Mariska Hargitay reflects on son graduating from high school: Get to know her kids

When Mariska Hargitay received the Anniversary Tribute honor at the inaugural Gotham TV Awards on June 4, the longtime “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” star looked back on her 25 years at the helm of the hit TV procedural but also took the time to reflect on her family.

“My husband Peter [Hermann] and I are in the process of watching our oldest son graduate from high school, and we’ve been shuffling around our house for the last few months just muttering, ‘Where does the time go? Where does the time go? What happened?'” Hargitay said before choking back tears.

Mariska Hargitay attends The Inaugural Gotham TV Awards at Cipriani 25 Broadway, June 4, 2024, in New York.
Jamie Mccarthy/Getty Images for The Gotham Film

Peter Hermann

Hargitay and Hermann married back in 2004. The two actors first met on the set of “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” with Hargitay starring as Detective Olivia Benson and Hermann guest-starring as defense attorney Trevor Langan.

Mariska Hargitay attends the SAG-AFTRA Foundation Conversations Presents Career Retrospective With Mariska Hargitay at AMC The Grove 14, May 17, 2024, in Los Angeles.
Araya Doheny/Getty Images

Hargitay told People in a 2019 interview that for her, it was “love at first sight” when she met and quickly connected with Hermann. They attended a church service together shortly afterward.

“I just started sobbing. Peter thought I was crying because I was so moved by the service,” Hargitay recalled of her overwhelming feelings at the time. “No, it was because I was just overwhelmed, realizing he was the one.”

Peter Hermann and Mariska Hargitay attend The Inaugural Gotham TV Awards at Cipriani 25 Broadway, June 4, 2024, in New York.
Mike Coppola/Getty Images for The Gotham Film

The couple live in New York with their three children. Get to know their family below.

Peter Hermann and Mariska Hargitay pose with their children, August Miklos Friedrich Hermann, Andrew Nicolas Hargitay Hermann and Amaya Josephine Hermann at the 2023 Stuttering Association For The You…

Jamie Mccarthy/Getty Images

August Hermann

August, Hargitay’s oldest son with Hermann, was born June 28, 2006. He is graduating from high school this year and heading off to college.

“It’s so wonderful. I tell everybody that my life began when I had my children,” Hargitay said of motherhood in a May 2024 interview on “Live with Kelly and Mark.”

Hargitay also opened up in the interview about her close bond with August, joking that “wherever he goes to college, I am buying an apartment.”

“That is the joke,” she continued. “I say to him every time, like if he goes on a date, I go, ‘So, what time should I meet you guys?'”