Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen at the Grammy Awards in February 2024.Photo:Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic
Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic
Ted Dansonknows he met wifeMary Steenburgenat the perfect time.
The actor, who stars in Netflix’s new seriesA Man on the Inside, tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue that he’s confident the pair wouldn’t have worked out had they met earlier in life.
“Guarantee you the answer is no. I’ll just speak for myself,” Danson, 76, explains. “I was not really fully emotionally baked until shortly before I met Mary.”
As fate would have it, the two met in 1983 while attending the same audition. Just a year before, Danson tells PEOPLE he had committed himself to being a better man — a decision he believes helped seal the deal with theElfactress, 71.
“I had, about a year before, decided I want to become a more emotionally mature, honest human being,” he recalls of that period in his 40s. “I worked very hard at it or I don’t think Mary Steenburgen would’ve even seen me. So yeah. The answer is no. Thank God we didn’t meet earlier.”
Mary Steenburgen and Ted Danson at the 2024 Vanity Fair Oscar Party.Dave Benett/VF24/WireImage
Dave Benett/VF24/WireImage
Prior to Steenburgen, Danson had been married twice. TheCheersactor first wed actress Randy Gosch in 1970, but they split in 1975. He then went on to marry producer Casey Coates in 1977 and they welcomed two daughters —Kate Danson, 44, and Alexis Danson, 39— before they divorced in 1993.
The couple alsoshare four kids between them. (In addition to Danson’s two daughters, Steenburgen is mom toLilly Walton, 43, and Charlie McDowell, 41, with ex-husbandMalcolm McDowell.)
“From the outside, it looks that way,” he tells PEOPLE of their kids and grandchildren finding them cool. “From their point of view, it’s like, ‘Would you stop calling me and asking if we can [do this]…'”
He then quips: “Well, it depends on who we’re working with, or it used to. If Mary’s working with Johnny Depp, yeah, she was cool.”
Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen attend the American Film Institute awards ceremony on March 4, 1994 in Beverly Hills, Calif.Fairchild Archive/Penske Media via Getty
Fairchild Archive/Penske Media via Getty
“Whenever I become self-deprecating, full of doubt, which I do on a regular basis, she lovingly goes, ‘Snap out of it,’ and kind of forces me out the door into turning the next corner in life,” he says.
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“We get to explore aging, all those things that, in this country, sometimes we’re afraid to talk about, memory loss, everything, we broach with a tenderness and a seriousness still contained in a kind of light-hearted, joyful way,” he says. “I’m so happy because I’m 76 and I get to be part of this conversation, which is becoming more and more of my conversation in life.”
Ted Danson as Charles and Mary Elizabeth Ellis as Emily in ‘A Man on the Inside’.Courtesy of Netflix
Courtesy of Netflix
The actor notes that he’s also enjoyed the project because of how he’s been able to “recognize myself” in Charles and learn from his mistakes.
“I’ve had to grow with that, with my kids and with Mary. I’m constantly being challenged to be more real, more present,” Danson admits, before noting how he and Charles both try to protect their loved ones from experiencing hardships — sometimes to a fault.
“I’ve done this with Mary. She often says, ‘No, you need to tell me everything and let me choose how to react to it.’ Because Charles decides to protect his daughter from this sadness and pain that he’s going through, which cuts her out completely from being able to be part of his life. It’s really beautiful storytelling,” he adds. “I’m so happy to be part of this.”
For more on Ted Danson, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday, or subscribehere.
A Man on the Insideis now streaming on Netflix.
source: people.com
