Denzel Washington shares secrets behind his 31-year marriage

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 8 (UPI) -- Denzel Washington shared the secrets behind his 31-year marriage in a fan forum on Saturday.

The 59-year-old actor took part in a Reddit AMA, and answered questions about his personal life and career. Washington has been married to Pauletta Pearson since 1983, an anomaly amid the dozens of Hollywood breakups and divorces.

"I don't know if it's show business that has a monopoly on divorce, it's just that you hear about it," he wrote. "I just think that you have to work at it. Not give up on each other. It's a commitment. It's not all the honeymoon, it doesn't last forever, so you work at it. And hopefully you're good friends first, that might help!"

Washington and Pearson met on the set of the television film Wilma, and married in June 1983. The couple have four children together -- 30-year-old son John, 27-year-old daughter Katia and 13-year-old twins Olivia and Malcolm -- and renewed their wedding vows in 1995.

Washington's newest film, The Equalizer, debuted at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival on Sunday. As for the future, the actor said he would love to portray James Bond during the Reddit forum, and a "#DenzelIJamesBond" hashtag has taken off on Twitter.