BREAKING: Samuel L. Jackson Says He and Wife Have Done ‘Crazy’ Things in Marriage ‘ He Regret to announce divorce after 44 years of marriage , for a reason beyond his Control after wife made…See More

Samuel L. Jackson revealed the secret to his long marriage to LaTanya Richardson Jackson.

In the cover story of AARP The Magazine’s October/November 2024 issue, The Piano Lesson actor, 75, opened up about being married for over 44 years and the difficulties they have overcome – including the “s—” he’s done that he deems “crazy.”

When asked about how he keeps his marriage going, Samuel said, “A lot of tolerance, because everybody’s got flaws, and not giving up when it would be easy to give up.”

He continued, “I’ve done s— in my marriage that’s crazy, you know? She has, too, in her head, or whatever in reality, but you got to go, ‘Is that a breakup offense?’ Or is it just that we need to spend a little time together and get some understanding about it?”

The Marvel star went on to say that the other option is to just “ignore” the other’s bothersome qualities. “Or there are certain things that you learn to ignore about people – that she’s learned to ignore about me,” he said.

Samuel gave an example of something that LaTanya, 74, has learned to “accept” about him over the years, which is his work ethic.

“I’m going to go to work all the time until, you know, it’s time,” the actor insisted.

Samuel and LaTanya marked 44 years of marriage in April after having first met in college. They share one daughter: Zoe, 42.

In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE in 2022, the couple shared that they made a pact to stay together no matter the challenges they face in their marriage.

“In the beginning, we always said the most revolutionary thing that Black people could do was stay together, raise their children with the nucleus of having a father and a mother, since everybody likes to pretend that that’s not the dynamic of the African American family,” LaTanya said at the time. “That it’s just children out here being raised by women, which we know is false.”

She continued, “In order to change that narrative, we made a decision to say, ‘We are going to stay together no matter what. We’ll figure it out.’ ”

In the early days of their marriage, Samuel battled his addiction to drugs. The actor recalled the experience in his AARP interview, saying, “My wife and daughter found me lying on the floor. My best friend from high school was a drug counselor and my wife called him, and I was in rehab the next day. I didn’t go kicking and screaming because I was tired.”

Samuel is currently promoting the movie adaptation of August Wilson’s play The Piano Lesson, which features a majority of the cast from the 2022 Broadway revival that was directed by LaTanya and starred Samuel as the lead.

The movie takes place in 1936 and “follows the lives of the Charles family in the Doaker Charles household and an heirloom, the family piano, which documents the family history through carvings made by their enslaved ancestor,” per the synopsis.

The Piano Lesson is in select theaters Nov. 8, then on Netflix Nov. 22.