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Sissy Spacek and her husband, Jack Fisk, have been married for nearly 50 years, so the couple knows a thing or two about making it work.
"Just pick your battles," she told Esquire in 2022. "You go through so many things that it just deepens and deepens and deepens."
According to Spacek, they learn from each other, even after five decades together, and their respective work as an actress and production designer.
"He's phenomenal, and I learned so much from him about the artist's life, and about work, and what it involves, and how much you have to give," she shared. "You have to give everything up and be focused when you're working. We've shared that."
So who is Sissy Spacek's husband? Here's everything to know about Jack Fisk and his relationship with the actress.
He’s a production designer and art director
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Like his Oscar-winning wife, Fisk has an impressive résumé in the film world. He has worked as a production designer for decades; some of Fisk’s many credits include The Revenant, Tree of Life and Killers of the Flower Moon. He was later nominated for Best Art Direction for There Will Be Blood in 2008 and The Revenant in 2016.
He also worked on his wife’s most famous film, the 1978 adaptation of Stephen King’s Carrie.
“It’s always wonderful when you’re able to work with the same director or crew over and over because you have a history together, you have reference points, you have a better understanding of where the other person is coming from and of each other’s abilities,” Fisk explained of his frequent collaborations with directors like Terrence Malik and David Lynch.
They met on set
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It’s not surprising that their shared work in Hollywood brought them together. Spacek and Fisk met while filming the 1973 movie Badlands.
“One day he asked me to ride home with him on a boat,” Spacek reminisced of their early days in 1991. “We loaded up, and there came a terrible flash flood. The boat sank. Right then I knew life with Jack was going to be eventful."
Their passion for the filmmaking industry solidified their bond, and the pair worked together frequently in the early days of their courtship and marriage.
“Throughout the 1970s we just did almost every film together ... If I wasn’t working, I helped him out, and if he wasn’t working, he helped me with my research for a role,” Spacek shared in 2012. “We really supported one another and we really understood the business. It was what brought us together.”
They married in 1974
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Spacek and Fisk tied the knot on April 12, 1974, in a private ceremony in Santa Monica, California. The couple wore jeans, and Fisk’s dog, Five, was their only witness.
According to the actress, they weren’t banking on forever.
“We never expected a lifelong relationship,” the actor told PEOPLE in 1983. “In fact, we even opened a bank account and put $30 in it, because that’s how much it cost to get divorced. Now I think it would take something dramatic like death to end it.”
Fisk was nominated for Best Art Direction for There Will Be Blood in 2008 and The Revenant in 2016.
He’s directed several films
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Fisk stepped behind the camera to direct several films and a few TV episodes in the ‘80s and early ‘90s, including 1981’s Raggedy Man and 1986’s Violets are Blue, which starred Spacek and Kevin Kline.
“The husband and wife were not allowed on the set,” Spacek explained of their working relationship. “The director and the actress dealt with each other as professionals."
They have two children
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Spacek and Fisk have two daughters: Schuyler was born in 1982 and works as an actress and musician, and Madison was born in 1988 and is an artist.
The pair raised their daughters outside of the Hollywood spotlight on a farm in Virginia.
"We moved there not because we didn't love L.A., but we wanted to raise our children in a more natural environment," Spacek previously shared of their decision. "[An environment] where they could make mistakes, ride ponies, do stupid stuff and climb trees and not have to deal with that celebrity child thing."
Spacek and Fisk are now grandparents to Schulyer’s two children.
He finds inspiration everywhere
Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection/Getty
Fisk’s work as a production designer and art director means he’s constantly paying close attention to his surroundings.
“When I’m working on films [inspiration] comes from locations, stories, or people I meet,” he explained. “You never know where it’s going to come from ... inspiration comes from everywhere, you just have to keep yourself open.”
He cites paintings, including the work of Edward Hopper, as a particular inspiration for his work.
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