Samuel L. Jackson is far from a novice regarding love and marriage. The actor has been married to his wife, LaTanya Richardson Jackson, for the past 44 years. Jackson, the cover star of AARP The Magazine‘s October/November 2024 issue, opened up about his marriage during an interview with the publication.
The 75-year-old explained how they work in marital challenges. “A lot of tolerance, because everybody’s got flaws, and not giving up when it would be easy to give up,” he said.
“I’ve done s— in my marriage that’s crazy, you know? She has too, in her head or whatever in reality, but you got to go, ‘Is that a breakup offense?’ Or is it just that we need to spend a little time together and get some understanding about it?” The Snakes On A Plane actor explained.
“Or there are certain things that you learn to ignore about people — that she’s learned to ignore about me. And one of the things she had to accept is that I’m going to go to work. I’m going to go to work all the time until, you know, it’s time,” Jackson adds.
Jackson and LaTanya got married in August 1980 and share one child together—their adult daughter Zoe who is now 42. She has also followed in her parents footsteps and is an Emmy-winning reality TV producer.
LaTanya and her husband share similar sentiments about making marriage work, which is why they have been together for over four decades. During a 2020 interview with PEOPLE, the actress and director said they made a pact to stay together.
“In the beginning, we always said the most revolutionary thing that Black people could do was stay together, raise their children with the nucleus of having a father and a mother, since everybody likes to pretend that that’s not the dynamic of the African American family,” LaTanya said at the time. “That it’s just children out here being raised by women, which we know is false.”
She continued, “In order to change that narrative, we made a decision to say, ‘We are going to stay together no matter what. We’ll figure it out.’ “
The couple may have an inspiring story of love and commitment, but they didn’t arrive there without facing challenges. Jackson has been open about his struggle with addiction during the early years of their relationship and openly thanks Richardson for helping him get to a place of sobriety.
Cheers to Black love and weathering storms hand in hand.
