The Tony-nominated actress shares the couple’s enduring commitment to love, family, and working side-by-side — until “the wheels fall off.”
LaTanya Richardson Jackson is opening up about the powerful promise she and husband Samuel L. Jackson made early in their careers — and how they’re still honoring it decades later.
Speaking exclusively to PEOPLE during the 2025 Tony Awards junket at Sofitel New York on May 8, LaTanya, 75, shared that she and Samuel, 76, have vowed to keep working “until the wheels fall off.” But there’s one condition — they’ve promised to pull each other aside when it’s time to step away.
“We’ve got a pact,” LaTanya said. “If we ever see each other doing more than we should be doing, we’ll say, ‘It’s time. Come in the house.’ Until then, we’re doing this as long as life lets us.”
The acclaimed actress, who recently received her second Tony nomination for Purpose, reflected on the continued balancing act of career and family — even in her seventies. LaTanya admitted she was so busy being “Mom” that she forgot to tell Samuel about her nomination.
“My daughter Zoe [43] was trying to get Kendrick Lamar tickets,” she said, laughing. “She called and said, ‘Dad’s not answering. Can you call him?’ So I did, told him what he needed to do, and hung up. Later, he called back and said, ‘Why didn’t you tell me you got nominated for a Tony?’ And I said, ‘Because I was on the mother train!’”
Samuel and LaTanya have been together for more than 50 years — married for 44 — and have consistently emphasized family unity. In a 2022 interview with PEOPLE, LaTanya revealed their agreement to “stay together no matter what” as a form of quiet revolution.
“In the beginning, we said the most revolutionary thing Black people could do was stay together and raise their children with both a mother and a father,” she shared. “To challenge that false narrative.”
The Jacksons also cherish their traditions. Every July, they press pause on work and take a family trip — often on a boat — with one simple rule: “Don’t wake anybody up. You sleep when you sleep. Then we come together and eat.”
They’ve built a life of partnership both at home and on stage. In 2022, LaTanya directed Samuel in Broadway’s revival of The Piano Lesson, proving once again that theirs is a marriage built on love, artistry, and unwavering support.
As LaTanya told PEOPLE previously, “I’m amazed at how busy we are in our seventh decade. I’m grateful because I think of all the things that could be.”