While you might recognize Nicole Ari Parker from her many projects, from The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love toAnd Just Like That, fans of her work might still not know about her sweet marriage to fellow actor Boris Kodjoe. The pair, who have been married since 2005,share two kids togetherand can’t stop gushing about one another in interviews.

Speaking to Us Weekly in a new feature, Parker remembered the first time they met, which was on set for the TV show Soul Food.

“He’s pretty breathtaking, gorgeous, but I was a bit of a snob,” Parker told the outlet. “One night, we were doing a scene, and his character was supposed to sexily lean me against a wall and kiss me. He was so nervous, adorable and shy.”

Not having it with his nerves, Parker took matters into her own hands. “I took him behind the set, put my hands on his face and kissed him,” she remembered. “I said, ‘That is how you kiss!’ And then I fell in love.” How adorable is that?

A few years into dating, Parker and Kodjoe tied the knot in 2005 in his hometown of Gundelfingen, Germany. That same year, they welcomed their daughter, Sophie. They welcomed their son, Nicolas, in 2006.

Speaking of their long-term marriage, Parker revealed the secrets of what keeps them going.

“You’ve got to be compatible,” she said. “Have the hots for each other, like and love [your partner]. But even when all of that’s in place, there’s something about wanting to be married with children that’s a baseline, because it’s not for everybody. Same person every single day. Somebody calling you crying from the nurse’s office at school. In rough patches, we were like, ‘But I want to be married to you with this family for the rest of my life. I love this.'”

“It gets hard, you get in ruts, you get sick of each other, but you find a way,” she continued. “So far, so good.”

Plus, it seems both Parker and Kodjoe make the effort to show up for one another, and keep their spark going no matter what.

“He’s very romantic,” she said. “We do a lot of romantic stuff, but I like easy romantic stuff. I might get new bedding, but I won’t necessarily go to a hotel — I make what we have nice. Or a new nightgown, shave my legs, this is romance!”

With 20 years of marriage under their belts, we’re taking all the advice they have to share!

Before you go, click here to see the longest celebrity marriages.