Ted Danson on falling for Mary Steenburgen in real life
Ted Danson shares how falling for Mary Steenburgen in real life made their on-screen romance even more magical on season 2 of “Inside Job”
LOS ANGELES − Ted Danson’s wannabe private eye Charles Nieuwendyk breaks a professional golden rule in Season 2 of Netflix’s “A Man on the Inside” (streaming Nov. 20) by dating the main suspect in his new case.
But it’s hard to blame Charles for the criminal misstep, because Wheeler College professor Mona Margadoff − who just might be the blackmailer at the heart of the academia mystery − is played by Mary Steenburgen, Danson’s wife of 30 years. Two-time Emmy winner Danson, 77, didn’t have to dig deep for the love vibes.
“Charles is smitten, and I was too,” Danson tells USA TODAY. “It’s so much fun to play falling in love with someone you’re madly in love with. You just sink into each other, which is lovely.”
The universally adored pair have spent decades at the intersection of love and work, first meeting when Danson auditioned unsuccessfully to play Steenburgen’s husband in the 1983 film romance “Cross Creek.” They became a real-life couple after playing one in 1994’s “Pontiac Moon” and married in 1995. They even endured split rumors after playing versions of themselves who got divorced in 2024’s Season 10 of Larry David’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”
“Thanks to Larry, we were happily married,” says Danson, laughing about the show’s status change. (The couple have frequently appeared on the show since its debut in 2000.) “That actually pissed me off when I came to work and found I had divorced Mary. We had people who knew us, who had dinner with us a month before, call and ask, ‘Oh my God, is it true?’ And Mary said, ‘Yes, it’s true, and we decided to announce it on ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm.’ “
Casting Steenburgen, 72, in the “Man on the Inside” love interest/suspect role was executive producer Mike Schur’s idea, Danson insists. Schur created the celebrated afterlife comedy series “A Good Place,” starring Danson and Kristen Bell, which featured Steenburgen in a cameo as a guitar teacher in 2020.
Danson and wife Steenburgen ‘dog-talk’ to their beloved pooch
“We try to stay out of each other’s business,” Danson says. “But I was thrilled when Mike asked me about Mary, as shown by my big, huge grin. Working together on this is a dream come true.”
The couple live just outside Los Angeles, where they set aside time each morning for coffee and playing the same word games on their phones: Spelling Bee, Connection and Wordle. It’s such a set routine that even their leadoff five-letter Wordle word doesn’t vary. (Psst, it’s the strategically sound word “aisle”).
“We’re quick because at our age we’ve discovered that two brains are better than one,” Danson says. “We team up. There’s no competing. That would be weird.”
The term “nauseatingly in love” applies to the couple’s constant love-upped-ness, Danson confesses, especially when they are “dog-talking” to their beloved mini-Australian shepherd.
“If you talk dog-talk as a couple, you’re immediately nauseating,” he says. “But we’re also madly in love with our dog.” (The twosome have four human kids, too: a blended family of four grown children from previous marriages.)
Steenburgen rocks the accordion, Danson cracks his iPhone
Steenburgen, who miraculously woke from minor surgery in 2007 with a newfound musical obsession, adds an element of realism to the offbeat music professor character. The Oscar-winning actress occasionally rocks an accordion around the house.
“I’m a fan,” Danson says of the oft-maligned instrument. “But I’m a fan of anything Mary does.”
With his earnestness and confessed real-life bumbling, Danson suits his role as the overeager private investigator perfectly.
“I’d be a terrible spy,” he says. “I feel bad if the person I’m talking to is not on the same page as me. I don’t even like watching prank shows.”
His senior character’s cluelessness about any tech, including his Meta spy glasses, is straight from Danson, who doesn’t even know which version of cracked iPhone he carries.
“I don’t know what you mean by ‘version,’ but this is my fourth phone,” Danson says, deadpan. “I tried to be like the kids and not put a cover on it. And it’s now this spider web of glass.”
Whether his investigative ineptitude carries over, or he’s a genius comic actor (he humbly claims it’s both), Danson is addictively watchable on the case − sending secretive, rambling voice memos to his eye-rolling agency-owning boss Julie Kovalenko (Lilah Richcreek Estrada).
The retired professor, like great bumbling heroes before him, from Maxwell Smart to Inspector Clouseau, somehow succeeds. The silver charmer Charles cracked the Season 1 mystery of the missing jewelry in the retirement home and, despite getting hot for his suspect, stumbles onto the trail for Season 2.
The “Cheers” alum is still mourning the loss of TV family member George Wendt in May. “We’re down a man or two,” he says solemnly of perpetual questions about a revival series. However, the positive message of starting fresh at any age percolates through real life on “Man on the Inside.” “We’re being real about aging but also celebrating it. It’s like: ‘Come on, keep going. There’s plenty to do in life.’ There’s that theme: Do you get second chances at my age? And the answer is yes!’ “
