Mariska Hargitay Knew Chris Meloni Was "the Guy" Right Away: "I Sort of Sized Him Up"
The SVU icon recalls their fateful audition.
Mariska Hargitay and Chris Meloni have worked together for over 25 years, and Hargitay had him all figured out from day one.
On January 12, TODAY aired a Sunday Sitdown feature that saw longtime host Willie Geist offering Hargitay the opportunity to speak at length about her career on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit that's spanned 26 impressive seasons. It's an eye-opening look at the star's place in history that no SVU fan should miss.
Of course, you can't mention Hargitay's iconic Olivia Benson character without noting Meloni's Elliot Stabler. During their conversation, Hargitay recalled the circumstances that led her to pinpoint her future co-star as "the guy" the moment he walked into the room.
"In the room, when he walked in, I sort of sized him up, and I said, 'That's the guy,'" she said. "'That's the guy. That is the guy. That is the guy.' It was so obvious to me that that was the guy, and apparently, he felt the same way. So, it was — just felt meant to be."
Hargitay had it right all along!
The famous chemistry they discovered during the audition process turned out to be even stronger when they were filming, leading the two stars to share a bond unlike any other throughout their days on SVU.
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"We were like, 'I know we have good chemistry,'" Hargitay recalled. "Even at times when we were, like, fighting or had a difference of opinion, or things getting tense, we still had it. It's chemistry, right? And, we were just always very important people in each other's lives, and we knew it. We knew it from minute one. And we're still very close, very close."
Mariska Hargitay: “Chris Meloni and I are polar opposites”
Despite the mutual respect and admiration the pair have for each other, Hargitay told Geist that she and Meloni couldn't be more different off-camera, a fact that may surprise some longtime fans.
"Chris and I are polar opposites in terms of who we are as people. I mean, you can't get two people who are more different," she confessed. "And yet, there was this yin-yang. We just fit, and so everyone had talked about that very early on. So that wasn't a surprise, because we knew it."
RELATED: 12 Times Mariska Hargitay Proved Just How Connected She Is to Olivia Benson
Their on-screen chemistry — and real-life friendship that has blossomed over the years — has led fans to endlessly speculate on when their characters will cross paths again.
Well, according to Hargitay, that all-important Bensler moment could come sooner rather than later!
