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Sarah Michelle Gellar Says "Putting in the Work" Is the Key to a Successful Marriage

Photo credit: Ron Galella - Getty Images
Photo credit: Ron Galella - Getty Images

From Good Housekeeping

  • Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze Jr. met on the set of I Know What You Did Last Summer and married in 2002.

  • The couple has two children: Charlotte, born in 2009, and Rocky, born in 2012.

  • The couple swears they'd never work together on screen again, but they have plenty of individual projects keeping them busy.


When Freddie Prinze Jr. and Sarah Michelle Gellar first confirmed their relationship in the early 2000s, everyone's teenage dreams came to life. Nearly 18 years of marriage and two kids later, the couple shows no signs of slowing down.

While it might seem like their relationship was inevitable all along, the couple admits they took time to test the waters first. The pair initially met on set of I Know What You Did Last Summer in 1997, but they didn't start dating until 2000. "We were friends for two years before we ever went out on a date. She knew what kind of guy I was, what my morals were, what my priorities were, and vice versa. We already knew all the faults about the other person," Freddie told E! News.

And really, their first date was an accident (or, as some may say, destiny). "We were supposed to have dinner with a friend of ours, and she didn't make her plane, so we went anyway," Sarah recently told Us Weekly. "We'd had tons of dinners before and for some reason, it felt different that night. Organically, it just transitioned into something else."

From that point on, the two were inseparable. "From the first time we kissed, I didn't go on another date — it was just Sarah," Freddie gushed to Us Weekly. Along with their blossoming romance, they were both in the midst of incredible career success: At the time, they were playing Fred and Daphne in the ever-popular Scooby Doo movies, and Sarah was also taking TV by storm as Buffy in Buffy, the Vampire Slayer.

Still, they found time to make things official and wed on September 1, 2002 in an intimate ceremony at a resort in Mexico. The couple knew they still had plenty to learn before having kids of their own — Sarah was 25 when they wed, and Freddie was 26. — so they continued to take on big blockbuster roles before expanding their family. Everything changed, however, when they had their two children a few years later: Charlotte Grace was born in September 2009, and Rocky James was born in September 2012.

Since having kids, the actors have traded off projects to ensure that there's always a parent at home. Even though Freddie has been busy with voiceover work in recent years, he admits that his career has taken the backseat — and he wouldn't have it any other way. "When my daughter was born that was pretty much it for me, and I became a full-time father. It's not a job. It's what I love to do," he told E! News. Sarah, on the other hand, still takes on TV roles, but mainly focuses on Foodstirs, a company she cofounded that sells organic, non-GMO baking kits and mixes.

But it's unlikely that the duo will appear on screen together again, at least in the near future. When asked by Entertainment Tonight if she'll ever star in a movie with her husband, Sarah simply answered: "I doubt it because then who's home with the children?"

After 20 years together, the actors still gush about one another whenever they get the chance. While the love between them is as strong as ever, Sarah says it's more important that they like each other. "We like each other," she admitted to Steve Harvey. "I think it's great to be in love, but it's also nice to like each other and like spending time together."

Despite the tremendous love they have for each other, she's not afraid to admit that their relationship — like everyone else's — takes work. "You have to call and check in and dedicate that time, and most people aren’t willing to put that work in," she told Us Weekly. “I think the truth of any relationship is that, whether you’re a couple, whether you’re friends, whether you’re business partners, is you have to put the work into a relationship.”


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