Photo: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic
Ray Romanohas entertained millions over the course of his career, but he jokes that his wife Anna, is no longer impressed. “She’s over it,” he quips in the new issue of PEOPLE.
Romano, 65, best known as affable everyman Ray Barone on his 1996-2005 CBS sitcomEverybody Loves Raymond, made his directorial debut with the new movieSomewhere in Queens.
“I think they like that I get creative inspiration from them,” Romano says of his family. “They read rough drafts of the script. My wife, not as much as my kids.”
Celeste Sloman
“I’ve been married to her for 35 years and I’ve been in the business for just about that long,” he explains. “So she’s supportive, but she’s not as on top of it as my kids are.”
He says he’s careful about what to share when it comes to his family. “I never do it at their expense,” he says, adding that his kids have never pushed back on what to include."
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But Romano says Anna was pleased with the way cancer storyline was handled inSomewhere in Queens. “She’s 10 years cancer free. I think she liked the way we depicted it, and I think it felt real to her, what a cancer survivor mentally goes through,” he says.
“Believe me, she would’ve told me, she would’ve told me if she felt something was wrong there or something that just rubbed her a little bit the wrong way,” he says. “She gave me her approval.”
The two, who met in the 1980s when they were both working as bank tellers, have been together for more than three decades. So what is the secret to the longevity of their relationship?
“I don’t know if this is a general secret that applies to everybody, but my wife is not in show biz, and I am in show biz,” says Romano. “My therapist one day told me when we were discussing something like this, and I’m going to quote him because it’s a good quote to follow. He said, ‘Act like you’re not a narcissist.'”
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“And ultimately what he was saying was, the business I’m in and the occupation I have and the things that drive me can be hard for a spouse to deal with, and sometimes you can lose track of that,” he continues.
“You’re not being aware of the other person. And sometimes you have to take a breath and realize that. Because I do feel everything for my wife. I feel the love, but I don’t show it enough,” says Romano.
Somewhere in Queens, which costarsSebastian Maniscalco,Jennifer Espositoand Tony LoBianco, is playing in theaters April 21.
For more on Ray Romano, pick up the new issue ofPEOPLE.
source: people.com
