<p id=”par-1_59″><em><a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/tag/law-and-order-svu/”>Law & Order SVU</a> </em>turned Chris Meloni into a huge star once his successful <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/why-law-order-svu-star-christopher-meloni-told-mariska-hargitay-joke-during-first-screen-test.html/”>screen test with Mariska Hargitay</a> won him the role of Elliot Stabler. But Meloni was already an experienced actor before he was cast in <em>SVU</em>. And although <em>SVU </em>put him on the map, Meloni got his first real taste of acting on a soap opera.</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-chris-meloni-went-method-to-get-his-first-real-acting-role”>Chris Meloni went method to get his first real acting role</h2>
<figure class=”wp-block-image size-full” id=”emb-1″><img decoding=”async” src=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Actor-Chris-Meloni.webp?strip=all&quality=80″ alt=”Chris Meloni posing at the Golden Globes wearing a suit and bowtie.” class=”wp-image-3789005″><figcaption class=”wp-element-caption”>Chris Meloni | Chris Delmas / Getty Images</figcaption></figure>
<p id=”par-2_47″>Meloni’s journey to superstardom wasn’t too unlike most actors. He wanted to perform at an early age, and received little pushback against his parents for his newfound aspirations. After Meloni realized he could actually make a living off of acting, he dedicated himself to pursuing his passion.</p>
<p id=”par-3_123″>“My parents were surprisingly cool,” Meloni once said in an interview with <a href=”https://travelingboy.com/archive-travel-bev-christopher_meloni.html#:~:text=Was%20there%20a%20pivetal%20point,I%20committed%2C%20that%20was%20it.”>Traveling Boy</a>. “They always encouraged me to make my own decisions. As I got through my teen years it was, ‘What college do you want to go to?’ ‘Your decision.’ ‘What do you want to major in? Your decision.’ ‘I want to be an actor. Your decision.’ When I graduated college, I denied that acting was a viable career. I called a friend on a lark and asked him what he was doing with his life. He told me he was going to New York to study acting. I said, ‘Me too. Where are you going to study?’ ‘The Neighborhood Playhouse.’ I said, ‘Great. What’s the number?’ Once I committed, that was it.”</p>
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<p id=”par-4_84″>His commitment led to a fairly lucrative career that saw him featuring in projects like <em>12 Monkeys</em>, <em>Runaway Bride</em>, and <em>Oz</em>. And although he once felt <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/chris-meloni-wondered-pigeonholed-elliot-stabler-law-order-svu.html/”>pigeonholed as Elliot Stabler</a>, his long career in <em>SVU </em>opened the door for even more creative opportunities. But before his acting career took off, Meloni revealed that his first role was a soap opera. A passionate Meloni went deep into method acting to secure his role back then, which he joked came at the expense of his co-star.</p>
<p id=”par-5_48″>“My first screen test was for a soap opera. A seduction scene. Fresh out of acting lessons, I was all method-y. I went sleazy. Grabbing the actress, I French-kissed her. Staring daggers at me, she said, ‘You mother f***er,’” Meloni once recalled in an interview with <a href=”https://pagesix.com/2015/08/24/christopher-meloni-was-a-bouncer-and-a-bartender/”>Page Six</a>.</p>
<p id=”par-6_29″>In a resurfaced interview with <a href=”https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/questions-withchristopher-meloni-10134/”>Backstage</a>, Meloni might’ve mentioned the soap opera he starred in. Although even he was uncertain if the show in question was the right one.</p>
<p id=”par-7_30″>“I think it was <em>As the World Turns</em>. I can’t even remember, because there aren’t any soap operas left. There was no defined moment; it was backdoor buy-in,” he said.</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-what-chris-meloni-wished-he-knew-earlier-about-becoming-an-actor”>What Chris Meloni wished he knew earlier about becoming an actor</h2>
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Mariska Hargitay Didn’t Like Chris Meloni Saying She Had ‘Great Energy’ </a>
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<p id=”par-8_59″>Meloni credited his naivete in his younger years for helping him realize his dream career. However, there were certain lessons he wished he’d learned back then that might’ve made his journey to stardom a bit smoother. Two things the <em>Organized Crime </em>star wished he’d known more about were the business side of the industry and how to audition better.</p>
<p id=”par-9_61″>“It’s not enough to be an actor, learn the craft, emote your heart out. It’s about understanding the biz; try to catch on to where the business is at so you know where it’s going. Then I would find a great audition teacher. I left a lot of potential on the table simply because I’m not a good auditioner,” Meloni said.</p>
<p id=”par-10_21″>Learning how to audition properly earlier might’ve spared Meloni some of the most embarrassing <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/law-order-star-christopher-meloni-explains-how-he-dealt-with-early-career-rejection.html/”>rejections he experienced</a> when testing for roles.</p>
<p id=”par-11_152″>“Almost all of the ones for jobs wound up with this cold, awkward silence in the room and me standing there with my pores open from sweat,” Meloni said about his auditions. “The unspoken word is, ‘Who let the impostor in the room?’ I’ll just slink out of there and I’ll go back to my untalented hole. Once, I got a call from an agent or his assistant—he wanted to meet with me. He keeps me waiting for an hour. As desperate as I had been, I’m now pissed off. I walk into his office and he says, ‘Why are you here?’ and I say, ‘You called me, man!’ He asks if I’d prepared anything. I hadn’t, so I did my go-to monologue—it was about baseball. It’s horrible. And I sit down and he says, ‘How do you think that went?’ He let me know my grade before I left the room.”</p>