Relationships are difficult even without added pressures of the spotlight.
Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson celebrated their 34th wedding anniversary in April and joked with Fox News Digital that their secret to marital bliss is up for sale at a hefty price.
Hanks and Wilson are among an exclusive group of Hollywood couples whose relationships have stood the test of time, which includes Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, and Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, to name a few.
Following Wilson’s performance at The Recording Academy’s MusiCares Person of the Year event honoring Berry Gordy and Smokey Robinson, Hanks and Wilson headed out to Clive Davis’ pre-Grammys gala, where they giggled as Hanks attempted to reveal the coveted key to a happy relationship.
TOM HANKS AND RITA WILSON JOKE THEY HAVE THE $17 BILLION SECRET TO A SUCCESSFUL MARRIAGE
Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, left, have been married for nearly 35 years while Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell have been together for 39 years. (Getty Images)
“We’re not gonna tell anyone,” Hanks said after joking that he and Wilson “bottled” the secret.
He then thought twice and responded, “We’ll sell it to you individually, for $17 billion.”
Lucky in Love
Hanks and Wilson first met on set of “Bosom Buddies” in 1981 while he was married to Samantha Lewes. Years later, Hanks and Lewes separated, and he reconnected with Wilson.
They married in April 1988 and have two children together: Chester “Chet” Hanks and Truman Hanks. The senior Hanks also has two kids from his first marriage: Colin and Elizabeth.
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Hanks told Oprah Winfrey in 2001 that their relationship’s success was due to their “willingness to have an intimate connection.”
Rita Wilson and Tom Hanks’ relationship has stood the test of time. (Kevin Mazur)
Rita Wilson and Tom Hanks worked together on multiple films, including “Volunteers” in 1985. ( Aaron Rapoport)
“When I married Rita, I thought, ‘This is going to require some change on my part,’” Hanks said. “I won’t deny that [fate] was part of us finding each other, but our relationship isn’t magic the way it’s shown in movies. In real life, our connection is as concrete as me sitting here. Not that marriage doesn’t come close to being Hell in a hand basket sometimes. But we both know that no matter what, we’ll be with each other—and we’ll get through it.”
When Hanks won his second consecutive best actor Academy Award in 1995, he made sure to praise Wilson.
“I am standing here because the woman I share my life with has taught me and demonstrates for me every day just what love is,” he said while accepting the trophy for “Forrest Gump.”
Head Over Heels
Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn will celebrate 40 years together on Valentine’s Day. The couple first met while starring on the 1966 comedy “The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band.”
She was 21, and he was 16 at the time, and Hawn recalled Russell being “adorable” but “much too young.”
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Hawn told BBC Radio 4, “Then, years later we met up again, and I remembered that I liked him very much when I first met him. We both said we would never go out with another actor, so it just shows you never can tell.”
After dating for three years, they welcomed son Wyatt Russell. Hawn had two children (Kate Hudson and Oliver Hudson) from her previous marriage to Bill Hudson, while Russell was already a father to son Boston with his ex-wife Season Hubley.
Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell film “Overboard” in 1987. (Aaron Rapoport)
Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell celebrate side-by-side stars at Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony. (Steve Granitz)
Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn credit never being married to each other for the success of their relationship. (Ron Galella)
Hawn and Russell have worked together numerous times through the years, and claim their relationship is so strong because they haven’t walked down the aisle.
“We have done just perfectly without marrying. I already feel devoted and isn’t that what marriage is supposed to do? So as long as my emotional state is in a state of devotion, honesty, caring, and loving, then we’re fine,” she said in an interview with Now To Love.
“We have raised our children brilliantly; they are beautiful people. We did a great job there, and we didn’t have to get married to do that. I like waking up every day and seeing that he is there and knowing that I have a choice. There is really no reason to marry.”
When Hawn and Russell received his-and-hers stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2017, the legendary actors could not help but show affection for each other.
“It turned out to be a lovefest,” Hawn told People. “The last thing he said was, ‘I’ll always cherish you.’ I didn’t expect him to say those things. I had no idea he was going to be so beautiful.”
Power of Love
Denzel Washington and wife Pauletta first met while working together on the 1977 TV movie “Wilma,” but connected romantically one year later.
“The first movie I ever did — TV movie — was about Wilma Rudolph and I played Wilma Rudolph’s boyfriend,” he said on “Live with Kelly and Ryan.”
“Pauletta was one of the track stars. I met her then, but I didn’t meet her then. I saw her then.”
She confirmed in an interview with Oprah Winfrey that they reconnected at a mutual friend’s party.
Pauletta Washington and Denzel Washington attend the 94th Annual Academy Awards. (David Livingston)
Denzel Washington and Pauletta Washington have been married for 40 years. (Ron Galella)
“We spoke again. We were reintroduced,” she said. “The next night, I attended a play. I got there late, so I snuck in and just sat down. I didn’t look at who was around me, then at intermission, the lights came up, and we were sitting next to each other.”
Denzel revealed to Access Hollywood that he proposed to Pauletta three times before she said yes to becoming his wife in 1983.
“Twice!” Denzel said, before Pauletta assured her husband, “It was three times. I know with age sometimes things [go], the mind. I turned you down twice and the third time we did it.”
“You heard it here first: She turned me down, she said no. And since it was three times, that means she turned me down twice,” he joked.
Denzel has previously revealed that “there is no secret to the perfect marriage,” but credits his faith and strong foundation for their continued success.
“A spiritual foundation helps everything – marriage, work, peace of mind,” he told People.
He said: “You can buy a house, but that doesn’t make it a home – and not to say a man can’t make a home a home, but my wife has made our house a home, and raised these beautiful kids and protected them and sacrificed for them, she did the heavy-lifting.”
She told Ebony magazine, “I live with this man. I see the down part. I see the sad part. I see every part. He has and knows he has that stability in me as his wife.”
The couple have three children; son John David and twins Olivia and Malcolm.
I Like It, I Love It
Country musicians Tim McGraw and Faith Hill were in relationships with other people when they first met at a gig in 1994, but reconnected two years later when she opened for him on his tour.
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“We were young and silly and goo-goo-eyed in love,” McGraw told People of their initial spark. He proposed backstage at a festival in the summer of 1996, and they married months later.
Hill gave birth to their first daughter in May 1997, the same month they released their first single together, “It’s Your Love,” which earned single, song, video and vocal event of the year at the Academy of Country Music Awards.
The couple went on to have two more daughters and has since released multiple hit songs and performed around the country on their co-headlining Soul2Soul tour. McGraw and Hill also starred as James and Margaret Dutton in the “Yellowstone” prequel series, “1883.”
Faith Hill and Tim McGraw both have successful country music careers. (Joe Maher)
Faith Hill and Tim McGraw first met in 1994, but only began dating in 1996. (Kevin Mazur)
Tim McGraw and Faith Hill had a No. 1 hit the same month she gave birth to their first daughter in 1997. (J. Vespa/WireImage)
Tim McGraw starred as James Dutton and Faith Hill as Margaret Dutton of the Paramount+ original series “1883.” ( Sarah Coulter/Paramount+ © 2021 CBS Interactive)
“Faith saved my life in a lot of ways — from myself more than anything,” McGraw told People magazine. “I can go down a dark road sometimes, when you’re not feeling good about yourself, and she pulls me out. My wife makes me a better man.”
Hill added, “My husband and I have made the choice that our marriage is the most important thing to us. We respect what we have and understand how we need to feed it.”
McGraw credited his wife with helping him on his sobriety journey. In 2008, he admitted he had an issue with alcohol and turned to Faith for help.
“I remember a moment when I was getting out of bed and going to the liquor cabinet and taking a big shot at 8:00 in the morning and thinking, I have to wake the kids up,” he told “Esquire” magazine.
“I went straight to my wife and said, ‘This is where I’m at.’ I was scared. She just grabbed me and hugged me and changed my life.”
A few things that keep their 26-year marriage going strong are date nights, praying and little time to be alone.
“We both have our daily routines, and we have our own dressing rooms,” Hill told People. “We each have our own space to retreat to, so we do get time to ourselves.”
You and Me
Alice Cooper and wife Sheryl Goddard are so in tune with each other after more than four decades together that they have a death pact.
The “No More Mr. Nice Guy” singer revealed to The Mirror that he and Goddard refuse to ever be apart.
“We’ve made a pact — there is no way of surviving without each other,” he said. “I couldn’t live without her. We always said there will never be a time when one of us will be mourning the other.
“Whenever it does happen, we are going to go together.”
Alice Cooper and wife Sheryl Goddard quickly became an item after meeting in the early ’70s. (Getty Images)
He later clarified on social media that they are always together and have a life commitment.
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Cooper met his beloved when she auditioned to be a dancer for the band’s stage show Welcome to My Nightmare in 1975. “I’ve been married 43 years to the greatest girl in the world. We have never cheated on each other,” he said in 2019.
“She dances better now than she did in 1975. You would think people would want to get away from the wives, but she is my best friend,” he added. “And there is no way of surviving without each other.”
The rock ‘n’ roll couple married in 1976 and have three children: Calico, Sonora and Dashiell. They will celebrate their 47th wedding anniversary in March.
Sheryl Goddard and Alice Cooper’s marriage is still going strong 47 years later. (Jeff Kravitz)
“We’ve both been in show business all our lives,” Cooper told Billboard. “When we’re on stage she’s not Sheryl, my wife; She’s the character, and I’m the character.”
“We don’t look at each other as husband and wife on stage. But the great thing is, afterwards, we’re on tour. We’re never apart. It’s great.”
Cooper caught up with Fox News Digital at Clive Davis’ pre-Grammy gala. “We’re in rehearsal right now for our next show,” he added of his 150-city tour with his shock rock band.
“I’ve never felt better in my life, and this is the biggest [reason],” he said pointing toward his wife.
“True love,” is the secret to a successful marriage, Goddard noted.
“She likes me, I don’t know why, but she likes me,” Cooper joked.
Gettin Jiggy Wit It
Jada Pinkett Smith auditioned to play Will Smith’s girlfriend on “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” in 1994, but did not get the part.
While there had been some chemistry between the pair, Smith was married to Sheree Zampino at the time, with whom he has 30-year-old son Trey.
Zampino and Smith divorced in 1995. Smith and Pinkett Smith pursued a relationship shortly after which eventually led to a New Year’s Eve wedding in 1997. She was three months pregnant with their son Jaden at the time.
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“I cried all night long because I was pregnant, my life was never going to be the same,” Pinkett Smith said during an episode of Red Table Talk. “I didn’t want to get married. I never wanted to be married. I didn’t want to have a wedding either. It was a horrible wedding. It was a mess.”
Jada Pinkett and Will Smith met when he first starred on “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” in the early ’90s. (Ron Gaella)
Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith consider their union a true partnership. (Kevin Mazur)
While the beginning of their marriage was challenging, she never wavered from her intense physical attraction to her husband. Pinkett Smith admitted in a Redbook interview that she and Smith were once intimate on the way to the 2010 Academy Awards.
“Will started looking at me in this way that drives me wild,” she said. “We started kissing passionately, and the next thing I knew, well, let’s just say we missed the red carpet and I ended up with almost no makeup on.”
When rumors swirled that the couple had an open marriage and were swingers, Pinkett Smith said “I wish” as she laughed off reports.
“Will and I just have amazing chemistry on a lot of different levels,” she said during an appearance on “Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen.” “We love to laugh together, we love to learn together, and we just love each other. We just have a good time together. Yeah, I guess that’s the secret. Yeah, we just really like each other.”
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Smith explained on “Rap Radar” in 2018 why he and Pinkett Smith used different terms to describe their relationship.
Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith attend the Oscars 2022. (Emma McIntyre)
From left to right, Jada Pinkett Smith, Willow Smith, Will Smith, Jaden Smith and Trey Smith attend the 2022 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Radhika Jones. (Lionel Hahn)
“We don’t even say we’re married anymore. We refer to ourselves as life partners, where you get into that space where you realize you are literally with somebody for the rest of your life,” Smith said.
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“There’s no deal breakers. There’s nothing she could do – ever. Nothing that would break our relationship. She has my support till death, and it feels so good to get to that space.”
Smith defended his wife in a now infamous Oscars incident where he walked on stage and slapped Chris Rock during the live telecast after the comedian made a joke about Pinkett Smith’s bald head. The “Girls Trip” actress suffers from alopecia, an autoimmune disease which causes hair loss. Earlier in the evening, co-host Regina Hall also made a dig about the couple’s marriage.
Three months later, she discussed addressed the incident on her Facebook Watch series. “About Oscar night. My deepest hope is that these two intelligent, capable men have an opportunity to heal, talk this out and reconcile,” she said.
“With the state of the world today, we need ’em both, and we all actually need one another more than ever. Until then, Will and I are continuing to do what we have done for the last 28 years — and that’s [to] keep figuring out this thing called life together. Thank you for listening.”
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Fox News Digital’s Larry Fink contributed to this report.