Harry Connick Jr. Has No ‘Rules’ for His 30th Wedding Anniversary (Exclusive)

For Harry Connick Jr., there is no universal rule for a lasting marriage.

In an extensive conversation with PEOPLE about his new film Find me fallingThe actor and musician says he and his wife of 30 years, Jill Goodacre Connick, focus more on their “lifestyle” than on following specific guidelines to keep their relationship strong.

“We trust each other, we love each other, we communicate,” says Connick, 56. “But when you say it’s a rule, it’s almost like we have to stick to it. That’s not really how we roll. We just wake up every day and are grateful for each other and try to be good parents and good partners to each other.”

But, he admits, “it’s different for everyone.” As the three-time Grammy winner notes, “Certain things that work for us might not work for others, but we’re not big on rules.”

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Connick’s take-it-as-you-go attitude also extends to giving relationship advice to the couple’s three daughters: Georgia, 28, Kate, 26, and Charlotte, 22.

“I think we’ve tried to set a good example… I’m not an advisor,” said the Copy cat actor tells PEOPLE.
If someone asks me, ‘Hey, what do you think about this?’ I might tell them, but I’ve always found that people are reluctant to give advice, especially if it’s unsolicited.”

Connick says, “The whole goal of the way Jill and I raised our daughters was to give them confidence and try to make good decisions.”

“And I think they will,” he adds. “So if they need us, they’ll come (to us). But it’s not like, ‘Make sure you communicate’ or ‘Find someone you can laugh with all the time.’ That’s just not my thing.”

Connick says he and former model Jill, 60, have supported their daughters in their personal endeavors and in finding their own career paths.

But all three girls have continued to follow in their parents’ footsteps, through a combination of modeling, acting, music and photography.

“For me and Jill, all we really want is for them to be happy and fulfilled,” he tells PEOPLE. “And all three of them seem to be in a place where they’re really living full lives and having really great experiences doing the things that they love.”

“That’s all we care about,” said the Hope fades star continues. “I don’t really care what they do. But the fact that they do things that are in my world is just amazing, because we get to share experiences and cross paths.”

As for potentially working with Georgia, Kate and/or Charlotte in the future, Connick says he would be the lucky one because “all three of them have talents that I’ve never seen before.”

“They can call upon these perspectives and gifts that are unique to them,” the proud father explains. “So I would just be very lucky if I could work with any of them.”

Find me falling is now available on Netflix.

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