Veteran actress Helen Mirren, who married director Taylor Hackford at the age of 52, says had she done it any earlier, it would almost certainly have failed.
The actress has been happily married for almost 20 years, reported Daily Express.
Mirren and the American director, both 69, married in 1997 when she chose an "off-the-rack" wedding dress rather than a designer creation.
She said marriage and children earlier in life were not an option as she had chosen to focus on her career.
"I used to say to Taylor 'Oh why didn't we meet earlier?' But it's a really good thing, because we probably wouldn't be together now. I could not have dealt with him earlier on. He would have been too difficult," Mirren said.
"He was quite difficult as it was but I got through that.
