The Ups And Downs Of Sarah Michelle Gellar & Freddie Prinze Jr.'s Marriage

When it comes to celebrity relationship goals, Freddie Prinze Jr. and Sarah Michelle Gellar are surely up there with the likes of Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell, Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, and Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick. The Y2K pin-ups first met on the set of the horror movie "I Know What You Did Last Summer" in 1997, and although they took three years to realize they were made for each other, they've been together ever since. And perhaps even more impressively, with barely a whiff of marital strife, either.

They've still had to work hard at keeping the spark going, as well as deal with everything from shock-jock naysayers to anniversary snubs along the way. But for the most part, Prinze Jr. and Gellar's bond is one that most power couples aspire to. Here's a look at the many ups and the few downs of their decade-spanning marriage.

Two years after they first started dating, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" star Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze Jr. said "I do" at an intimate clifftop ceremony in Mexico, with the bride sporting a Vera Wang dress and the groom a custom-made linen suit. And they were joined in holy matrimony by a man who only a year earlier had directed "The Wedding Planner."

Yes, Adam Shankman officiated the ceremony, as he reminded everyone 24 years later. "Yep! I married these two and they're still together," he quipped on an Instagram post celebrating their wedding anniversary. "Yep. It's me. It's all me. Every little bit of it. And by that I mean they're still together because they're awesome. But I DID marry them!" Other famous names who attended the happy day included "That '70s Show" star Wilmer Valderrama, "The West Wing" actor Dule Hill, and "Charmed" favorite, the late Shannen Doherty.

The consensus appeared to be that the newlyweds were undoubtedly in it for the long haul. "They just make you smile when you see them," Prinze Jr.'s mother Kathy told CNN at the time. "They're on the same channel," friend and platinum wedding band designer Cathy Waterman gushed. "This is one in which you go, 'This is going to last.'"

In 2009, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze Jr. became parents for the first time with the birth of their daughter, Charlotte Grace Prinze. Although they welcomed their arrival at the hospital, Gellar inconveniently first went into labor in the gym. "I said to my trainer, 'I'm just cranky today,'" Gellar recalled to Health (via CNN). "She was like, 'Maybe it's because you're going to give birth!' And I was like, 'Nah, not yet.' It turned out I was in labor, I didn't realize." 

In an interview with People, they both explained why they'd waited seven years into their marriage to start a family. "Becoming a parent is the most selfless act, and you need to be at a point in your life where you can give up anything and everything for a child," Gellar remarked. "I don't know if you know how to do that when you're in your 20s." Prinze Jr. concurred, admitting that he was glad that they didn't make the major life change before they were ready: "You have so much more patience in your 30s, and I feel like I appreciate this so much more."

Three years after becoming first-time parents, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze Jr. expanded their family with the arrival of their son, Rocky James Prinze. In 2019, the former paid tribute to their second child on Instagram with a carousel of baby photos accompanied by a gushing caption.

"And just when I thought it wasn't possible to love another human the way I loved my daughter, seven years ago today, my son was born, and I learned that was not the case," Gellar wrote. "Rocky on the day you were born, I swear my heart tripled in size. Your laugh is the only medicine I will ever need, and your excitement for life is my motivation."

Three years later, the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" star revealed that she and her husband run a tight ship at home and refuse to allow Charlotte and Rocky to access social media unsupervised. "Sometimes, our kids will be like 'you guys are the strictest household!," she revealed to Yahoo! Life. "But I say, 'Yes, but everyone still wants to come here!'" Here's a further look at Gellar's parenting style.

In something of a rarity for such an enduring Hollywood relationship, there have never been credible rumors of infidelity in Freddie Prinze Jr. and Sarah Michelle Gellar's marriage. However, in 2017, the latter revealed that she did nearly lose her husband to an outside force: a video game.

Prinze Jr. became so addicted to "World of Warcraft" that Gellar felt compelled to sign up for a support group called Widows of Warcraft. "You can meet other people who have dealt with this same issue and have suggestions on how to communicate [about] the video game," she told Harry Connick Jr. (via HuffPost) on his eponymous chat show before suggesting another alternative. "Have kids, cause there's just no time."

After the host admitted that he, too, had driven his wife crazy with his constant need to play "Call of Duty," Gellar replied (via TODAY), "See, she should have called me." She also advised any gaming obsessives, including Prinze Jr., to get a dedicated credit card for their hobby, adding, "So I don't have to see how much video games cost."

Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze Jr. appear to be living proof that opposites attract. Indeed, in a 2019 interview with People, the latter revealed that it's their differences, rather than their similarities, that have kept their marriage so strong.

"Sarah and I are so night and day, and it's why we've always been a good couple and had a good relationship, because everything I don't enjoy she's really good at, and everything she really doesn't enjoy I'm really good at," Prinze Jr. said, before citing his love of cooking as an example.

The "She's All That" star, who three years earlier had published a cookbook, "Back to the Kitchen: 75 Delicious, Real Recipes (& True Stories) from a Food-Obsessed Actor," clarified that his wife still contributes to the dinner table. Prinze Jr. admitted that after taking a part-time job making desserts for a local buffet restaurant in high school and subsequently being scared off the process for life, he leaves the sweet treats to Gellar. The latter has also gotten into the culinary game as the founder of the child-friendly baking firm FoodStirs.

Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze Jr. had largely kept quiet about the three-year period they were friends before lovers. But in 2020, the latter decided to open up to Us Weekly about why things didn't instantly turn romantic. It turns out sustenance played a key part.

"By the end of the movie, I just wanted to be friends with her because I thought she was too skinny and I wanted to cook for her," Prinze Jr. said about their time spent shooting "I Know What You Did Last Summer. "Because that's what my family does." He then revealed that Gellar would frequently attend a weekly barbecue he'd stage with his cousins, where their friendship blossomed.

Prinze Jr. also explained how Gellar's inability to drive helped them grow closer, as he would often give her a ride to the movie's location in North Carolina. We just would talk about life and stuff like that, and we had completely different philosophies on just about everything. 'Cause she was a born and raised New Yorker and I was a born and raised L.A. kid." Here's the truth about their first date.

Freddie Prinze Jr. and Sarah Michelle Gellar have shared the screen both before and after getting married, appearing together in the 1997 slasher "I Know What You Did Last Summer," the 2002 live-action adaptation "Scooby Doo" and its 2004 sequel, "Monsters Unleashed," and the 2006 animation "Happily N'ever After." But in 2024, the former revealed that they wouldn't be mixing their personal and professional lives ever again.

"Neither one of us I felt thought it would be very interesting for us to be in a job together," Prinze Jr. told Us Weekly about their mutual opinion on the matter. "I don't think it's that exciting to watch two people struggle to be together when, you know, they're going home together at the end of the night. Odds are, if we were in a movie together it would be a romantic comedy, based on my track record and hers. So yeah, we never thought that was something that we would be that interested in because that's our life."

The pair did end up breaking their self-imposed rule just a year later when they both appeared in the long-awaited fourth chapter of the "I Know What You Did Last Summer" franchise. However, while Prinze Jr. regularly showed up as bar owner Ray Bronson, Gellar — whose character, Helen Shivers, died in the original — only appears in a dream sequence.

In 2021, Sarah Michelle Gellar made a rare romantic faux pas when she forgot their wedding anniversary. After the press and pals reminded her that it had been exactly 19 years since she walked down the aisle with Freddie Prinze Jr., the "Cruel Intentions" star responded on Instagram, "I honestly thought it was tomorrow."

Gellar tried to make up for her forgetfulness by writing, "Happy anniversary today, tomorrow, and any day after that I think might be our anniversary in the future." Prinze Jr. obviously saw the funny side, though, responding, "I'm sticking with tomorrow. I don't care what they said." 

Luckily, Gellar has been far more punctual with her online public displays of affection since. In 2026, for example, she celebrated their 24th wedding anniversary with a series of throwback Instagram snaps captioned, "Can you imagine telling these kids where they would be 24 years later (well tech 26... but 24 married) [sic]?"

Sarah Michelle Gellar certainly didn't forget her and Freddie Prinze Jr.'s 20th wedding anniversary. Nor did she forget the inflammatory comments Howard Stern had made about their relationship before they walked down the aisle.

Indeed, back in 2001, the shock jock advised guest Prinze Jr., who'd been seeing Gellar for one year at that time, not to pop the question: "You think you're gonna know how you feel at 35," he said (via Independent). "You're gonna be a completely different man." In response, the "Down to You" star acknowledged that his then-girlfriend would also be a "completely different woman," something which he was more than okay with, too.

Stern even made a bet that in 10 years they'd no longer be together. "You're gonna hunt me down and go, 'Howard, I owe you money,'" he claimed. Of course, Gellar had the last laugh, sharing screenshots of the conversation on a 2022 Instagram Story she tagged the naysayer in. "What do you think?!?" she asked in the caption. "I think you owe us."

Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze Jr. have offered numerous reasons over the years for why their marriage has lasted longer than most Hollywood couples. In 2020, for example, the former claimed that making the effort to spend quality time with each other has played a significant role.

She even offered advice to others who may be wondering how they achieve this with such busy lives. "Take the 10 minutes — put the phone down," Gellar told People. "Have a cup of coffee together. Walk the dog at the end of the night. Read a story with your kids. Make the most of the time that you have. We are all pulled in so many directions, so make sure that, whichever one you are focusing on, you're present."

The couple had made a similar point in a chat with People earlier that year, revealing that they don't allow phones at the dinner table to avoid any distractions from their shared time. "We appreciate the perspective from the outside, but when you're in a relationship, you just try to be in the moment," Prinze Jr. shared before Gellar stated the importance of eye contact and conversation.

It might look as though Freddie Prinze Jr. and Sarah Michelle Gellar have the kind of marriage where a cross word is never uttered. But in an interview with Variety, the former admitted that they don't always see eye to eye.

"Marriage is hard no matter what business you're in," Prinze Jr. explained after being asked how his relationship with "The Grudge" star has endured for so long. "What works for us might not work for everyone else. We work at it. I'm not perfect. She's not perfect. We p*** each other off, but we respect one another."

While promoting "Ready or Not 2: Here I Come," Gellar appeared to give one example of how they have the capacity to wind each other up. Discussing the subject of technology with co-star Samara Weaving, she told People, "I always call Freddie a Luddite and he hates when I say that, but it's actually the definition. If he comes near my stuff, it breaks." Here's a look at other strange things about Geller and Prinze Jr.'s marriage.

Despite being together for more than 25 years, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze Jr. are rarely pictured hitting the red carpet or the latest glitzy bash together. The pair take great pride in keeping their private life private, as the latter explained on the podcast "Oldish."

"I don't know how deliberate (other celebrities) are in trying to avoid that BS, other people," Prinze Jr. said (via FN) about their limited tabloid presence. "I know how easy it's been for us because I don't go anywhere. I don't go to parties. People don't see Sarah and I out and about at the popular places." Not that the couple is entirely averse to the odd night out. "We have our restaurants that we like, and they're not super trendy in places where, you know, paparazzi hang out," he added. "So we're good at avoiding it." 

The "Boys and Girls" actor — who decided against publicly calling out any of his peers who do provide the gossip pages with ammunition — went on to state that he'd only ever been to a handful of clubs in his entire life and that Gellar had got most of her partying days out of the way before she turned 21. Here's a look at other celebs whose marriages are refreshingly normal.

Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze Jr. may make staying together for more than a quarter of a century under the glare of the Hollywood spotlight look effortless. But in a 2024 interview with Fox News Digital, the "Dexter: Original Sin" star acknowledged that maintaining a marriage can be tough.

"I think everything takes work in you, whether it's a friendship or a work relationship or a marriage," Gellar said. "You have to put the work in." The actor also believes that she and Prinze Jr. don't subscribe to the modern way of thinking. "We live in an extremely disposable society now. Your phone breaks, you don't fix it. You get a new one. I think that's a lot of the attitude toward relationships."

"And I don't know, maybe separate bathrooms," Gellar quipped. Of course, this wasn't the first, or indeed the last time, that the New Yorker had discussed the importance of being able to use the toilet in peace.

Forget communication, respect, or the ability to make each other laugh. The ultimate key to Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze Jr.'s long-lasting relationship, according to the former, anyway, appears to be separate bathrooms.

Indeed, the former "All My Children" star has repeatedly vouched for having separate places to pee, including on Harry Connick Jr.'s chat show, "Today With Jenna and Friends," and the red carpet for the premiere of Netflix's "Star Search," where fellow judge Chrissy Teigen concurred. "It is little things like that," John Legend's other half said (via E! News). "You got to keep the sexy and preserve the sexy in a little bit of ways."

In an interview with People, Gellar explained that the practice has ultimately prevented her and her fellow actor husband from getting into numerous petty squabbles. She also clarified that it doesn't have to be a double ensuite setup. "You don't have to be so fancy that there's two bathrooms in your bedroom! There just has to be another bathroom available." Here's a look at other celeb couples who don't share a bathroom and have zero regrets.