Mariska Hargitay says meeting longtime co-star and friend Christopher Meloni was ‘life-changing.’
The Law And Order: SVU actors spoke about their deep bond while taking the cover of this week’s issue of People, right ahead of the premiere of the crime procedural’s new spin-off Law And Order: Organized Crime.
Meloni, who played Detective Elliot Stabler opposite Hargitay for 12 years, said he instantly connected with the actress when they first met at the screen test in 1999.
Deep connection: Former Law And Order co-stars and close friends Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni talked about their enduring friendship in a new issue of People out ahead of the premiere of the crime show’s latest spin-off starring Meloni
‘It happened at the screen test,’ Meloni, 59, said.
‘[We] walked into the screen test, me telling her a story, and we get up onstage in front of all the suits, and we’re just so engaged.’
Mariska, who has starred on the series for 22 seasons as Captain Olivia Benson, also sensed there was something special about Christopher from the start.
‘I walked in, saw him, and I went, “That guy. That’s the guy.” It went deep, very fast. We both knew that it was something big,’ the actress, 47, said.
‘I won’t say that I fully understood it, but I knew that meeting him was important and life-changing. My father, my husband, [Law & Order creator] Dick Wolf and Chris are the four pillar men in my life. And that happened early.’
Instantly: Meloni said they clicked from the moment they met at the screen test while Hargitay said she knew meeting Christopher was ‘important and life-changing.’ They’re seen in season one with co-stars Richard Belzer and Dan Florek (left to right) above
Chemistry: ‘I walked in, saw him, and I went, “That guy. That’s the guy.” It went deep, very fast. We both knew that it was something big,’ the actress, 47, said
In fact, Meloni was there to witness Hargitay’s romance with Peter Hermann, 53, after they met while he was playing a guest part on SUV. The pair have been married for 16 years and have three children.
And Mariska says seeing the strength of Christopher’s relatip with wife Sherman Williams, 61, was inspiring. Before she started her own family, Meloni and family took her under their wings, even asking her to be godmother to their daughter Sophia, now 19, in 2001.
‘The birth of his first child and being privy to his amazing, solid relationship with his wife, before I had that for myself — I think that Chris and Sherman played a really big role for me, to see this really stable couple that loved each other,’
There for each other: Mariska is the godmother to Meloni’s eldest child with wife Sherman Williams (above with the actors in 2007) and he was there to watch and support her romance with now-husband Peter Hermann
‘And it made me feel even safer with him, as opposed to: “Great guy — but single.” Or “Great guy — except for his romantic life.” Instead, he’s this man who is as solid as a rock, and who is that rock in his relationship,’ she said. ‘And I got to lean on it when I needed to. It was like family.’
But Mariska and Christopher’s on-screen pairing was not meant to be forever.
In 2011 Meloni left the show after contract negotiations failed. Hargitay went on with the show.
Still, the pair kept ‘connected’ according to Christopher.
And now a decade after Detective Stabler’s departure from Special Victims Unit, Meloni and Hargitay are reuniting for the start of the latest Dick Wolf production.
Working together again was natural, according to Christopher, who said: ‘It was Pavlovian: Ring that bell, and you get right into Stabler and Benson.’
Like no time passed: Working together again was natural, according to Christopher, who said: ‘It was Pavlovian: Ring that bell, and you get right into Stabler and Benson.’ They’re seen chumming it up on set last week above
Hargitay explained: ‘There was so much shorthand between us, which all goes back to the trust we have.’
‘He’s always made me feel like I could just jump off the ledge, the cliff, the bridge, and he would catch me, in so many ways, whether it was comedy or acting or friendship.’
‘It’s simple,’ Meloni ended. ‘We have each other’s back.’
The new era of Law And Order will kick off April 1st when Meloni will make a special appearance on SVU ahead of the premiere of Law & Order: Organized Crime.