Law & Order: SVU’s 25th anniversary season is almost here. It’s hard to believe the procedural has been going strong since its 1999 pilot. What is also still going strong since 1999 is Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler. The fan-favorite characters, played by Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni, were partners for the first 12 seasons until Meloni left. When he returned to the franchise for his own spinoff, Organized Crime, it’s like nothing had changed. Bensler's relationship continues to grow, and now Hargitay is looking back at when she met her partner-in-crime.
Ahead of the NBC drama’s big milestone, Hargitay spoke to People for its cover story, where she spoke about her time on SVU. She and Meloni met while they were both auditioning for a then-new Law & Order spinoff centering on sex crimes. Hargitay had actually thought her future co-star was Homefront actor John Slattery. Yet despite the case of mistaken identity, the two immediately hit it off once they actually knew who the other was and didn’t want it to go any other way while doing the screen test:
[Chris] was telling me a story as we walked into the network executive screen test, and he finished his story. It was just like that from the minute one. It was just off and running. I was like, 'If they match me with him, this is my role.' And he said the same thing. He goes, 'I want her.' And then he and I got it. … He was the guy. I just knew he was the guy from reading the script. He was New York, this dark horse, but funny, light. I'm so grateful that those magical stars collided.
Hargitay and Meloni are definitely magic, both together and individually. Law & Order: SVU may not have gotten as far as it has without either of them because they are Benson and Stabler. With their friendship in its 25th year, the duo is still as close as ever, and I still think about their adorable moments at the 2022 Emmys. It says a lot when co-stars aren’t just co-stars and are friends, even when the cameras stop rolling. That is definitely Hargitay and Meloni, and I can’t thank SVU enough.
It's sweet to see how close the two of them are and how much they care for one another. That's on top of the fact that now, with Law & Order: Organized Crime, Bensler fans are being fed once again. However, it’s more the fact that Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni are working together again that makes it so special whenever their characters cross paths. For Hargitay, it seemed like fate:
We met, and the rest is history. It's iconic. [He’s] somebody who's changed my life so much, somebody I love.
With plenty more SVU and Organized Crime on the way as part of the 2024 TV schedule, fans will continue seeing both Benson and Stabler, whether they are together or not. As of now, Hargitay has no plans to step away from SVU any time soon, and there’s nothing indicating that OC will be coming to an end soon either. That means Hargitay and Meloni will continue their journeys in the franchise for the time being, and even once their respective shows come to an end, it’s likely their longtime friendship will continue far beyond the shows.
The Law & Order franchise will be returning in just a few days after a long wait due to the strikes, and the wait will definitely be worth it. With Mariska Hargitay, Christopher Meloni, Sam Waterston and more returning, Thursday nights will once again belong to L&O. Even with the shortened seasons, hopefully there will still be a crossover or two because it’s been too long since we’ve gotten any Bensler scenes.
