"Our rules are stricter than most." Inside Freddie Prinze Jnr and Sarah Michelle Gellar's 20-year marriage.

Sarah Michelle Gellar first met Freddie Prinze Jnr on the set of I Know What You Did Last Summer in 1997.

She was 19 and he was 21. The actors played friends in the horror film but didn't start dating until 2000.

"We were friends for two years before we ever went out on a date. She knew what kind of guy I was, what my morals were, what my priorities were, and vice versa. We already knew all the faults about the other person," Freddie told E! News. 

They got to know each other driving to set (because Sarah didn't have a licence) and their first actual date was an accident.

"We were supposed to have dinner with a friend of ours, but she didn't make her plane, so we went anyway," Sarah told Us Weekly years later.

Watch: I Know What You Did Last Summer trailer. Post continues below.

As their relationship kicked up a gear, so did their careers and soon they were the 'It Couple' in Hollywood. They played Fred and Daphne alongside each other in Scooby Doo in the early 2000s, and Sarah starred in the insanely popular Buffy the Vampire Slayer which ran from 1997 to 2003. Freddie went on to star in his own sitcom Freddie in 2005.

The couple got engaged in 2001 – a year after they officially started dating – and married one year after that.

Their wedding was held on a beach in Mexico on September 1, 2002, with 60 guests and a four day itinerary. It rained on the day, so they ended up having to move the ceremony indoors.

In 2007, in honour of their fifth year of marriage, Sarah legally changed her name to Sarah Michelle Prinze, having kept her maiden name for the first five years of their marriage.

"I had no idea what to get [Freddie Prinze Jr.] for our five-year wedding anniversary. I'd been meaning to change my last name to Prinze, but I just hadn't gotten off my lazy a** to get it changed," she told BULLETT magazine.

"It's a lot of paperwork! You have to go to the courthouse and then to the DMV. The truth is, I would have done it the first or second year, but it was my aversion to going to the DMV that stopped me."

They went on to have two children – Charlotte, born in 2009, and Rocky, born in 2012 – who they often share photos of on social media, although they cover their faces for privacy.

The pair have both said that maintaining a sense of normalcy for their kids has always been a core focus while living in the Los Angeles area.

Sarah has even shared in recent interviews that they try to have family dinner as many nights as they can, with no phones allowed at the table.

Talking to E! in 2015, she said they were both very hands on parents: "I mean, I think that that's how you have to raise children today, as you want them to be independent and want them to see in our society that there is no difference between men and women and go from there."

While Sarah has continued to act, Freddie eventually bowed out and turned his attention to cooking and being a stay-at-home dad.

"I wanted to be a stay-at-home dad," he told to GQ Magazine in 2016. "I wanted to cook breakfast and dinner for my kids every day."

Just recently Sarah shared on Instagram that their daughter Charlotte became a teenager recently, and their son Rocky hit double digits. 

"Freddie and I made two incredible kids. But they came into the world three years and one day apart. It's always madness these few days. My daughter told me she wanted a cocktails and caviar spa party for her 13 birthday… so we had to make that happen (well mocktails for the kids and cocktails for the mums)."

Although the party was fabulous, make no mistake - Sarah says she and her husband are quite strict and serious in their parenting style.

Speaking to Yahoo this week, she said that her two kids aren't allowed their own social media accounts.

"Our rules are probably stricter than most. Our kids don't have social media. They're allowed to look sometimes when it's our phones. Sometimes, our kids will be like 'you guys are the strictest household!' But I say, 'yes, but everyone still wants to come here!'"

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To emphasise the permanence of what's posted on social media, Sarah said she told her kids that it's the "equivalent of getting a Paw Patrol tattoo on your face at age five".

"Because at that age, there's nothing better than Paw Patrol. And now you're 10 and 13, and you still have these tattoos on your face and it's not even who you are anymore. That's a very hard concept for young kids to grasp."

She continued: "I believe kids need to know what their limitations are, and they actually thrive in that environment. We're not mean, we're not unnecessarily strict, but we have rules. And the same way I abide by my code of rules, I expect the same from our children."

Back a month ago, Sarah and Freddie celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary.

On the anniversary, Sarah wrote on her Instagram story that Howard Stern was wrong for his comments made over two decades ago, in which he bet Freddie that his marriage wouldn't last 10 years. 

"I think you owe us," she wrote, referring to Stern. 

Despite their relationship being of great interest to the public, Sarah and Freddie have always been fairly private people, with Sarah replying to an interviewer's question last year of "what's the sexiest quality of your husband?" with "nothing I'd say to your camera".

Reflecting on their relationship briefly, Freddie said to US Weekly: "There's no keys. There's no rules. There's nothing like that. I don't believe in false expectations. I just believe in knowing who you are when you start a relationship. And if you don't, then that relationship probably isn't going to work."

He also gave this morsel of advice: "Sarah likes what she likes. I don't trash reality television. I don't trash anything. If she digs it, cool… So, let your girls watch what they want to watch. Let your dudes watch what they want to watch. Don't give them a hard time."

Sarah has also shared her own advice for a lasting marriage over the years, telling Brit + Co in 2017, "Speak up for what you want and be heard and let your feelings out. I mean if you don't communicate to your waiter your not getting your order, if you don't communicate with your partner you're not going to get what you want."

On her socials, Sarah explained that it's the little things that bring her happiness. Because although she has continued to act and work in the entertainment industry, she said she ultimately loves nothing more than spending time at home with her family.

"Take the ten minutes – put the phone down. Have a cup of coffee together," she said to PEOPLE about spending time with those you love. 

"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."

Interestingly, Freddie and Sarah have no future plans to star in movies together again.

And after two decades together, Sarah says it's not just love that is important for their marriage – it's like.

"I think it's great to be in love, but it's also nice to like each other and like spending time together," she told Steve Harvey.

This post was originally published in May 2020 and has been updated on October , 2022.

Feature Image: Instagram @sarahmgellar.