Law And Order Star on Keeping his Marriage Fun and Drama-Free

The male star of a show that’s a cornerstone of the greatest cops-and-crooks franchise in the history of television is a man who does not lack for opportunities to stray. And Chris Meloni appreciates beauty as much as the next guy. But he already has everything he wants.

“Affairs, drama—that’s complicated stuff,” he says. “I’m not a fan of complicated. There’s so much energy expended in personal drama, in having a dramatic life. People get addicted to the drama.”

Domestic drama, for Chris Meloni, means the little plays produced and orchestrated by his daughter. The problem, he says, is that he can’t satisfy his young director: “My choices are always wrong. I have never second-guessed myself [as an actor], but with my daughter, I do.”

Sherman, too, tries to protect herself from the harshness of the world, real and imagined. “The show takes a toll; it’s hard for me to watch it,” she admits. “If Chris wasn’t on it, I don’t know that I’d watch. I turn off a lot of news and don’t read many newspaper articles.”

Aside from the crucial fact that “we just like each other,” Sherman says, the strength of their marriage lies in another rosary: “Space, respect, trust, and freedom.” And, she adds, “We laugh a lot.”