Mariska Hargitay Revealed Why She Calls Her Kids ‘Losers’
Nov 04, 2025 by apost team
On Oct. 21, 2025, Mariska Hargitay made headlines after appearing on an episode of the “Good Hang with Amy Poehler” podcast, where she cheerfully confessed that she sometimes calls her kids “losers.” But beneath the playful jab lies a philosophy about the healing power of humor and how laughter keeps her grounded both as a mother and a wife.
Hargitay revealed that comedy has always been her secret weapon for navigating life’s chaos, saying she finds ways to weave laughter into nearly every situation. The Emmy-winning actress credited her long-lasting marriage to actor Peter Hermann for thriving on that same foundation of humor.
The couple, who met on the set of “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” and married in 2004, share three children: August, 19, Amaya, 14, and Andrew, 13. Hargitay gave birth to August in 2006 at the age of 42, later welcoming Amaya and Andrew through adoption within just six months of each other.
In a January 2024 interview with PEOPLE, Hargitay reflected on how motherhood evolved with time, admitting, “I’m so grateful that I’m an older mom.”
“I don’t know if I could have handled it when I was younger,” she explained, adding, “When I was younger, I wasn’t as present, but as I’ve gotten older, I’ve started to accept and appreciate.”
Despite the demands of raising three children, Hargitay insisted she wouldn’t change a thing.
“Our family is so perfect, or at least perfect for me.”
As she told PEOPLE in March 2018, “Together we’re just this whole, happy, joyful, chaotic, crazy unit. I’ve never known anything that was more right.”
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Mariska Hargitay (2025), (Imago/Zuma Press Wire).
On the “Good Hang” podcast, Hargitay didn’t shy away from showing her playful side, revealing that humor often guides her when her kids mess up. With a laugh, she told host Poehler:
“I would say humor and comedy have saved my life.”
Then came the line that made listeners grin:
“When my kids do bad things, I call them losers, and then they say, ‘Oh, it’s not that bad if she’s calling us a loser.’ And we laugh through it.”
For Hargitay, those moments are lessons in resilience and love wrapped in laughter. That same lighthearted yet meaningful spirit carried over into one of the biggest milestones of her career so far. In May 2025, Hargitay stepped behind the camera for her feature film directorial debut with the documentary “My Mom Jayne,” a deeply personal project about her late mother’s legacy.
The “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” icon brought her husband, Hermann, and their three children along for the special occasion as they walked the red carpet together at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival. Hargitay turned heads in a black and bright pink sequinned gown, a heartfelt nod to her mother’s favorite color, hot pink.
Her family coordinated beautifully, with Hermann and their sons in matching black suits and bow ties, while their daughter, Amaya, mirrored her mom’s elegance in a sleek black dress. It was a full-circle moment: a celebration of love, laughter, and legacy shared by the people who inspire her most.
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Laughter can sometimes be the secret to holding a family together. Do you, like Mariska Hargitay, use humor to get through life’s challenging moments? Let us know, and then pass this on to fans of the actress!