John Leguizamo Admits He 'Learned a Lot About Respect' in His 'Starter Marriage': 'You Gotta Work' (Exclusive)

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John Leguizamo tells PEOPLE about the "work" that goes into a long-term relationship, reflecting briefly on his first marriage to actress Yelba Zoe McCourt
"I don't think I'd be the same husband or man if I hadn't gone through the experience of the first marriage," the Leguizamo Does America host says
Leguizamo has been married to Justine Maurer since 2003, and they share two childrenJohn Leguizamo knows that love alone isn't enough to sustain a long-term relationship.
The Leguizamo Does America host, who wed Justine Maurer in 2003, was previously married from 1994 to 1996. In the new season of his MSNBC docuseries, he jokes to chef Melissa Araujo of Alma in New Orleans while discussing the gentle touch of shaping dough for Honduran baleada: "If I had your advice, maybe my first marriage would've survived."
Asked what he actually learned from his first marriage, to actress Yelba Zoe McCourt, that has helped his enduring bond with Maurer, Leguizamo, 64, tells PEOPLE, "The starter marriage was definitely very important for my maturation."
The Menu actor calls that time period "a life learning experience, because I don't think I'd be the same husband or man if I hadn't gone through the experience of the first marriage."
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"I learned a lot about respect," he says. "I learned a lot about compromise. I learned a lot about 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."
That work for Leguizamo and Maurer — who share daughter Allegra, 25, and son Lucas, 24 — is in part of the mantra, "You really gotta stay interested in each other, and do things together."
"You gotta be interested in your wife's interests, and she's got to be interested in your interests," the Super Mario Bros. star explains. "Even if you're not interested, you've gotta act like you're interested ... that's how you grow together. That's how you grow towards each other."
"And it's doing activities together, to stay connected," he continues. "You can't allow each other to grow apart and grow separately. It'll never work. You won't. It'll end."
Leguizamo and Maurer both previously opened up to PEOPLE about their 30-year love story, when the actor said he "did not want a tumultuous relationship" when they got together.
"I wanted peace. I wanted to have an oasis. And Justine gave me all of that," recalled the Bob Trevino Likes It star. 'She became a healing force in my life."
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There, of course, have been differences. 'We're both from New York, but I went to public schools; she went to private schools,' Leguizamo said. 'All my friends were Latin and Black, and all her friends were White and Jewish."
"But that's what made it exciting and thrilling. It wasn't just preaching to the choir; it was converting somebody, in a way," he added. "I like talking about my culture to Justine because it helps me understand where I came from and how far I've come.'
Leguizamo Does America season 2 premieres July 6, at 9 p.m. ET on MSNBC, with new episodes airing weekly through August.
Read the original article on People