‘Law & Order’: Christopher Meloni Gives Mariska Hargitay Sweet Birthday Tribute

Law & Order: Organized Crime star Christopher Meloni shared a hilarious birthday video to Mariska Hargitay on Monday. Meloni and Hargitay have been close friends since working on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit together and frequently appear on each others’ shows. Meloni’s next appearance on SVU promises to get steamy.

Hargitay celebrated her 59th birthday on Monday. Meloni publicly shared an extremely close-up video, assuring her he didn’t forget about her special day. “Marsha, you there?” he whispered, referring to Hargitay by his nickname for her. “Do you know what today is? I do! Happy…” Meloni, 61, cut off the video before he finished wishing her a happy birthday. “Celebrate it, Marsha,” he added in the caption.

Meloni has had some other big birthdays to celebrate, although his own is not until April 2. His wife, Sherman Williams, turned 63 on Sunday. “So…this happened. My gurl. Ageless. Timeless. Steppin’ out with the young-uns to show em how it’s done,” he captioned an Instagram gallery. Their son Dante marked his 19th birthday on Jan. 2. Meloni and Williams are also parents to daughter Sophia, who turns 22 on Mach 23.

Meloni’s message to Hargitay comes just before the Law & Order: SVU episode “Blood Out” debuts on Thursday at 9 p.m. ET on NBC. In the promo, Capt. Olivia Benson (Hargitay) calls up Det. Elliot Stabler (Meloni) to help her as she and A.D.A. Sonny Carisi (Peter Scanavino) prepare to put a mob boss on trial. One shot shows Stabler and Benson getting really close to kissing before the shot ends.

During their first 12 seasons together, Stabler and Benson’s chemistry was off the charts, but Stabler was married to Kathy Stabler (Isabel Gillies) the entire time. When Stabler came back to star in Organized Crime, Kathy was blown up in her car, which has given the Law & Order team a chance to make some fans’ dreams come true of a Bens-ler relationship. Hargitay and Meloni even joked about this at the Emmys, pretending to kiss as they presented an award. In a November Organized Crime episode, Stabler admitted he was in love with someone.

Hargitay is married to Peter Hermann, who has frequently appeared on SVU as a defense attorney. Hermann also has a recurring role on Blue Bloods as Bridget Moynahan’s on-screen ex-husband. They tied the knot in August 2004 and are parents to sons August, 16, and Andrew, 11, and daughter Amaya, 11.

Law & Order: SVU airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on NBC, with Law & Order: Organized Crime following at 10 p.m. ET. The original Law & Order airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET. All three shows are available to stream on Peacock.