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Sarah Michelle Gellar’s Secret to Her Marriage With Freddie Prinze Jr.: ‘It Takes Work’ (Exclusive)

Not sugarcoating it. Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze Jr. are among Hollywood’s most beloved couples, but the actress admitted that their relationship — like any — takes effort to maintain.

Related: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddie Prinze Jr.’s Sweetest Moments Through the Years

“I think the truth of any relationship is that, whether you’re a couple, whether you’re friends, whether you’re business partners, is you have to put the work into a relationship,” Gellar, 42, told Us Weekly exclusively on Tuesday, September 24. “We live in a very disposable society and people don’t want to have to work. They want immediate reactions, they want immediate responses. It takes work.”

The Buffy the Vampire Slayer alum continued, “It takes work to have a good friendship. You have to call and check in and dedicate that time, and most people aren’t willing to put that work in. So to have a successful relationship, whether it’s marriage, whether it’s friendship, whether it’s business, you have to put the time, if you want to see the results.”

Sarah Michelle Gellar’s Secret to Freddie Prinze Jr. Marriage Us Interview
Sarah Michelle Gellar

She also added that “to keep a relationship, you have to have stuff that’s private and things that are your own and between the two of you.”

Related: Celebrity Couples Who Prove That Love Isn’t Dead

Gellar first met Prinze Jr., 43, while costarring in 1997’s I Know What You Did Last Summer. However, they wouldn’t begin their romance until three years later. The pair got engaged in April 2001 and said “I do” in Mexico in September 2002.

Before their wedding, the couple appeared as Daphne Blake and Fred Jones in the live-action Scooby-Doo film in June 2002. They reprised their roles in the 2004 sequel, Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed.

Sarah Michelle Gellar’s Secret to Freddie Prinze Jr. Marriage
Freddie Prinze Jr and Sarah Michelle Gellar attend the Uk Premiere of ‘Hairspray’ at the Odeon Westend, Leicester Square on July 5, 2007. Alan Davidson/Shutterstock

Gellar and Prinze Jr. are the parents of daughter Charlotte, 10, and son Rocky, 7.

In addition to maintaining a strong marriage while balancing parenthood, Gellar has sustained a career in the entertainment industry. She’s starred in films from Cruel Intentions to The Grudge, but she most recently appeared on The Big Bang Theory’s 12th and final season.

Related: Celebrity Couples and How They First Met

Gellar is partnering with Colgate Optic White to give fans a glimpse at how she fosters healthy habits that benefit her work life, including keeping up her bright smile.

Sarah Michelle Gellar’s Secret to Freddie Prinze Jr. Marriage Colgate Optic White
Sarah Michelle Gellar Courtesy of Colgate

“Brushing teeth for me comes really naturally,” she explained to Us. “I work in a business where your smile is everything, right? It’s what lets people in, it’s what makes them feel comfortable and it’s also really big. I always say when you’re on a television, when you’re on a movie screen, I mean, you see right into that mouth, and it’s so important to have that beautiful smile.”

With reporting by Marc Lupo

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