Mariška Hargitay and Christopher Meloni met on the set Law and Order: Special Victims Unit 1999 — and decades later, their bond is still going strong.
“I have a million memories from the pilot, especially the immediate chemistry with Chris. We were shooting in the Meatpacking District, and it was really hot and raining, so we all had to wear baseball caps,” Hargitay recalled. TV Insider 2018. “I thought, ‘How lucky is this girl from California to be filming a television series in New York with this fantastic cast and crew!’”
For years, fans wanted their characters, Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler, to get together romantically, but it never happened. Instead, Elliot and Liv form a seemingly unbreakable working relationship and friendship – until he unexpectedly left the unit at the end of season 12 in 2011.
Meloni returned to ALL for the first time in 10 years in the April 2021 episode before the start of his series, Law and order: organized crime. The two actors have been since crossed over each other’s shows — and their chemistry is still second to none.
Scroll down for quotes from Hargitay and Meloni about their friendship: