Hollywood’s no place for the faint of heart and neither is marriage. Yet still, Denzel and Pauletta Washington have managed to find success at both, and they’re opening up on how they do it in the August issue of Ebony magazine.
“There’s no magical mystery to [staying together] … We go through up and downs like any couple,” Denzel told Ebony writer Shirley Henderson.
But Henderson asserts that it’s the couple’s foundation of faith, legacy and family that’s seen them through the last 30 years. (The Washingtons celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary on June 25.)
For Pauletta (and by extension, Denzel), maintaining stability is the key to success on the otherwise inconstant Hollywood scene.
“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. That’s gives him strength, regardless of if he misuses it. I can’t dwell on that. But I do know that gives him a great platform to go and fly,” Paulette says.
It’s an approach that she says transcends passion and lust and one that has clearly worked for Denzel.
“We live in a time — and it’s not for me to judge anyone — when people give up too easy,” Denzel says, exhibiting the same persistent spirit that prompted him to ask Pauletta to marry him three times.
