‘Law & Order’ Star Ainsley Seiger Reveals Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni’s ‘Undeniable Chemistry’ (Exclusive)

Law & Order: Organized Crime star Ainsley Seiger is in a unique position. Not too many actors get to say their first television acting job involves the return of Christopher Meloni after ten years away from the franchise. Seiger got to watch the “undeniable chemistry” between Meloni and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit star Mariska Hargitay reignite in person as if the last 10 years had never happened. In an exclusive interview with PopCuture earlier this week, Seiger, who stars as hacker Jet Slootmaekers, opened up about the incredible experience of working with these two living television legends.

A few weeks before our interview, Seiger had the opportunity to watch both Hargitay and Meloni as Capt. Olivia Benson and Det. Elliot Stabler share scenes together. For Seiger, the best part wasn’t seeing Benson and Stabler on the same set again, but it was seeing Hargitay and Meloni show off their acting chops “because you really wouldn’t be able to tell that they’ve spent a decade apart, it doesn’t show,” she said. “They fell right back into that rhythm.”

Benson and Stabler also have an “undeniable chemistry,” as Seiger put it, even though they had not seen each other in a decade. When Stabler and Benson met in the SVU episode “Return of the Prodigal Son,” which aired in April, it was the first time the two characters shared a scene since 2011. Since then, Benson has appeared on Organized Crime, trying to help Stabler following his wife Kathy’s death. There will be another major crossover for the two shows on Thursday, May 13, starting at 9 p.m. ET on NBC.

“So much time has passed and so much distance has grown between them,” Seiger told PopCulture. “But it’s almost more interesting to me to watch them work together as people because they get along so well. And isn’t that just the dream for everyone? To show up to work and get to play pretend with someone who you genuinely like that much, it’s really intoxicating, yeah.”

Although other members of the SVU team have appeared on Organized Crime, Hargitay is still the only one Seiger has worked with so far. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m so looking forward to hopefully collaborating more with that crew and that team. I think they’re all incredible, but I haven’t gotten there yet,” she said. When asked about Jet possibly working with Fin, Seiger laughed, adding, “Can you imagine?”

Seiger almost appeared on SVU sooner. Last year, she auditioned for a guest spot on SVU, which is usually a stepping stone for New York actors just starting out. She didn’t get that job, which made being cast in Organized Crime an even bigger surprise. “I always had thought that I would start more in the theater world,” Seiger explained. “I was really into musical theater and I still do love to sing, but I always thought that that was really what I was going to end up doing. And then, this kind of fell into my lap and I got the audition and I was like, ‘Oh my God, this would be really cool. That would be awesome.’ But I tried not to put too much on it and then it happened and it’s just been the wildest ride.”

Law & Order: SVU returns on May 13 at 9 p.m. ET, with Organized Crime following at 10 p.m. ET on NBC. You can find past episodes of both shows on Hulu and Peacock.

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