Gabrielle Union Reveals Marriage Rule She and Husband Dwyane Wade Have to Keep Their Relationship Strong (Exclusive)

The actress and the former NBA star tied the knot in 2014

NEED TO KNOW

• Gabrielle Union opened up about the simple rule she and her husband Dwyane Wade have to maintain their closeness during their busy schedules
• Union and Wade tied the knot in 2014 and share one daughter together as part of their blended family of six
• The couple briefly broke up the year before they wed, due to challenges associated with their conflicting schedules

Gabrielle Union is sharing the secret to her marriage with Dwyane Wade.

At the premiere of her new animated film Goat, the actress spoke with PEOPLE about keeping a balance in her marriage when she and Wade maintain such busy schedules. The pair, who tied the knot in 2014, will celebrate their 12th anniversary later this year.

Wade and Union's key rule to staying close and keeping their relationship strong is simple: "We laugh our asses off. At all times, we laugh," Union tells PEOPLE.

"We just stay connected and we surround ourselves with people who believe in our marriage as much as we do," Union adds.

Union and Wade, 53 and 44, respectively, first crossed paths at a Super Bowl party in 2007, though Union later admitted she wasn't exactly interested in Wade at the time. While she was drinking with friends at the celebration, Wade was sober and "on the other side of the room holding bible study," she told Essence, per E! News. Furthermore, the NBA player was going through a divorce and was nine years younger than Union.

The actress didn't think of giving Wade a chance until two years later, after she went through a difficult breakup. The pair later took their relationship public in the summer of 2010.

Wade and Union split for a short time early in 2013 due to their conflicting schedules. The couple eventually figured out how to stay close when both are busy, Union says, but at the time of their split, the distance and timing of their schedules briefly drove them apart, per Glamour.

"When Dwyane and I broke up briefly in 2013, it was because of distance and scheduling," Union said, adding, "I missed some quality togetherness we desperately needed … Moving forward, I decided my work schedule has to make sense for our family."

By the end of 2013, the couple had gotten engaged, and on August 30, 2014, Union and Wade tied the knot in an intimate ceremony in Miami. Four years later, Union and Wade welcomed daughter, Kaavia James Union Wade. Union is also a stepmother to Wade's children Zaire, 22, Zaya, 18 and Xavier, 11, bringing their blended family to six.

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Kaavia attended the Goat premiere alongside Wade and Union, the latter of whom stars in the film as Jett Fillmore, a black leopard. The movie — which also stars Caleb McLaughlin, Nick Kroll, Nicola Coughlan, David Harbor, Stephen Curry, Ayesha Curry, Aaron Pierre and Jelly Roll — follows a little goat who gets the the chance to join the pros in roarball, "a high-intensity, co-ed, full-contact sport dominated by the fastest, fiercest animals in the world."

Goat debuts in theaters on Feb. 13.

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