Chris Meloni Floored Mariska Hargitay During Their SVU Audition with These 4 Words
What a hilarious — and awkward — first meeting!
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During her October 21 appearance on the Good Hang with Amy Poehler podcast, longtime Law & Order: Special Victims Unit icon Mariska Hargitay opened up about her decades-long friendship with Christopher Meloni.
Hargitay's conversation with Amy Poehler spanned countless topics, but it was how she explained her bond with Meloni that stood out.
"I have this personality, and Chris and I… both have that sense of humor, that sense of play, sense of risk," she revealed.
The story Hargitay told about meeting Meloni for the first time while auditioning for Law & Order: SVU in 1999 shows just how quickly the bond was forged between the two stars. It all happened the first day they read for the roles of Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler.
RELATED: Chris Meloni Teased Mariska Hargitay on SVU Set About a "Boyfriend" Named "Gerald"
"Chris comes in, and he's wearing no clothes — big surprise — and he has this huge cross [tattoo on his arm], and I'm like, 'Oh my God, you're a Christian!'" she told Poehler. "And he goes like this, 'Yeah, no.'"
Listen to Mariska Hargitay's story beginning at the 29:50 mark here.
Hargitay remembered being slightly confused, so she followed up with, "Then why do you have Jesus Christ on your arm?"
Meloni's pitch-perfect answer? "Because I admire his commitment."
Unsurprisingly, Hargitay was floored by those four words — and a little taken aback.
RELATED: Chris Meloni Is So Sweet Giving Mariska Hargitay's Son a Piggyback Ride on the SVU Set
"And I was like, 'OK, well, there's that,'" Hargitay continued. "I've never met anyone like you, but I like it."
Mariska Hargitay confirms fan theory about Elliot Stabler
During an October 11 sit-down interview with TODAY, Hargitay gave an update on the will-they-won't-they relationship between Benson and Stabler on SVU. When explaining their characters' circumstances in Season 27, she finally confirmed what so many fans have been theorizing: Stabler is in love with Benson.
"Listen, we lost our captain, who was our north star that we both came up under," she explained. "It's a deeply emotional scene, and it's also the beginning of a new era and the end of an old one. It was a very emotional scene, and as we know, those things happen when we lose somebody we love — we renew our connection, right? We plug in that way emotionally. I felt like he just needed to say it."
That's when Hargitay dropped the news with a big smile on her face.
"Besides," she announced. "Stabler's in love with Benson. Hello!"
To find out how Benson and Stabler's dynamic plays out this season, watch SVU Thursdays at 9/8c on NBC and next day on Peacock.
