Mariska Hargitay Was In Tears on Her First Date With ‘Law & Order: SVU’ Co-Star Peter Herman
Mariska Hargitay met her husband, Peter Hermann, on the set of Law & Order: SVU. In a recent interview, Hargitay revealed how she felt when she first saw Hermann and how he left her in tears on their first date.
Mariska Hargitay first saw Peter Hermann when he joined the Law & Order: SVU cast
Law & Order: SVU premiered in 1999. So when Hermann joined the cast as Trevor Langan in 2002, Hargitay was already a few seasons into playing the series’ lead, Olivia Benson.
In a recent appearance on the Drew Barrymore Show, Hargitay revealed how nervous she was when she first saw Hermann on set. And she recalled joking around with him, much to her co-star Christopher Meloni’s disapproval.
“I was nervous, and I heard he was German, and I didn’t know what to do, so I said, this is so embarrassing, I said, ‘So you’re a kraut,'” Hargitay recalled. “And he goes like this, ‘That’s funny.’ And I went, ‘Oh my God.’ And then Chris Meloni is like, ‘No.'”
Hargitay was admittedly smitten. “On the first day, I was so nervous, and I felt very, he was very handsome and it was distracting,” she said. “And then he would come back the other days, and all the producers would look at me and give me eyes and stuff… I had never been like that to anyone ever, and it was funny because you know I was single.”
Mariska Hargitay was in tears on their first date
Hargitay was 35-years-old when she met Hermann. And she was ready to get married as long as she found the right person.
She told Barrymore that Hermann had asked her to come to church on their first date. She was moving that day and refused at first. But when Hermann insisted, the actor caved and met him for their church date.
“He was like, ‘Oh come on. It’s an hour. It’s an hour,’ “Hargitay recalled. “It was so funny. I just couldn’t resist, so I went to church.”
Hargitay revealed that she realized she wanted to marry Hermann while they were sitting in church. And the revelation left her in tears.
“It was that day I remember we went to church,” the Law & Order: SVU star said. “And I am crying, and he thinks I am so moved by the sermon, and I am crying because I am like, ‘I know I am going to marry him. I found my husband. I love him.'”
The ‘Law & Order: SVU’ star has married Peter Hermann two years after their first date
Hargitay and Hermann’s first date went pretty well. The two tied the knot in August 2004, two years after they met. They have three children together. And according to Hargitay, the Law & Order: SVU stars are still going strong.
“He’s so funny and so different than anyone I ever met,” Hargitay told Barrymore. “And we had such a sort of beautiful getting to know each other and learning how to see each other and beautiful courtship, and here we are 17 years married, 19 years in, and still learning about each other every day.”
