‘Law & Order: SVU’: Mariska Hargitay & Christopher Meloni Recall First Meeting (VIDEO)
If you love seeing Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni together onscreen as former partners Captain Olivia Benson and Detective Elliot Stabler on Law & Order: SVU and Organized Crime, chances are you’re going to love to see the actors on Late Night With Seth Meyers on March 28.
The two stopped by for a joint interview. “You say our names backstage to announce us, the crowd’s reaction, she turns to me, she goes, ‘we still got it,'” Meloni remarked as they sat down. Seth Meyers noted that he was the one to hear it from the fans when they had to reschedule their appearance. “Our fans are crazy, crazy loyal, and they’re so nuts. I don’t think other people have fans like we do,” Hargitay acknowledged. “The SVU fans, they’re hardcore.”
Meyers took them back to the early days of SVU. Meloni recalled his and his mother’s reactions to the original title, Sex Crimes, and he and Hargitay reenacted their first meeting… during which she’d expected to see John Slattery.
“You never think after being a struggling actor for so long that any show is going to go, but this was a unique audition for us because when we met, there was a certain chemistry, so I actually wasn’t nervous at the audition, but you never think what happened would happen,” Hargitay said. Watch the video below for more.
In the second segment of their interview, Hargitay admitted that she hadn’t realized a recent scene between their two characters “came out so sexy.” And when it comes to their two shows crossing over, “it really is special and magical, and it’s a gift,” Meloni shared. Watch the video below to hear about him being anointed “Zaddy” and more.
When Law & Order: SVU premiered in 1999, Benson and Stabler were partners. Then, after Season 12, Meloni left the NBC drama, but stepped back into his character’s shoes for his own spinoff, Law & Order: Organized Crime in 2021. The two shows have frequently crossed over since.
Law & Order: SVU, Thursdays, 9/8c, NBC
Law & Order: Organized Crime, Thursdays, 10/9c, NBC
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit where to stream
