mann has opened up about how sheβs been able to keep her three-decades-long marriage to director Judd Apatow going strong.
On an Aug. 20 episode of podcast βNot Gonna Lie with Kylie Kelce,β Mann, 54, revealed the key to the superstar pairβs marriage.
βJust accepting how hard it is and not trying to fool yourself,β Mann told host Kylie Kelce. βThatβs the secret.β
She also got real about just how difficult a lasting relationship can be.
βWhen I see other people talking about their perfect marriages or like how they never fight or theyβre I donβt know, just all the the stuff that I canβt relate to … Thatβs a red flag,β Mann said on the podcast.
Mann β whoβs currently promoting comedy βSpa Weekend,β which hit theaters Aug. 21 β 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 βThe Cable Guy.β In a 2017 interview with TODAYβs Willie Geist, Mann shared that for Apatow, it was love at first sight.
βHe did say to Ben, βThere goes the future, Mrs. Apatow,ββ Mann said, seemingly referencing the filmβs director Ben Stiller. βBut I think he may have said that about Heather Locklear and, like, J Lo too.β
While on the recent podcast, Mann told Kelce that while the couple has their tiffs, she and Apatow, 58, still have a valuable connection.
βWe find each other entertaining and funny β sometimes,β Mann said. βHe is my best friend and I tell him everything.β
She added, however, that Apatow may not always reciprocate.
βI donβt know if he tells me everything. It comes out at certain times, and then sometimes he, like, shuts it down,β she said, before agreeing with Kelce that βitβs a universal man thing.β
Ultimately, Mann said, the relationship is an βimportantβ one.
βYou have a witness to your life also,β Mann said of marriage. βSo your kids, growing all the memories β thatβs important. Thatβs a thatβs a big one.β
Mann and Apatow have not only been romantic partners, but theyβve also shared a professional relationship as collaborators. Beyond βThe Cable Guy,β The pair have worked on βKnocked Upβ and βFunny People,β βThis is 40β and much more.
In a 2012 interview with Elle, Apatow said that Mann was a critical reason why he began to write better roles for the women in his projects.
βLeslie would always say, βThere arenβt good roles for women, the female parts arenβt developed, the women are serving the men,ββ he told the outlet. βAnd just seeing the stack of scripts she had to read showed me how little effort was put into making great female characters.β