Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell Reveal Why They Never Got Married

12/09/2020 11:11 am EST

Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell have no big secret to the past 37 years they've spent together after meeting while filming 1983's Swing Shift, even if they never felt the need to marry. "You've just got to want to be together," Hawn, 75, told PEOPLE of her long-lasting Hollywood love story. "I don't think there's any way other than do it."

First seeing Hawn on the set of Swing Shift, Russell, 69, recalled being "impressed with Goldie visually," but had deeper feelings grow from the start: "But then you get to know somebody and you begin to find that, yeah, you do share things in common deeply. Hey, listen, it goes where it goes."

The two actors might never have married, but have a close family consisting of son Wyatt Russell, 34, and their children from previous marriages — Russell's son Boston and Hawn's children, Kate, 41, and Oliver Hudson, 44. "For people like us, the marriage certificate wasn't going to create anything that otherwise we wouldn't have," said Russell. "I don't know. 40 years isn't enough to finally say, 'Well I guess...' "

Hawn chimed in, "Well, we're not at 40 years yet. Our children got married. I mean, they didn't not get married. Oliver's very happily married and Wyatt's very happily married. Katie got married once and that didn't work, and she's with this most amazing human and I don't know if she'll marry again. The point is that we all tried marriage and sometimes, marriage doesn't work."

The two are more than fine with their arrangement. "It's OK. It's not about the marriage. It's about the people and the relationship, and the will to stay together," Hawn continued. "And that's a big one because if you want it, you can have it. You've got to give things up, but the joy and the excitement of being together and touching the toes of somebody at night is really a nice feeling."

Despite the way they met, Hawn and Russell have largely performed separately, only co-starring in 1987's Overboard before Hawn made a cameo in Russell's 2018 Netflix film The Christmas Chronicles. In the streaming giant's sequel, available to watch now, Hawn's Mrs. Claus has a far bigger role, which comes with holiday powers. "I was excited about playing her," the actress said. "She hadn't been really defined yet really as a character. She's always been in the background, making cookies. And now it's a new world, right? And they gave Mrs. Claus magic, and Kurt was a big part of that as well, of designing the character."

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