Debi Mazar Says 'Dear Friend' Madonna 'Inspires' Her: 'She's a Good Mom and a Good Person' 

Debi Mazar's friendship with Madonna is forever.

The actress, 57, tells PEOPLE in this week's issue, on newsstands Friday, that she and the singer, 63, have been able to maintain their close bond since they first met in New York City more than four decades ago.

"It's a very personal relationship," says Mazar. "People always ask me about Madonna. She's a dear friend. She's a very good mom and a good person."

The pair's friendship began at the Danceteria nightclub in the '80s, when Mazar was still an unknown actress doing makeup to pay the bills and Madonna was an aspiring singer. After Madonna asked Mazar if she would do her makeup should she get the opportunity to shoot a music video someday, they exchanged numbers.

In the years that followed, Mazar not only did Madonna's makeup for some of her music videos, but also appeared in several of them, including "Papa Don't Preach," "True Blue," "Deeper and Deeper" and "Music."

While Mazar has had her own iconic film and TV career, with credits in projects like Goodfellas, Entourage and Younger, she gives Madonna major credit for "always trying to reinvent herself" as the years pass.

"I don't have that much energy to do what she does," she says. "She inspires me. She's relentlessly creative and smart. I'm always happy for her."

Though she last saw Madonna at her 63rd birthday in Italy last summer, Mazar says they "talk all the time." Whenever Mazar is in Los Angeles, she says they also try to meet up.

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Mazar — who recently moved with her husband Gabriele Corcos and their daughters Evelina, 19, and Giulia, 16, to Italy full-time — was last in L.A. on May 4 for the premiere of her new Netflix series, The Pentaverate.

In the series, Mazar plays Patty Davis, the executive assistant to the secret society called the Pentaverate, who is considered the brains behind the operation.

"I had the best time filming this show," Mazar says. "In The Pentaverate, Mike Myers plays eight characters. I was a little bit nervous because comedians can have a very specific idea of what they want, but Mike was really incredibly generous and helpful. Basically, I was schooled by the best people in this situation."

Mazar says getting to film the show in London for two months was also "so much fun."

"I've been to London a million times, but I'd never spent more than a week there," she says. "I got to know London, know the neighborhoods, hit flea markets. My children came in. Now, my daughter wants to go to university there."

For more on Debi Mazar, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday, or subscribe here.