Christopher Meloni posed for a snap with his former Law & Order: Special Victims Unit co-star Mariska Hargitay, confirming the pair will reunite onscreen for his new spin-off show.
On Sunday (July 19, 2020), Hargitay posted the selfie to her Instagram page, adding the caption:
The post appears to be the first visual confirmation that Meloni will be reunited with the veteran actress when he returns as the star of a new spin-off from creator Dick Wolf‘s franchise, Law & Order: Organized Crime.
In the snap, Meloni, 59, looked a little greyer in the hair, as the pair affectionately embraced for the photo.
The actor starred as NYPD Detective Elliot Stabler in the first 12 seasons of SVU before his character announced his retirement in 2011. And his partnership with Hargitay, who still plays Detective Olivia Benson, was one of the most successful in TV history.
In March, it was announced that Meloni’s Law & Order: SVU character would return for the 13-episode run, with Detective Stabler heading up an elite squad tasked with taking down New York’s City’s most powerful crime syndicates.
In a recent interview with the New York Post, Meloni expressed his hope of a reunion with Hargitay’s Benson.
“It just has to be. Benson and Stabler are inextricably linked, locked, and connected,’ Meloni said. “I think there is truly and deeply a worthwhile, inherent drama in exploring that relationship and the complexity of how Stabler left — the unresolved emotions both characters feel and how the fans feel.”
