Not so star-crossed lovers.
Christopher Meloni’s Elliot Stabler and Mariska Hargitay’s Olivia Benson have lengthy had a “will they or won’t they” relationship on “Law & Order: SVU.”
Throughout a current TVLine Highlight dialog, Meloni addressed, “The kitchen thing,” referring to a scene throughout a Season 24 “SVU” episode the place Stabler and Benson nearly kissed.
“We were attempting something. I don’t think it worked. But I’m not going to tell you why it didn’t work, because you all have your opinion,” Meloni mentioned.
He added, “I know what transpired.”
In a 2024 interview with Selection, Hargitay revealed that the close to kiss nearly had a special consequence.
“To be honest with you, Chris and I thought it should go one way and the powers that be didn’t, so it got changed at the last minute, that near kiss,” Hargitay mentioned.
“Obviously [series creator Dick Wolf] gets final say. It’s his show and he didn’t want that.”
Each actors have starred within the present since 1999, so Stabler and Benson are a longtime “will they or won’t they” for the ages.
Meloni left “SVU” in 2011 however now stars in “Law & Order: Organized Crime,” which has crossover episodes with “SVU.”
Throughout a 2023 episode on the latter present known as “Blood Out,” Benson and Stabler’s chemistry ignites once more.
Within the episode, he tells her, “I care for you.”
Stabler and Benson hug and nearly kiss, however Benson pulls away.
She says, “Elliot, I want to. But I can’t.”
“I don’t go, ‘That’s what’s going to go on TV. That’s what we’re going to air.’ We don’t have that power. We do the best we can to be honest with the scenes we’re given,” Meloni defined.
His objective with Hargitay is to “make it honest, not make it bait. If we do bait, at least for me, I always do it with a wink. I think it’s good-natured, but maybe you guys are over that, and that’s valid. But you give us too much credit for the power that we might have — will-they-won’t-they and all that stuff.”
Meloni, 64, and Hargitay, 61, are longtime pals in actual life. Meloni has been married to manufacturing designer Sherman Meloni since 1995, and the pair have youngsters Sophia, 24, and Dante, 21.
Hargitay is Sophia’s godmother.
The “Law & Order” actress appears to have an in depth bond with Meloni’s daughter. On Hargitay’s birthday in 2023, Sophia posted a video of herself with Hargitay by way of Instagram and wrote, “Waving my wand to summon all things sparkly, shiny, beautiful and grand for my fairy godmamma today.”
Their fellow actors within the franchise have additionally acknowledged the long-simmering romantic pressure between Benson and Stabler.
Throughout an EW interview in 2024, “SVU” star Ice-T requested Hargitay: “Y’all haven’t hooked up yet at all? Close, right? Almost a kiss?”
Hargitay joked again, “No, just two times in Season 4!… No. We have not hooked up.”
