Jamie Lee Curtis Shares the Secret of Her 40-Year Marriage to Christopher Guest

Jamie Lee Curtis and husband Christopher Guest attend the 95th Annual Academy Awards in Hollywood, Calif., on March 12, 2023. Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images

Jamie Lee Curtis celebrates 40 years of marriage with her husband, Christopher Guest, this year.

Following her Emmy win for her performance on Hulu’s “The Bear” this weekend, Curtis spoke with Entertainment Tonight on the red carpet and got candid about the couple’s relationship. The secret to a lasting union, she said, is that “you don’t leave.”

“I’m also 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.”

“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,” Curtis said.

While listing other necessary traits, the award-winning actress said that “a really good dose of hatred” is the key to a long marriage.

“I think perseverance, patience, gentleness, and a really good dose of hatred,” she said before sharing her interview experience with actress Marlo Thomas and late talk show host Phil Donahue for their book, “What Makes a Marriage Last.”

“They interviewed Chris and me, and they were like, ‘What do you think the secret is?’ and I said ‘the amount you can hate each other and stay in it,’” Curtis recalled. “I said, ‘Am I the first person that has brought up hating their spouse?’  She said, ‘Mhm,’ and I said, ‘But that’s the truth.’”

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

In July, the “Freaky Friday” star shared an Instagram photo of her and Guest holding hands, marking 40 years since their first date. Her caption for the post reads: “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!”

This isn’t the first time Curtis has opened up about her marriage to Guest. In a 2018 interview with “Good Housekeeping,” she shared how marrying her “opposite” is one of her secrets to a happy life.

“My husband and I are opposites. We have been for 33 years, and we always will be,” she said.

“He’s an intellectual, and I was from the movie star/alcoholic/drug addict side, where ­education was not the most important thing. We don’t listen to the same radio station, we don’t read the same paper, we don’t go to bed at the same time.”

Jamie Lee Curtis’s Career

Born on Nov. 22, 1958, in Santa Monica, California, to actors Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis, Jamie Lee Curtis studied at the University of the Pacific in Stockton before leaving to pursue an acting career.

She made her television debut in 1977 in an episode of the drama series “Quincy, M.E,” followed by appearances on shows such as “The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Series,” “Columbo,” and “Charlie’s Angels.”

Her breakthrough came in her film debut as Laurie Strode in the 1978 horror film Halloween. She reprised the role six more times in the film’s sequels. Throughout the 1980s, she secured movie roles outside the genre, including “Trading Places” in 1983, “Perfect” in 1985, and “A Fish Called Wanda” in 1986.

Along with starring opposite comic Richard Lewis in the sitcom Anything But Love, which earned her a Golden Globe Award, Curtis continued to see success throughout the ’90s and early 2000s. Her films included “Blue Steel” in 1990, “My Girl” in 1991, “True Lies” in 1994, and the 2003 comedy film “Freaky Friday” with Lindsey Lohan.

Curtis announced her retirement from acting in 2006 but returned to television a few years later. She appeared in five episodes of the police drama “NCIS” before getting a recurring role as Joan Day in Fox’s sitcom “New Girl” and a leading role as Cathy Munsch in the slasher series “Scream Queens.”

Curtis won her first Oscar in 2023 for best supporting actress in “Everything Everywhere All At Once” and an Emmy in 2024 for her performance as Donna Berzatto in an episode of the Hulu comedy-drama series “The Bear.”

Curtis and filmmaker Guest adopted two children together, and she has written 13 children’s books.