Mariska Hargitay Shares the Secret to Keeping Her Nearly 22-Year Marriage to Peter Hermann Strong

Ashlyn RobinetteWed, June 10, 2026 at 7:23 PM UTC

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Peter Hermann and Mariska Hargitay in June 2025Credit: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty -

Mariska Hargitay reveals the secret to her nearly 22-year marriage to Peter Hermann in a new interview

The Law & Order star added that laughter helps them navigate disagreements

The couple married in 2004, and they share three children

Mariska Hargitay is sharing the secret to her long-term marriage to Peter Hermann.

The Law & Order star, 62, recently opened up about her relationship with her husband, 58, to E! News in an interview published on Tuesday, June 10. During the conversation, Hargitay revealed the key to the couple's lasting bond.

"I feel so blessed in that department," Hargitay said of marriage. "My new two favorite words are 'disciplined curiosity.' Really being curious about the other person and how they experience something and really listening."

Mariska Hargitay and Peter Hermann in May 2025Credit: Pascal Le Segretain/amfAR/Getty

Hargitay and Hermann tied the knot in 2004, and they will celebrate 22 years of marriage in August. The couple, who met when Hermann guest-starred on Law & Order: SVU in 2002, share three children: son August, 19, daughter Amaya, 15, and son Andrew, 14.

The actress told the outlet that she and Hermann disagree like any couple, but that they use humor to navigate "tough conversations."

"My husband is a great listener and an extremely thoughtful person, and he's taught me so much about that," Hargitay said. "And so if there is ever a disagreement or an argument or we get scared or tight, I know that he will always think about it or what I said, and so now I'm like that. If we disagree on something, I really will try to understand what he means. And so we give each other the space to have those, you know, they can be tough conversations, but to really listen and understand, because I think you get into trouble when you close down and just get mad."

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She continued, "Maybe they are wrong, and maybe you're wrong, but it's the way you talk about it and the room that you give each other. My husband and I also use a lot of humor to get through things. The way we can joke about things and then afterward if we joke and we go, 'Too soon?' It's sort of everything for us because if you can joke about it then there's a little bit of perspective, it's another way in, and to say, 'I love you. I'm sorry. I'm still here. Can we laugh because no matter what, we're going to figure this out.' "

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Mariska Hargitay and Peter Hermann in June 2024Credit: Jamie McCarthy/Getty

In 2019, the couple credited laughter as the key to their long-lasting relationship.

"I never thought I would have this much laughter in my life," Hermann exclusively told PEOPLE. "Not just actual laughter, but also the way that Mariska is just the embodiment of laughter — of joy."

He added of laughter, "It's the way we find our way back to each other. It's this fantastically, wonderfully ridiculous way that we can swing back and forth any number of times in any given day. But fundamentally we know we have the same destination. We know where we're headed, and it's good. And we know we'll get there together."

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”