Freddie Prinze Jr. shares key to lasting marriage with Sarah Michelle Gellar

Freddie Prinze Jr. reflected on the secret behind his 23-year marriage to actress Sarah Michelle Gellar. 

During a recent interview with Variety, the 49-year-old actor candidly opened up about how he and Gellar, 48, have kept their relationship strong in Hollywood. 

“Marriage is hard no matter what business you’re in,” the “She’s All That” star said. “What works for us might not work for everyone else.”

He continued, “We work at it. I’m not perfect. She’s not perfect. We piss each other off, but we respect one another. We were friends first.” 

SARAH MICHELLE GELLAR SIZZLES IN SWIMSUIT DURING TROPICAL GETAWAY

“Maybe that’s the secret? It wasn’t just “Oh, she’s hot, he’s hot — let’s hook up,” he added. “But I know people who’ve done it the other way, and their relationships are just as strong as mine.”

Gellar and Prinze Jr. first met while filming the hit 1997 horror movie “I Know What You Did Last Summer.” However, sparks didn’t immediately fly between the two. 

In a 2001 interview with People, Prinze Jr. admitted that the future couple “really didn’t dig each other” at first.

“Then one day I gave her a ride to the gym,” he said. “We talked on the way up, and she was a cool chick.”

The couple met in 1997 and married in 2002.  (Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)

The pair became friends, but their relationship didn’t turn romantic until three years later. During a joint interview with People Now in 2020, Gellar and Prinze Jr. explained how they accidentally went on a first date. 

“We were friends for a very long time. We’d had many dinners before. And we were supposed to go with someone else, and the third person didn’t make it out and we decided to still go,” the “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” alum recalled. 

“We were just two people at dinner catching up,” Gellar continued. “We had a long car ride and a long dinner and things just happened.”

Prinze Jr. told the outlet that he completely lost interest in seeing other women after his first date with Gellar. 

“I didn’t go on dates with other girls, nor did I even want to pursue dates with other girls,” he said. 

The pair share two children.  (Jerod Harris/Getty Images for Knott’s Scary Farm)

The couple announced their engagement in 2001 and tied the knot a year later in Mexico when Gellar was 24 and Prinze was 26.

Prinze Jr. and Gellar, who also co-starred in 2002’s “Scooby-Doo” and the 2004 sequel “Scooby-Doo: Monsters Unleashed,” welcomed their first child, daughter Charlotte Grace, in 2009. In 2012, Gellar gave birth to their son, Rocky James.

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While speaking with Variety, Prinze Jr. explained how he treasured his family life with Gellar and their children. 

“I just love my kids,” he said. “My daughter is away for the summer, and I hate it. I like hanging out with my son — he’s really funny. I love my wife, man. I married her for a reason.”

Prinze Jr. explained how their relationship is built on a foundation of friendship and respect.  (Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Paramount+)

During a December 2024 interview with Digital, Gellar weighed in on the key to an enduring union. She also expressed her view that changes in societal values had led to the decline of long-lasting relationships.

“I think everything takes work in you, whether it’s a friendship or a work relationship or a marriage,” the “Dexter: Original Sin” star said.

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“You have to put the work in,” she continued. “And we live in an extremely disposable society now.”

“Your phone breaks, you don’t fix it. You get a new one,” Gellar added. “And I think that’s a lot of the attitude toward relationships.”

“And I don’t know, maybe separate bathrooms,” the actress joked.

The two appeared in the 2025 version of “I Know What You Did Last Summer.” (Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty Images)

Prinze Jr. is currently starring in the 2025 version of “I Know What You Did Last Summer,” which was released on Friday. The actor reprised his role as Ray Bronson in the legacy sequel to the first movie in the four-part franchise. 

The couple’s former co-star Jennifer Love Hewitt also returned to play the original film’s protagonist, Julie James. Hewitt and Prinze Jr. previously reunited in the 1998 sequel “I Still Know What You Did Last Summer.”

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Gellar, whose character Helen Shivers was killed off in the first film, made a cameo appearance in the new installment during a dream sequence.

“I Know What You Did Last Summer” was released on June 18.