She worked with a teacher from the center to better understand her past relationships, warts and everything. Afterwards, “I decided that unless it was a relationship with a higher purpose and benefits to the world, I didn’t want to participate in it,” said Ms. Saraf, who grew up in Israel and Switzerland before moving to this country. country in 2004.
By the time she met Mr. Serpico, who spent his formative years in Malvern, Pennsylvania, he also had a soft spot for casual romance. Also a parent – his son, Calvin, is 25 and his daughter, Stella, is 18 – his previous 17-year marriage ended in divorce in 2014. Sporadic dating attempts that followed were unsuccessful. “Actually, I wanted to move to a cabin in the woods with my dogs,” Mr. Serpico said. “Kadia changed all that for me.”
Their first date, in late August 2021, took place about a month after they met on the “SVU” set. Mr. Serpico, then living in Beacon, NY, was in Manhattan to record the show and took a subway from the hotel where he was staying while filming to meet Ms. Saraf at the Latin restaurant Matiz, in Forest Hills. . There he became even more enthralled by the couple’s discussion about their children, past and career.
“I was fascinated and inspired by her,” said Mr. serpico. “I remember later telling my son, ‘This woman is out of my reach.'”
It wasn’t the first time he struggled with feelings of inadequacy. Early in his career, Mr. Serpico was led to believe that acting professionally could also be something out of his class. In 1984, he was expelled from the Boston University acting program. “They said I was emotionally unavailable, which is funny because I’m kind of an emotional actor,” he said.