Kurt Russell Says He Was ‘Hungover’ When He First Met Goldie Hawn

Goldie Hawn poses for a portrait in New York, Jan. 10, 1997. Hawn, 51, is making a film comeback with the wildly-successful "First Wives Club" followed by a Woody Allen musical comedy, "Everyone Says I Love You." (Wyatt Counts via AP)

Goldie Hawn, 74, and Kurt Russell, 69, sat down for a rare interview ahead of their new Netflix film The Christmas Chronicles 2. The longtime couple, who have been together for more than three decades, opened up about their first impressions of each other when they met on the set of a 1968 Disney musical. “I mean, he was way too young for me,” Goldie told CBS News. “I was, like, dating older guys, right? I was what, 20?”

Kurt then revealed he was just 15 years old at the time. “I didn’t even have a car. I didn’t have a license.” When their paths crossed again 12 years later, Goldie was an Oscar winner and Kurt had moved on from his wholesome Disney image. They were both recently divorced and not looking for a relationship. “Matter of fact, when I met Goldie, I was at a time in my life and a period of my life where I was very definitely gonna put my worst foot forward when it came to any kind of a relationship,” he explained.

“The first time I met her I was horribly hungover. You know, that’s not a good foot forward … I didn’t try to put my best foot forward, because it’s a hard thing to hold that up. You know, once you’ve done that, now you’ve established something – you’ve set a bar that you can’t stay with, you can’t keep.”

As for the “secret” to their longtime love: “there’s no secret,” Goldie said. “But for me, anyway, it’s that you both wanna be together … you can actually survive a relationship in a way that when you get older you go, ‘Ah, I’m so glad I got through whatever period that was. Because the relationships go through periods, sometimes really hard times. But there’s nothing sweeter than having a family, and that is worth everything.”