Inside Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick's 25-year marriage

Carrie Bradshaw may be unlucky in love in ...And Just Like That, but actress Sarah Jessica Parker has one of the most enduring marriages in Hollywood.

SJP, who played Manhattan journalist Carrie in cult series Sex and the City, and recently returned for the update, has been married to Ferris Bueller actor Matthew Broderick since 1997.

This week, she paid tribute to her husband in a touching Instagram snap of her caressing his shoulder in rehearsals for the new Broadway show Plaza Suite at the Hudson Theatre.

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The show had been due to start in March 2020 but was postponed due to the Covid pandemic. Referring to the delay the star wrote: "We have missed you and are so grateful to be back in your fine company after our 2 year separation."

But it seems that separation is key to the success of Sarah Jessica and Matthew's 25-year marriage with absence definitely making the heart grow fonder.

Speaking on Sophia Amoruso's Girlboss radio show back in 2016, Parker said: "I know this sounds nuts, but we have lives that allow us to be away and come back together."

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Their latest stage show together must be bringing back heartfelt memories as it was on Broadway that the pair first met back in 1991.

Broderick was directing a play for the Naked Angels Theatre Company, founded by Parker's older brothers Pippin and Toby. Parker had just gone through a highly public split with Robert Downey Jr. and was introduced to Broderick by one of her brothers.

But it took him a long to ask her out, with Broderick explaining: "My memory is that literally months passed when I didn't ask her for a date."

Four years later the couple starred together for the first time in the Broadway revival of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.

Speaking to the Los Angeles Times back then, Parker admitted worrying about the couple spending so much time together saying: "The last 48 hours or so, Matthew has had this running joke about us, we work together, we eat together, we sleep together, we wake up together, we work together, we eat together, we sleep together.

"It occurred to me that that was a dangerous part of this, that our world would become very small. There was always something nice about sharing your experiences. Now, all of a sudden our experiences are the same, and I don't feel like I'm bringing a lot to the table."

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But she needn't have worried as the pair married in May 1997 in a surprise ceremony that was such a secret, their guests thought they were just going to a party.

The wedding, at Angel Orensanz Synagogue on Manhattan's Lower East Side, was officiated by Broderick's sister Jane, and ever the fashion icon, Sarah Jessica wore a black dress.

It was the following year that SJP wowed fans with her portrayal of Carrie Bradshaw in Sex and the City, and she credits Broderick with encouraging her to accept the role which was to make her a household name.

In October 2022, SJP gave birth to the couple's first child James Wilkie, describing the moment of his birth as 'absolute euphoria'.

The couple sadly struggled to conceive naturally again, with Sarah Jessica saying: "We tried and tried and tried and tried to get pregnant but it just was not to be, the conventional way. I would give birth as often as I could, if I could. I cherished all the milestones, the good and the bad."

But in 2009 they completed their family with the birth of surrogate twins Marion and Tabitha

And despite the length of their romance, it is clear that Parker and Broderick still make time for the small things that make love last.

Last year, on Broderick's 59th birthday, SJP posted a picture of a lit birthday cake with the caption: "Happy birthday Husband, We love you and we are oh so happy, grateful you were born. XXX, your SJ and 3 besotted young Brodericks."

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