Kristen Bell's 'brutal' marriage challenges with husband Dax Shepard: 'I cry weekly'

Kristen Bell and her husband, Dax Shepard, have always been candid about the highs and lows of their marriage and family life – an openness that fans frequently praise for being both refreshing and relatable.

The couple, who first met at a mutual friend's birthday party in 2007, have been married for 13 years this month, and share two daughters, Lincoln, 13, and Delta, 11.

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In a recent interview with Bustle, the Nobody Wants This actress opened up about navigating the challenges of marriage and family life.

"It's hard," the 46-year-old actress candidly admitted. "Do not think because I am on your television that it is easy for me. It's brutal. I cry weekly."

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Kristen also revealed that being open about the realities of parenthood has become harder as her daughters have gotten older. 

"My main job in life is to protect those two," shared the Frozen actress. "I guess a conclusion we came to at a time in our parenting journey is, like, we can share all the cute things when they're little, but when they could possibly be exposed to [media] or possibly have a feeling in response to it … well, now, the equation has changed. 

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"There's someone else in the mix, and you have to have enough self-awareness and consideration to consider that person. And that person is my daughter, so she's No. 1."

Inside Kristen and Dax's 13-year marriage

Kristen and Dax tied the knot in October 2013, six years after meeting at a mutual friend's birthday party. Following their 2010 engagement, the pair delayed their nuptials until LGBTQ+ marriage was legal in California.

"We got married in a tiny room in the Beverly Hills courthouse, and it was still one of the best days of my life," Kristen previously said on CBS Sunday Morning.

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Kristen and Dax have made no secret of the amount of work that goes into their marriage. Back in 2017, Dax told Us Weekly that he and Kristen had undergone "a tremendous amount of work and therapy for us to coexist," adding that relationships are "labor intensive" if you "want them to last". 

Meanwhile, Kristen told Good Housekeeping in 2015: "You do better in the gym with a trainer; you don't figure out how to cook without reading a recipe. Therapy is not something to be embarrassed about."

Kristen and Dax's two daughters 

In March 2013, the couple welcomed their first child, a girl named Lincoln. A little over a year later, their second daughter, Delta, arrived. 

Passionate about protecting their daughters' privacy, the couple led the 'No Kids Policy,' a campaign against paparazzi who stalk and harass their children to get photos, as well as the media outlets that buy them. 

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At the time, Kristen told Entertainment Tonight: "Picture what it would be like walking down the street with your child and have 10 aggressive men taking their picture with a lens in your face, yelling, pushing other children outside of a school."

Thanks to their campaign, as well as several other A-list celebrities, the 'No Kids Policy' became a California law.