They’re in it for the long haul! Kristen Bell got real about how she maintains a happy relationship with her husband, Dax Shepard, after nearly four years of marriage.
The Bad Moms actress, 38, opened up to Us Weekly at the launch of Naked Juice and Wholesome Waves’ #DrinkGoodDoGood campaign. “Our marriage took a lot of work, takes a lot of work. I don’t think people realize,” she exclusively told Us in NYC on Wednesday, August 9. “It is not easy to work around another human being, but if you commit to it, you can pretty much permanently respect that person, but then it doesn’t really matter if you disagree because you still respect that person. But on a daily basis, he just makes me laugh all the time. He’s obsessed with attention, so he’s constantly making jokes to try to get me to give him more attention or to get me to giggle. And you know, he was a stand up comedian, so I’m living with a comedian.”
Bell added that she doesn’t always agree with the Parenthood alum, 42, on important issues. “I do disagree with him on 90 percent of the issues on the planet,” she said. “But we have really wonderful, intense valued conversations about things, and I always see his point, even if I disagree. It’s hard to do.”
The Frozen star stressed the importance of understanding his perspective. “It’s all about contempt. Never roll your eyes at someone,” she told Us. “You might as well break up right then because its contempt. I’m telling you — I disagree with him on almost everything, but I have intense respect for his critical thinking skills and the fact that we were raised differently. I always see his point. I do not and will not ever have contempt for him.”
Bell and Shepard tied the knot in October 2013 and are parents of daughters, Lincoln, 4, and Delta, 2. When they have a fight, they make a point to show their children how they resolve it.
“[Dax] said, ‘Kids can see adults fight, particularly their parents, but you ever think about the follow through? When do they see them resolve it? When do they see them make up? And kids mimic us. That’s how they grow,’” she explained. “We always make an effort to make them see. So the next morning I’ll say, ‘Hey, you know what Dad, I’m really sorry I was so frustrated yesterday when you were bringing in the groceries. I could have had a nicer tone in my voice.’ And he would say, ‘Thanks for saying that, Mom, I know you were stressed.’ And we let our kids see how to solve conflict and that was his idea. And if we don’t genuinely wake up like that in front of each other, we will write the script to make them see.”
The Veronica Mars alum gushed that he has the best ideas. “It’s cute, right? That’s Dax Shepard’s parenting skills right there,” she added to Us. “He who has not read a single parenting book. I, who have read most of them, and he comes up with the golden gems. Can you believe this guy?”
As part of Bell’s partnership, for every fruit or veggie selfie shared using #DrinkGoodDoGood, Naked Juice will donate 10 pounds of produce to communities in need.
