The stars just celebrated 19 years of marriage — and are as in love as ever. Here, the best quotes from their 2019 PEOPLE cover story

Mariska Hargitay and Peter Hermann. PHOTO: MARISKA HARGITAY/INSTAGRAM

Few stars have spoken so publicly and so beautifully about marriage as Mariska Hargitay and Peter Hermann.

As the stars and parents of three celebrate their 19th wedding anniversary on August 28, 2023, fall in love with some of their statements about each other.

‘A Lightning Bolt’

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“We went [on our first date] to church together, and it was like getting hit with a lightning bolt, and I just started sobbing. Peter thought I was crying because I was so moved by the service. No, it was because I was just overwhelmed, realizing he was the one.”

‘Abundance of Love’

MATT BARON/BEI/SHUTTERSTOCK

“At Mariska’s 40th-birthday party, I saw her with all of the people that she loved around her. It was like seeing someone in the soil she was designed to be planted in, which was just this abundance of joy and this abundance of love. And I thought, ‘I want to be a part of that soil.’ That was the moment.”

‘We Knew’

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“We knew we wanted to be together, wanted a family, wanted to laugh. A lot.”

‘The Right One’

PICTURE PERFECT/SHUTTERSTOCK

“I never knew I’d so often be reminded on this journey that I’d married the right one. I waited and married the right one.”

‘Rapturously in Love’

MATT BARON/BEI/SHUTTERSTOCK

“We can be so deeply, ecstatically, rapturously in love.”

‘It’s Better’

ALEX BERLINER/BEI/SHUTTERSTOCK

“It’s better than I ever thought it could be.”

’15 Years’

AMANDA SCHWAB/STARPIX/SHUTTERSTOCK

“In 15 years we have learned and relearned so many times what being married actually is.”

‘This Much Laughter’

MATT BARON/BEI/SHUTTERSTOCK

“I never thought I would have this much laughter in my life. Not just actual laughter but also the way that Mariska is just the embodiment of laughter — of joy. 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.”

‘We’re Very Fortunate’

JORDAN STRAUSS/INVISION/AP/SHUTTERSTOCK

“We’re very fortunate to have been able to lean into each other, hard, during tough times in our lives, and that we both stood strong.”

‘Steeped in Love’

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“Every decision Mariska makes is steeped in love.”

‘Deep Hope’

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“We had a deep hope and trust that whatever our life together would be, it would be good. That it would take this particular, incredible shape we had no idea.”

‘Never Could Have Dreamed It’

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“This life we created, I never could have dreamed it, and it never could have happened without him specifically.”