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- Mariska Hargitay says she’s ‘grateful’ she waited until 40 to get married (businessinsider.com)
Mariska Hargitay: Why Waiting for Marriage and Motherhood Was Her Best Move
New York, NY – “Law & Order: SVU” icon Mariska Hargitay is opening up about her journey, revealing that she’s grateful she didn’t walk down the aisle until age 40. The Emmy Award-winning actress, now 61, shared her insights during a recent appearance on “Good Hang with Amy Poehler,” explaining that she believes she “couldn’t have handled a marriage earlier.”
“I didn’t get married until I was 40,” Hargitay stated, adding, “I don’t think I’d be married. I was just – I had too much to learn.”
Hargitay met her husband, Peter Hermann, on the set of “Law & Order: SVU” in 2002. They tied the knot in 2004, welcoming a son in 2006, followed by the adoption of a daughter and a second son in 2011.
Beyond marriage, Hargitay also embraced motherhood later in life, a decision she considers a “gift.” Speaking to Harper’s Bazaar, she noted, “I also became a mom later in life, and that was a gift because I think I’m a different kind of mother, being already settled in my career.”
Now, at 61, Hargitay says she’s never felt more at ease in her own skin, declaring, “60 is the new hot.” She expresses genuine happiness for others reaching this milestone, assuring them, “trust me, sweetie, it’s all just beginning.”
Hargitay elaborated on the evolving clarity and confidence she’s experienced through the decades. While her 20s were “super hard” and her 30s felt like “a new beginning,” her 40s saw life truly “kick in” with marriage and children.
By her 50s, she felt she’d hit her stride. However, her 60s have brought a newfound “permission.”
“We learn ‘no,’ but ‘no’ with love,” Hargitay explained. “And we learn, like, oh this is how much time I have left, and I’m so grateful to be alive, and I want to spend my time in the best, most useful, productive, loving, generous – but also generous to myself – way that you go, ‘I’m just so clear.'”
She concluded, “There’s a clarity to 60.”
Hargitay isn’t alone in Hollywood when it comes to embracing aging and unconventional timelines for major life events. Eva Mendes, who had her first child at 40 with Ryan Gosling, shared in May 2024 that delaying motherhood was the right choice for her, humorously admitting, “In my 20s, I shouldn’t have even been around a child.
I was foul-mouthed and smoking.” Similarly, Lauren Sánchez, reflecting in November 2024, expressed her surprise at how much she had to look forward to after turning 50, stating, “I never thought at 54 – I’m going to be 55 – that I’d be an author, that I’d be getting married.
I mean, life is just beginning.”
For Hargitay, this stage of life is her happiest. “I feel stronger than ever,” she said.
“I’ve been working out. I feel at the top of my game in a lot of ways – but also, so much more peaceful, less frantic, and wise.”
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- Mariska Hargitay says she’s ‘grateful’ she waited until 40 to get married (businessinsider.com)