John Leguizamo credits his 'starter marriage' for THIS

John Leguizamo just got candid and opened up about his early marriage and what he learnt from it.

For the unversed, before tying the knot with Justine Maurer in 2003, the 64-year-old American comedian and actor was previously married to actress Yelba Zoe McCourt in 1994 but called it quits in 1996.

While conversing with PEOPLE, the reporter asked about the lessons he learnt from his first marriage to McCourt and how it helped him in his second relationship with Maurer.

Responding to the question, Leguizamo articulated his thoughts by saying, “The starter marriage was definitely very important for my maturation."

The Super Mario Bros. star went on to admit that that period of his life was “a life learning experience, because I don't think I'd be the same husband or man if I hadn't gone through the experience of the first marriage."

"I learned a lot about respect. I learned a lot about compromise. I learned a lot about that it doesn't happen by itself — that marriage is really work, and you gotta work, and you gotta put work into it, and you gotta put yourself into it,” he explained.

"You really gotta stay interested in each other, and do things together. You gotta be interested in your wife's interests, and she's got to be interested in your interests. Even if you're not interested, you've gotta act like you're interested ... that's how you grow together. That's how you grow towards each other,” the John Wick actor noted.

It is pertinent to mention that Leguizamo and Maurer share a 25-year-old daughter, Allegra, and a 24-year-old son, Lucas.