Actor Leslie Mann has opened up about how sheโs been able to keep her three-decades-long marriage to director Judd Apatow going strong.
On an Aug. 20 episode of podcast โNot Gonna Lie with Kylie Kelce,โ Mann, 54, revealed the key to the superstar pairโs marriage.
โJust accepting how hard it is and not trying to fool yourself,โ Mann told host Kylie Kelce. โThatโs the secret.โ
She also got real about just how difficult a lasting relationship can be.
โWhen I see other people talking about their perfect marriages or like how they never fight or theyโre I donโt know, just all the the stuff that I canโt relate to … Thatโs a red flag,โ Mann said on the podcast.
Mann โ whoโs currently promoting comedy โSpa Weekend,โ which hit theaters Aug. 21 โ 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 โThe Cable Guy.โ In a 2017 interview with TODAYโs Willie Geist, Mann shared that for Apatow, it was love at first sight.
โHe did say to Ben, โThere goes the future, Mrs. Apatow,โโ Mann said, seemingly referencing the filmโs director Ben Stiller. โBut I think he may have said that about Heather Locklear and, like, J Lo too.โ
While on the recent podcast, Mann told Kelce that while the couple has their tiffs, she and Apatow, 58, still have a valuable connection.
โWe find each other entertaining and funny โ sometimes,โ Mann said. โHe is my best friend and I tell him everything.โ
She added, however, that Apatow may not always reciprocate.
โI donโt know if he tells me everything. It comes out at certain times, and then sometimes he, like, shuts it down,โ she said, before agreeing with Kelce that โitโs a universal man thing.โ
Ultimately, Mann said, the relationship is an โimportantโ one.
โYou have a witness to your life also,โ Mann said of marriage. โSo your kids, growing all the memories โ thatโs important. Thatโs a thatโs a big one.โ
Mann and Apatow have not only been romantic partners, but theyโve also shared a professional relationship as collaborators. Beyond โThe Cable Guy,โ The pair have worked on โKnocked Upโ and โFunny People,โ โThis is 40โ 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.
โLeslie would always say, โThere arenโt good roles for women, the female parts arenโt developed, the women are serving the men,โโ he told the outlet. โAnd just seeing the stack of scripts she had to read showed me how little effort was put into making great female characters.โ