John Leguizamo says he "learned a lot about respect" in his first marriage
Actor-comedian
John Leguizamo
recently opened up about the lessons he learned from his past.
In a recent interview with PEOPLE, the 64-year-old star spoke about how his first marriage helped him grow into a better man and husband.
He was married to actress Yelba Zoe McCourt from 1994 to 1996, before marrying his current wife, Justine Maurer, in 2003.
According to PEOPLE, in the new season of his MSNBC docuseries, the actor joked to chef Melissa Araujo of Alma in New Orleans while discussing the gentle touch of shaping dough for Honduran baleadas: "If I had your advice, maybe my first marriage would've survived."
When asked by PEOPLE what he learned from his first marraige, Leguizamo said, "The starter marriage was definitely very important for my maturation."
For Leguizamo, it was a "life-learning experience," because he doesn't think he would be the same husband or man if he hadn't gone through the experience of the first marriage.
"I learned a lot about respect. I learned a lot about compromise. I learned that it doesn't happen by itself -- that marriage is really work, and you gotta work, and you gotta put work into it, and you gotta put yourself into it," he added.
Leguizamo, who shares two children with Maurer -- daughter Allegra, 25, and son Lucas, 24 -- believes one of the keys to a lasting relationship is staying involved in each other's lives.
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"You really gotta stay interested in each other, and do things together," he said, according to PEOPLE.
Meanwhile, on the work front, the actor's upcoming show Leguizamo Does America season 2 is set to premiere on July 6 at 9 p.m. ET on MSNBC. New episodes will air every week through August.
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