Mariska Hargitay’s Husband Surprised Her with Latte Art for a Big SVU Milestone
With nearly three decades on TV as Olivia Benson, Mariska Hargitay has marked a long list of impressive milestones and achievements on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. And with each one, her husband Peter Hermann has surprised her with an small, meaningful celebration.
In honor of SVU’s 500th episode in 2021, for example, Hermann painted “500” on their living room wall. “It’s so muscular, powerful and strong,” Hargitay told Variety of her supportive husband’s romantic gesture. “It’s beautiful.”
And when SVU aired another special episode a few years prior, Hermann put on his barista cap and busted out his stencils to surprise his wife once again.
Mariska Hargitay’s husband Peter Hermann got artsy to celebrate SVU’s 400th episode
In February 2017, the cast of SVU appeared on TODAY to celebrate the NBC crime drama’s 400th episode, Season 18’s “Motherly Love,” which is also one of the many episodes Hargitay directed.
“What a milestone!” Al Roker told the cast before asking Hargitay if she ever imagined that she’d be the star of one of the longest-running television shows of all time.
“You know Al, when I started the show in 1846, I remember it like it was yesterday,” Hargitay joked before reflecting on the show’s incredible longevity and shared how her husband celebrated her major career milestone.
“You just can’t imagine!” Hargitay said. “You wake up on a day like today, my husband made me coffee — he put the 400 in my coffee! It was so sweet, he used stencils and everything.”
“You wake up on these days and you just have to pinch yourself. You just can’t believe it,” Hargitay continued. “I am just profoundly grateful … It’s a gift to be working on a team where everyone is deeply invested.”
Mariska Hargitay’s husband Peter Hermann is her biggest “cheerleader”
Whether he’s holding her purse on the set of SVU or surprising with her with a special coffee, Hermann is truly his wife’s biggest supporter. Hargitay said as much during a June 2025 interview on Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy podcast.
“I think my family is my biggest place of success in my life. It’s everything that I wanted. My husband is everything that I wanted,” Hargitay shared. “My husband is my home, my cheerleader, [he] makes me laugh. He can fix anything, and he’s the best dad.”
“I love my kids so much and I just love our family,” she continued. “I love our family.”
Hargitay and Hermann first met on the set of SVU while filming a Season 3 episode and love has been in the air for these two ever since. Today, the couple, who tied the knot in 2004, are raising their three children and looked so in love as they celebrated over two decades of marriage together.
During a January 2024 appearance on TODAY, Hargitay reflected on their long marriage and gushed about how it’s only getting better.
“I’m at a point in my life where it just keeps getting better with him. And marriage is not always like this, or any relationship that is deep and matters,” Hargitay told Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager, adding, “I feel [assured] in our love.”