Mariska Hargitay Reflects on 22-Year Friendship With ‘Law & Order: SVU’ Co-Star Christopher Meloni

Mariska Hargitay has spent over two decades working on NBC’s long-running cop drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and in that time, she’s built an off-screen family as well. At the Glamour Women of the Year red carpet event, the actress opened up about the “meaningful” relationship she shares with her co-star and friend Christopher Meloni, who she claims knows her “pretty well” after her husband –– whom she also met while working on SVU. 

“So it’s very meaningful, especially after the journey we’ve had these 22 years. The creative journey, the trust, the friendship, he’s sort of seen it all,” she told Entertainment Tonight. Hargitay was honored at the event alongside rapper Megan Thee Stallion and poet Amanda Gorman. Meloni was present on stage to introduce her to the crowd. “You know we’ve gotten in there, we’ve gotten dirty,” she continued. “So it’s very meaningful for me to have it presented by him.”

Meloni spoke very highly of his good friend during his speech. “I have been trusted with one task tonight, introduce someone who needs no introduction, who I’ve been working with for 13 years, and been friends with for 22,” he said, per Glamour. He went on to describe her as “Radiant. Charming. Funny. Embracing. Generous. Elegant. Honest. Appreciative. Inclusive. Direct. Vivacious. That’s my favorite one: vivacious.”

Found this in our camera roll from last nights #GlamourWOTY2021 Awards. Felt like Twitter deserved to see it. Enjoy. @Mariska @Chris_Meloni pic.twitter.com/POK4CZqWcW

— Glamour (@glamourmag) November 9, 2021

The actress shared her understanding of what “glamour” means in her speech. “Glamour isn’t surface. I’m a girl who likes to put on a pretty dress, who likes to put on make-up, who likes to glam it up. I love glamour. I love it. But it’s not illusory. It’s not so I seem appealing. It’s not to cover anything. I love glamour because it expresses, not because it hides.” she said, before going on to honor her mother, Jayne Mansfield. “I think that her glamour, her real glamour, the glamour of her luminous, tender, searching heart, was deeper and more beautiful than she ever knew,” she said. 

“She would be 88 now, and I think she would have liked this evening very much. I also think that she knows more now than when she died,” she continued. “She is here with us, and she is here with me, sitting with us and sitting with me, and I am so happy and grateful that we get to learn these things together.”