<p id=”par-1_69″><em><a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/tag/law-and-order-svu/”>Law & Order SVU</a></em> once <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/christopher-meloni-reveals-exactly-why-left-law-order-svu.html/”>parted ways with Chris Meloni</a> after he spent a decade and more playing Elliot Stabler. It would also be the last time audiences saw Meloni and his co-star Mariska Hargitay share a scene together for a long time. But it wouldn’t be the last time Meloni and Hargitay saw themselves. Their relationship was too valuable to throw away even if they weren’t working together.</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-what-made-chris-meloni-s-relationship-with-mariska-hargitay-so-easy”>What made Chris Meloni’s relationship with Mariska Hargitay so easy</h2>
<figure class=”wp-block-image size-full” id=”emb-1″><img decoding=”async” src=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Mariska-Hargitay-Chris-Meloni.webp?strip=all&quality=80″ alt=”Mariska Hargitay and Chris Meloni speaking to each other at the Annual White House Correspondent’s Dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel,” class=”wp-image-3791314″><figcaption class=”wp-element-caption”>Mariska Hargitay and Chris Meloni | Evan Agostini/Getty Images</figcaption></figure>
<p id=”par-2_41″>Hargitay and Meloni became good friends perhaps even faster than they became co-stars. So much so that many <em>SVU </em>fans wondered if they might’ve <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/mariska-hargitay-reacted-called-chris-melonis-second-wife.html/”>been dating in real life</a>. Hargitay felt their friendship started the day they auditioned together for <em>SVU</em>.</p>
<p id=”par-3_42″>“In the room, when he walked in, I sort of sized him up, and I said, ‘That’s the guy.’ … It was so obvious to me that that was the guy, and apparently, he felt the same way,” she once told <a href=”https://www.today.com/popculture/tv/mariska-hargitay-sunday-sitdown-willie-geist-rcna186638″>Today</a>.</p>
<p id=”par-4_21″>From there, no one could deny the pair’s chemistry, which they even maintained when they were at odds with each other.</p>
<p id=”par-5_36″>“We were like, ‘I know we have good chemistry.’ Even at times when we were, like, fighting or had a difference of opinion, or things getting tense, we still had it,” Hargitay said. “It’s chemistry, right?”</p>
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<iframe title=”Mariska Hargitay & Christopher Meloni Re-create the Moment They First Met” width=”925″ height=”520″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/U6q1M25xhMc?feature=oembed” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share” referrerpolicy=”strict-origin-when-cross-origin” allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<p id=”par-6_32″> “And, we were just always very important people in each other’s lives, and we knew it. We knew it from minute one,” she added. “And we’re still very close, very close.”</p>
<p id=”par-7_57″>The two proved how close they were after Meloni left the series. They kept in touch even after Hargitay became the lead of <em>SVU</em>. According to <a href=”https://www.eonline.com/news/1164703/mariska-hargitay-and-christopher-melonis-off-screen-friendship-proves-theyre-partners-for-life”>E! News</a>, they even spent holidays like Thanksgiving and Valentine’s Day together while Meloni was away from the show. This was a testament to their offscreen relationship, which Meloni found priceless.</p>
<p id=”par-8_81″>“She was always ready for anything new…There was always an unspoken shorthand to what we were doing. That makes it just so much easier, and off camera as well,” Meloni once told <em>Inside the Actors Studio </em>(via <a href=”https://www.eonline.com/news/751286/why-didn-t-benson-and-stabler-ever-get-together-on-law-order-svu-christopher-meloni-explains”>E! News</a>). “There’s a lot to be said for that when you’re working with someone for 16 hours a day, you better get along when the cameras aren’t rolling as well as when it is. That was priceless, I think for both of us.”</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-chris-meloni-once-shared-what-would-ve-been-the-death-knell-of-their-law-amp-order-svu-relationship”>Chris Meloni once shared what would’ve been the death knell of their ‘Law & Order SVU’ relationship</h2>
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<iframe title=”Law & Order: SVU | 8 Times Olivia Benson & Elliot Stabler Were Perfect Partners” width=”925″ height=”520″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/5JJq-7GOrzU?feature=oembed” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share” referrerpolicy=”strict-origin-when-cross-origin” allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<div class=”related-article related-article–simple”>
<span class=”related-article-flag”>Related</span>
<p class=”related-article__title”>
<a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/chris-meloni-wondered-pigeonholed-elliot-stabler-law-order-svu.html/”>
Chris Meloni Wondered if He Was Pigeonholed as Elliot Stabler in ‘Law & Order SVU’ </a>
</p>
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<p id=”par-9_63″>Since not even leaving could ruin his friendship with Hargitay, it took little time for Meloni to reignite his onscreen chemistry with Hargitay. He’d <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/chris-meloni-willing-return-law-order-organized-crime-svu.html/”>return to the <em>Law & Order</em></a><em> </em>universe in 2021 by starring in the spin-off <em>Organized Crime</em>. He’d also reunite with Hargitay in an episode of <em>SVU</em>, where the two were able to pick up right where they left off.</p>
<p id=”par-10_50″>“Because there’s history, there’s an effortlessness,” Meloni told <a href=”https://www.etonline.com/mariska-hargitay-and-chris-meloni-gush-about-working-together-on-svu-and-oc-exclusive-179533″>ET</a> about their chemistry. “I think we get to play notes that only she and I can play together, you know? Whatever comes out of the duet is very unique. And so, that is refreshing and gives life to both of us.”</p>
<p id=”par-11_58″>Upon his return, a possible romance between Meloni’s Stabler and Hargitay’s Benson was teased more than ever. The pair even almost kissed in their previous crossover episode. But initially, Meloni believed the show held off on pairing Stabler romantically with Hargitay for the good of their characters. And it was a notion <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/chris-meloni-skeptical-relationship-olivia-benson-svu.html/”>he once agreed with</a> as well.</p>
<p id=”par-12_33″>“That I think they always knew would be the death knell of that relationship,” Meloni said. “I think they needed to keep that line taut and very clear…Keep the tension, never cross it.”</p>
<p id=”par-13_25″>But with Stabler and Benson bound to cross paths again, it will be interesting to see if the show has had a change in heart.</p>