There arguably is not another partnership in the history of television with actors as invested in their characters as the one between Chris Meloni and Mariska Hargitay.
Their investment is evident in the thought and time they put into answers about their famous characters, Elliot Stabler and Olivia Benson, and the time they take to craft what scenes should look like for their characters.
They have leveled up this time around, as Meloni wrote a "Law & Order: Organized Crime" episode in which Hargitay guest stars.
Hargitay talked to TODAY.com last fall about Meloni's "amazing" writing, saying, “It was, you know, daring. It was risk-taking. It was moving. It was out of the box, the way he thinks. It was so fresh and so intimate.”
She added it was "a joy to say his words" and work with him on the episode.
When Meloni hears these words from his close friend read back to him ahead of his April 14 appearance on TODAY, he says, "She's one of the sweetest people to walk on two feet."
He pauses before continuing, "All those words really did touch me and are very appreciated."
“Listen, nobody really understands our relationship the way we do,” Hargitay told TODAY.com, which is a sentiment echoed by Meloni while reflecting on writing his "OC" episode, which is the second one of Season Five dropping on Peacock April 17.
(Peacock is part of our parent company, NBCUniversal.)
"I intentionally wrote this because when she and I are together, I inevitably rewrite it, and not out of — you know, just simply because I don't think there's anyone alive that knows the relationship as intimately and as well as I do," he explains of their bond, which began when Benson and Stabler's partnership was introduced on "SVU" at the turn of the century.
I don't think there's anyone alive that knows the relationship as intimately and as well as I do. Or she does.
Chris meloni about benson and stabler and mariska hargitay
"Or she does," he adds.
He shared something similar with TODAY.com in 2022 about his and Hargitay's creative process with their characters.
“There’s nobody who knows these characters better than she and I. With all due respect to the writers, whatever you see is really she and I figuring it out — figuring out what the exact words are or the exact emotions are,” he said at the time.
Fast forward a few years, and now Meloni is the one putting pen to paper for scenes with their characters.
"I thought it was a natural and correct evolution to get to gain greater insight into their engagements," he says.
When asked how it felt to have his dear pal Hargitay say his words, he says, "That was really sweet."
"She settled into a place that I, I think — I was hearing the voice," he continues, "and she was giving me not the voice exactly in my head, but her interpretation. I thought, 'Oh, this is nice. This is — I'm glad I wrote it this way, and I'm glad this is all coming together this way.'"
"It worked," he adds.
