Anika Noni Rose is fresh off the heels of tying the knot and is extremely “thankful” for her new marriage with actor Jason Dirden.
Rose and Dirden surprised fans last month when they announced their relationship by tying the knot and posing for the cover of Brides magazine. No one had even known the two actors were an item when they decided to let the cat out of the bag by releasing their wedding photo in a magazine spread.
Now, one month after sharing the big news, The Princess and the Frog star is opening up about how happy she’s been with her Greenleaf star husband.
“I’m just grateful that we found each other, that we were good friends, respecting each other as people and as artists,” Rose told Essence. “I’m just thankful for that.”
When it comes to life as a newlywed, the Power actress dished on how amazing married life is and the thought they both put into taking the big leap over the broom.
“I feel great. It feels right and it feels good and I think that it’s not a decision that I took lightly,” she said. “I’m really glad that it was something that the both of us took our time and let it be a thing that was right.”
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Rose and Dirden were already acquainted as friends before taking their relationship to the next level. The Dreamgirls star didn’t even have marriage on her mind until Dirden came along and changed all that.
“We were really good friends before any thoughts of anything like this,” she explained. “I just wasn’t someone who grew up dreaming of being married. Not that I was against it, I just wasn’t like “Ooooh! When I grow up I’m going to be in a castle!” That just wasn’t me.”
Dirden proposed in December 2021 and the pair tied the knot last October before revealing the nuptials this year, People reported. While marriage wasn’t something she initially saw for herself, the For Colored Girls star now believes she waited for the right person at the right time.
“So when the decision [to get married] came, it felt like a conclusion or something that was just the next step in a road,” Rose said.
“Something that completely made sense and I think that’s what it should feel like. It should make sense. It should feel right. It shouldn’t be, ‘Oh I don’t know.’ If you feel that way, just hold on and wait. You might be with the right person and it might not be the right time. Or you might be with the wrong person and your body and spirit are trying to tell you that.”