NEED TO KNOW
- Morris Chestnut married Pam Byse in 1995
- While chatting with PEOPLE at Culture Con on Oct. 4, the actor revealed the secrets to his longterm marriage
- “We have mainly respect, and we have a lot of similar interests,” he says
Morris Chestnut is sharing the key to his long-term marriage.
The actor, 56, celebrated 30 years of marriage with his wife, Pam Byse, this year. While chatting with PEOPLE at Culture Con in New York on Saturday, Oct. 4, Chestnut revealed some of the pillars of his successful relationship: respect and mutual growth.
“Listen, honestly, I wish I had the secret. Honestly, I do. I think ultimately we have a great deal of respect for each other, and we’ve continued to maintain the amount of respect,” Chestnut tells PEOPLE.
Eric Charbonneau/Paramount via Getty
The Watson star adds that he and his wife — whom he tied the knot with in 1995 — have been “very fortunate to grow together” instead of growing apart.
“I think we’ve just been very fortunate to grow together. And we can’t control that,” he says. “You would hope as a person and in growth, you’re different in your thirties than you were in your twenties. You hope you’re different in your forties than you were in your thirties. And we are, and we’ve grown, but we just happen to grow together than grow apart. And I can’t really say that we controlled that.”
He adds that having “similar interests” helps with their compatibility.
“We have mainly respect, and we have a lot of similar interests,” he says.
The notoriously private couple share two adult children, son Grant and daughter Paige.
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In February, Chestnut bragged about his “incredible” wife to ESSENCE.
“She holds the house down. She allows me to be able to go out and go to a job, and be able to just focus on the job. I know the house is held down,” Chestnut said at the time. “I mean, I literally just, I go at the house, I sleep, and I wake up, and I eat, and she handles everything. Like, everything in the house she handles.”
Byse added that it “feels really good” to be married to Chestnut.
“Like he’s very, very supportive,” she said. “I feel protected by him. I don’t have any stress when he leaves home. It feels really good.”