The Law & Order: SVU star’s run on Broadway’s Every Brilliant Thing ended in adorable fashion.
As Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is on hiatus for the summer, life has been nonstop for Mariska Hargitay in the most exciting ways. From cheering on the Knicks’ eventual NBA Finals victory from her courtside seat to attending Taylor Swift’s Madison Square Garden wedding to being announced as the host of the 2026 Emmy Awards to… being proposed to by her own husband?
Yes, Peter Hermann got down on one knee and popped the question for the second time. And best of all, the sweet moment was caught on camera. Here’s what happened.
Mariska Hargitay’s husband Peter Hermann proposed during his Every Brilliant Thing cameo
In May 2026, Hargitay made her Broadway debut in the one-person play Every Brilliant Thing, marking her final performance on Saturday, July 5. Hargitay’s finale show was made extra special thanks to an impromptu appearance by her husband, who she pulled up on stage to stand in for Sam, the spouse of the narrator (Hargitay’s role).
Hermann quickly found himself in the audience-participation role of a lifetime when Hargitay, determined to stay in character, led him down to one knee.
“I showed Sam this is where I used to walk around Groucho Barx and I thought Sam had stopped to tie his shoe,” Hargitay said on stage while holding Hermann’s hand before nudging him to kneel. “Because when I turned around, Sam said…”
After getting a big laugh from the audience, Hermann asked, “Will you marry me?”
The result? A big on-stage hug and kiss between the couple, perfectly wrapping up Hargitay’s successful run on Broadway.
Watch the entire impromptu proposal moment during Hargitay’s final performance, here.
Mariska Hargitay met her husband on the set of SVU
Sparks started to fly for the couple back in 2002, when Hermann made his first-ever appearance on SVU (in Season 3’s “Monogamy”) as defense attorney Trevor Langan. And as Hargitay recalled during a 2022 appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show, their chemistry was instant.
“I was single, I was 35, and my friends were like, ‘Mariska, you need to get out more! Nobody’s just gonna show up on your show and ask you to marry [them]!’ And I was like, ‘Oh, yeah?'” Hargitay said with a chuckle, recalling how Hermann had the perfect idea for their first date. “Our first date he asked me to go to church with him.”
While Hargitay was initially hesitant about the idea because she was busy moving, Hermann convinced her to make time. “I just couldn’t resist, so I went to church,” she said. “It was June 2 and I’m crying and he thinks I’m so moved by the sermon and I’m crying ’cause I’m like, ‘I know I’m gonna marry him! I found my husband! I love him!'”
SVU alum Chris Meloni also knew from the jump that Hargitay and Hermann were a perfect match. In a 2021 interview with People, the actor behind Elliot Stabler recalled how Hargitay was visibly smitten. “He’s on the show as a guest actor, and I’m looking at her, looking at him, and I’m seeing how she’s acting, right? I know her, and I’m like, ‘Oh boy. Here we go,'” Meloni told the magazine, adding that predicted they’d one day get married. “I knew. I knew.”
Sure enough, just two years later, Hargitay and Hermann officially tied the knot.
Mariska Hargitay and Peter Hermann got married in August 2004
Hargitay and Hermann got married on August 28, 2004, inside the Unitarian Historical Chapel in Santa Barbara, California, and now share three teenage children together: August, Amaya, and Andrew.
In a 2019 interview with People, Hargitay explained how happy she’s been ever since their wedding day. “We got married and we knew that it was going to be good and I think we both knew… we found the right one,” she shared. “I never thought it could be this good… That I waited and married the right one and it’s better than I thought it was. Because sometimes you take a snapshot and you go, ‘I can’t believe this is my life.'”
