Law & Order: Organized Crime’s Christopher Meloni Shares Secret to 30-Year Marriage with Wife Sherman Williams

The couple will celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary on July 1

Christopher Meloni is opening up about his love life.

The actor, 64, will celebrate his 30th wedding anniversary with wife Sherman Williams, 65, in less than three months on Tuesday, July 1. During a recent interview with Entertainment Tonight ahead of the season 5 premiere of Law & Order: Organized Crime, Meloni shared the secret to his long-lasting marriage.

“You know, it’s work,” he told the outlet. “The work of a marriage is subtle. It’s constant. It’s sometimes imperceptible. But it’s this sense of checking in with someone and feeling them and then seeing them and acknowledging them, and having patience with them.”

Christopher Meloni (left) and Sherman Williams in 2022.Jared Siskin/Patrick McMullan via Getty

“It’s a journey of growth,” he continues. “That’s what it’s about.”⁠

In 1989, Meloni and Williams met on the set of an HBO show they were both working on. In an interview with YourTango, Meloni recalled thinking, “This I gotta meet.” He was instantly attracted to Williams, finding her “cool, funny, sexy,” but she had a boyfriend at the time. It wasn’t until a few years later that they began dating.

The pair tied the knot in a medieval-themed beach wedding in Malibu on July 1, 1995. The ceremony was performed by a non-denominational minister, and the couple had goblets to toast their marriage.

The couple also share two children: daughter Sophia, 24, and son Dante, 21.

“I always knew I wanted kids, as did my wife,” Meloni told PEOPLE in 2022. “My mother always used to say to me, ‘I’ve learned so much from you kids,’ and I didn’t get it. Now I get it.”

Christopher Meloni and Sherman Williams.Cindy Ord/Getty

In the same interview with PEOPLE, the Law and Order star credited Williams for making their marriage stand the test of time.

“We’re doing good. It’s her patience with me, and I really mean that. She’s allowed me to grow at my speed, because she’s always been more mature and more levelheaded in many ways,” he said. “She paints and I go in her studio, and it just makes me happy. We have her work all over the house. She wants to buy art, and I’m like, ‘I don’t want that. I want yours.'”

The fifth season of Law & Order: Organized Crime premiered on NBC April 17, following a crossover event between Law & Order and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. All subsequent season 5 episodes will be available exclusively on Peacock.

Law & Order airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET on NBC, followed by SVU at 9 p.m. ET. Episodes 1 and 2 of Organized Crime are available to stream exclusively on Peacock.