As her 15th wedding anniversary approaches, Sonequa Martin-Green finds it hard to believe how much time has passed.
“All of a sudden we’ve been married a real long time,” Martin-Green, 39, shares with PEOPLE in this week’s issue, reflecting on her marriage to Kenric Green. “We are the seasoned married couple in the room. Now, we are the ones that people ask advice from. We are the ones that are like, ‘Oh, y’all been married a long time.’”
The actress, who stars in the upcoming film My Dead Friend Zoe (in theaters Feb. 28), adds that, like her career, her marriage “feels like it has been a lifetime, but that we’ve also just begun.” She explains, “You’re marrying that person, but that’s not who you’re going to stay married to because that person is going to change and they’re going to be completely different a year from now, five years from now, 10 years from now and so are you.”
Despite the constant evolution, the couple — who met in 2009 while working on a play and later starred together on The Walking Dead when Martin-Green played the tenacious yet vulnerable Sasha Williams and Green, 42, played selfless survivor Scott — has found a way to keep their marriage strong.
“We recommit ourselves daily,” the actress explains. “You are going to be different versions of yourself as you grow. Sometimes we put words to it and we say, ‘Okay, with who we are today, I commit my life to you.’”
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Looking ahead to the next 15 years, the pair is excited for their careers to continue “melding together.” “We’re starting to present ourselves as a package, and that’s been really dope,” Martin-Green tells PEOPLE. “We have our production company that we’re excited to nurse because it’s still a newborn baby, and we have an Amazon film coming out Christmas day of this year, Sarah’s Oil, where we got to play husband and wife, and I feel like that was a real culminating moment for us. Like, wow, here we are after all this time. Here we are.”
Martin-Green, who is also looking forward to the personal milestone of turning forty this March, is deeply grateful for her husband and their children — Kenric Justin II, 10, and Saraiyah Chaunté, 4 — who serve as powerful sources of strength and inspiration in her life. “I used to think respect came from being tough and sharp-edged, but those edges have rounded,” the Star Trek: Discovery actress reflects.
She adds, “The greatest life lesson that I’ve learned in the past decade is the importance of true love. Every desire is fulfilled in the presence of true love.”
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