For Judith Light , absence really can make the heart grow fonder.

In an interview with People published Monday, Light shared new insight into her 39-year marriage to Robert Desiderio, an author and former actor. An Emmy and Tony winner, Light remains a fixture in the theater community and thus resides in New York, while Desiderio, best known for his portrayal of Ted Melcher on Knots Landing, calls Los Angeles home.

Though living on opposite coasts would present challenges for many couples, Light says she and Desiderio have found their stretches of alone time to be surprisingly valuable to their relationship.

We talk every day. We FaceTime every day, she told People. He loves to be alone, and I love to be alone. We both love our alone time. We have that. Its also very creative for us.

In times of personal crisis, however, the pair make sure that we stay in the room, and we keep talking, Light said.

Sometimes we have to take a break, she noted. We say, Wait, we have to stop now. Now, we have to stop, and then were going to come back to this.

Desiderio and Light met as co-stars on the soap opera One Life to Live in the early 1980s and were married in 1985, about a year after Light landed her breakthrough role on the iconic ABC sitcom Whos the Boss?