Throughout Law & Order: SVU ’s 25-season run , fans have been anxiously waiting to see Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler’s relationship grow into something more. The former partners have clear yet complicated feelings for each other, and the fact that Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni have been close since their L&O auditions only helps deepen that chemistry. Now, Hargitay is revealing that a key moment between them was actually improvised, and it makes me love Bensler even more.
Benson and Stabler’s personal and professional relationship is arguably one of the best parts of SVU, because the pair truly cares for one another and the same can be said for the actors. While looking back at her time on the long-running NBC drama with Vanity Fair , Hargitay watched a scene from Season 9, Episode 9, “Paternity,” where Stabler suddenly hugged Benson after both Kathy and the baby were doing well following an accident. It turns out that viewers weren’t the only ones pleasantly surprised by this, as the actress said: If I’m correct, I think that’s the first time [Benson and Stabler] ever hugged on the show.
And [Chris] surprised me with it, and it was so right. And, in that scene, I think it’s somewhere where you can feel everything unspoken almost more than the spoken word. Chris and I were very careful and very judicious when we interacted physically.
It only took nine seasons for the two to really show any affection toward each other, and it made the scene awfu.
