Sigourney Weaver Reveals the Secrets to Her 39-Year Marriage: ‘It’s Such a Huge Leap of Faith’

Oscar-winning actress Sigourney Weaver says she still prizes her husband’s easygoing spirit after 39 years of marriage. “I just feel so fortunate that I married someone with so much ‘aloha’ because I lead a weird life,” she admits.

Born Susan Weaver in New York City, the star, 73, who took her stage name from a minor character in The Great Gatsby, met Jim Simpson while doing a theater production in upstate New York in 1983.

Jim, a director, was also working as a bartender at a place called the Zoo. “I took my shoes off to dance on the dirt floor, and it was so dark. Anyway, this man, who’s my husband now, rescued my shoes,” she remembers. “I had to go to him and say, ‘Please, sir, where are my shoes?’”

Sigourney recalls thinking Jim was attractive, but it wasn’t love at first sight. “He was so cute. I remember thinking, ‘Well, he’s going to be a bachelor for many years. I can see that,’” she recalls. “So, I didn’t really think about him. And I had a boyfriend at the time. But within six months, I had invited him to a party, and he stayed late to help me put away the decorations, and then I asked him out to dinner, and three months later we decided to get married. That’s how it happens.”

The couple live largely in New York, where they raised their child, Char, 33, outside the limelight. “I try not to be in the public eye very often. When I have a wonderful project to support, I go all-out, but in general, we actually live a very boring life,” says Sigourney, who enjoys doing “rugged stuff” like hiking and “walking around Britain” with Jim.

Married life, for the couple, continues to be sweet. “Of course, you have to work at it and be willing to communicate, and you have to marry the right person, but you’re also taking a huge gamble,” she admits. “Honestly, it’s such a huge leap of faith!”