Inside Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick’s Unusual Love Story

“I know it sounds dreary and not sexy, but I think the most important part of it is companionship,” Parker added, echoing what Broderick said in 2014 about being “friends above everything else.” SJP continued, “For me, it’s about asking myself: who do I want to sit with, in Ireland? ‘Who do I want to see those ruins with? Who is still the most challenging to me? Who do I like best?'” (They have a cottage in County Donegal, Ireland, near where Broderick’s family hails from, and Parker also loves getaways to their Hamptons beach house.)

About that very particular pitfall that almost all couples run up against after a long time, “It’s very normal to be interested in other people,” the actress said. “But it doesn’t mean you have to follow through.”

Parker and Broderick have weathered their own tough times and been the subject of split speculation—an inevitability in their line of work. When they bought their house in Brooklyn, the end was rumored to be coming, and there were rumors some years ago that Broderick cheated, about which SJP reflected to Harper’s Bazaar in 2013, “Yeah, I didn’t comment on it.”

Recalling a simpler time when she and her husband were just a couple of young actors trying to do good work, she added, “So when our marriage came up in conversation, it wouldn’t occur to us that we were obligated to respond to allegations or gossip. You have to be a bit circumspect, but you also have to take up a position, and you have to stick to it.”