Jamie Lee Curtis Reveals How Her Marriage to Christopher Guest 'Hinged on a Couple Seconds'

Jamie Lee Curtis has been married to her husband screenwriter and director Christopher Guest for 36 years and surprisingly enough, the actress says the relationship that's since brought two children all stemmed from a few seconds that would change the course of her life. "Life hinges on a couple of seconds you never see coming," Curtis, 62, quoted in her interview with TODAY's Quoted By...with Hoda series. The quote comes from the 2006 book "Special Topics in Calamity Physics" by Marisha Pessl, and Curtis' marriage is perfect proof of the saying. "And by the way, I met my husband by seeing his picture in a magazine and saying out loud to a friend of mine, 'I'm going to marry that dude,' and married him four months later," Curtis told Hoda. "So the truth of the matter is life hinged for me on a couple seconds that I didn't see coming."

Curtis and Guest got married in 1984 and have continued to build their lives together since. "And for me, it really speaks to me about all the time I spend in my head about the what-ifs and children and health and work and money and creativity and life's purpose, and the truth of the matter is that our lives do hinge on a couple seconds that we don't see coming," she added. "And what we do in those seconds ultimately determines the rest of our lives."

Curtis also opened up about how her 22-years and counting journey in sobriety has shown her that life is about how you respond to the unexpected. "And so what are we preparing for, really?" she said. "Because life is gonna happen. You know the term 'blank happens,' well, life happens... In recovery we say 'life on life's terms.' Not my terms, not your terms, life's terms. So I like the idea of life hinging on seconds I don't see coming because it means I just have to stay open for whatever comes."

"Struggle is part of the human existence," she continued. "And what I can tell you is that if you feel that you have a problem with drugs or alcohol or addiction — or overeating or the myriad ways that you can harm yourself — there are support groups available. We are stronger together."