Ted Danson‘s costars from A Man on the Inside had a front row seat to his devotion to wife Mary Steenburgen.
During an exclusive interview with Us Weekly, Mary Elizabeth Ellis and Lilah Richcreek Estrada recalled the fun fact they learned about Danson on set.
“He really loves his wife. He talks about Mary a lot. It’s very sweet,” Ellis, 45, shared. “You’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m so tired. I had to get up at five to get here.’ Then he answers, ‘Yeah, I had to get up at 3:30 because Mary and I needed our time together before I came here.’”
Estrada, 35, said it was “really cute” of Danson, 76, to get up early to do Wordle and crossword puzzles with Steenburgen, 71.
“We learned that we like sleep,” Estrada joked before Ellis quipped, “And what I learned is that I’m not committed enough in my relationship. Nor do I care to be at 3:30 in the morning.”
Danson and Steenburgen originally met in the ’80s, but didn’t start dating until they reconnected on the set of Pontiac Moon one decade later. Steenburgen was previously married to Malcolm McDowell while Danson was married to Randy Gosch from 1970 to 1975 and Cassandra Coates from 1977 to 1993.
The couple have continued to work together since tying the knot in 1996. Danson and Steenburgen appeared on Gulliver’s Travels, Ink, Curb Your Enthusiasm and The Good Place together. Danson recently told Us that he wants to work with Steenburgen “again” in the future.
“Once you meet her, you’ll understand,” he gushed earlier this month. “She’s magnificent and we love each other and we laugh a lot.”
Danson also shared the secret to a successful marriage at the time, adding, “We both get one ingredient in life, which is so important, that if something goes wrong, you look at yourself knowing and trusting the other person is looking at [themselves], which is what allows you to grow. If you’re with somebody who’s not willing to look at themselves, that doesn’t work.”
He continued: “I love who she is, truly. If I could be a woman, I’d be her. She’s trained me well. I could do it. I swear I could do it.”
While Steenburgen didn’t share the screen with Danson on A Man on the Inside, he still had a great time working alongside Ellis, Estrada, Stephanie Beatriz and Sally Struthers. The Netflix series, which premieres on Thursday, November 21, follows a retired man (Danson) who becomes an amateur private investigator.
“I do want to be purposeful about what [projects] I pick, which is what’s so amazing about working with Michael Schur because what he writes about is important and it’s purposeful,” Danson told Us. “There’s intention behind what he writes. So yes, it can be funny, but it is fully human and I love [it]. I think that’s what actors love most is exploring the human condition. It doesn’t mean you can’t be silly and funny.”
A Man on the Inside offers some insightful commentary about living life to the fullest — especially as you get older. Estrada and Ellis were thrilled with the message at the center of A Man on the Inside, which is based on Maite Alberdi‘s 2020 documentary The Mole Agent.
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“We portrayed the best case scenario that we do get to get older. I personally think that you can create every stage of your life to be big and beautiful and exactly how you want it. So I’m excited to keep doing that regardless of how old I am,” Estrada shared with Us. “And I think our show gives us permission to do that at any stage of our life. It shows us that it’s possible.”
Ellis called A Man on the Inside a “beautiful invitation” to enjoy getting older.
“It holds the aging process in such dignity, love, optimism and light,” she noted. “Getting old is the best case scenario. That’s actually what we want. We want to be here for a long time. … There’s such optimism about aging in this show. I think people really connect with it.
A Man on the Inside premieres on Netflix Thursday, November 21.
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi
