Jamie Lee Curtis Reveals the Secret to Her 40-Year Marriage with Christopher Guest: 'Stay on the Bus'

Mar. 15, 2025

Christopher Guest and Jamie Lee Curtis in 2023.Photo:Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

Jamie Lee Curtisis getting candid about how she and husbandChristopher Guestmake their marriage work.

The 65-year-old actress toldEntertainment Tonightthat the secret to the couple’s lasting union — they will celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary in December — is that “you don’t leave.”

“I’m sober for a long time, and we have a phrase in recovery: ‘If you stay on the bus, the scenery will change.’ And that’s marriage,” she said, before explaining how her relationship with Guest, 76, ebbs and flows, even moment to moment.

“It’s like, all of a sudden you literally want to hate each other and then the next day it’s a pretty sunny day and the dog does something cute or your child does something cute and you look at each other like, ‘Aww, gosh.’ And then you’re on another track,” she toldET.

“So I think perseverance, patience, gentleness — and a really good dose of hatred,” theFreaky Fridaystar added.

Christopher Guest and Jamie Lee Curtis in 2016.Greg Doherty/Getty

Greg Doherty/Getty

“They asked, ‘What do you think the secret is [to marriage]?’ And I said, ‘Am I the first person that has brought up hating their spouse? And [Thomas] said, ‘Uh huh.’ I said, ‘But that’s the truth,’ " Curtis recalled.

“You’re going to hate each other. We’re human beings,” she continued toET. “Forty years, you’re going to hate each other, and so not leaving, not allowing that hatred to cause you to make some choice that you’re going to regret — I think that’s really the secret.”

TheHaunted Mansionstar — whowon her first Emmyon Sunday, Sept. 8, for her unflinching portrayal of matriarch Donna Berzatto inThe Bear— recently marked a big milestone with her husband. On July 2, she posted a throwback photo onInstagramof herself and Guest to mark four decades since their first date.

Alongside the snapshot, which shows the couple holding hands in the 1980s, she wrote: “40 years ago today I went on my first date with Christopher. We married five months later and started to build our lives. Chance encounter. Life hinging. Children growing. LOVE IS LOVE!”

Christopher Guest and Jamie Lee Curtis.George Pimentel/WireImage

George Pimentel/WireImage

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Curtis has previously opened up to PEOPLE abouthow she and Guest have experienced ups and downs in their marriage. During a 1991 interview, she said, “I don’t think we have an easy marriage. We have a difficult, but successful marriage.”

Despite the difficult times, Curtis said Guest has always been a solid source of support for her.

“I feel safewhen I drive up and see that [he is] home," she toldAARPin 2021. “That’s the long marriage.”

“It’s the safety of knowing his car is in the garage, that I’m not alone,” she added at the time.

source: people.com