Mariska Hargitay Says She Isn’t Able to Go away ‘SVU’ and She Nonetheless Expects Christopher Meloni Again

Mariska Hargitay is about to host the Emmys, however the tv job that made her well-known shouldn’t be one she is making ready to surrender.

The 62-year-old actor is presently filming Season 28 of Legislation & Order: Particular Victims Unit, the place she has performed Olivia Benson for the reason that sequence premiered in 1999. Requested straight about her future in an August Variety interview, Hargitay’s reply was uncomplicated “Do I wish to give up now? No.”

Hargitay as soon as frightened that spending a lot of her profession as Benson was stopping audiences from seeing different elements of her, however directing, documentary filmmaking and Broadway ultimately modified the equation with out requiring her to stroll away from SVU.

There may be one other piece of unfinished enterprise hanging across the sequence, too. Hargitay has confirmed that she and Christopher Meloni truly filmed a Benson-Stabler kiss that viewers by no means noticed, and he or she now says she can not think about reaching a thirtieth season with out him showing once more.

She As soon as Thought She Needed to Go away to Show She Might Do Extra

Mariska Hargitay Obtained Brutally Sincere About Whether or not She Needs to Go away ‘SVU’ https://t.co/F7X0QMywo4

— Good Housekeeping (@goodhousemag) September 13, 2026

Round Season 25, Hargitay advised former ER costar Julianna Margulies that she thought she wanted to go away SVU earlier than the function fully outlined her. “I’ve obtained to go away the present too. I don’t need individuals to suppose I’m a one-trick pony,” Hargitay recalled telling Margulies. Her pal’s reply was blunt, “Sweetheart, that ship’s sailed.”

Hargitay mentioned she beloved the sequence however felt annoyed that her comedy background and different inventive pursuits had been going unused. Individuals round her repeatedly urged that she must go away as a way to do comedy, host a chat present or pursue totally different varieties of labor.

As a substitute, she began doing these issues round Benson. Hargitay made and directed the documentary My Mother Jayne whereas SVU was in manufacturing, made her Broadway debut in Each Sensible Factor throughout her hiatus and is about to host the 78th Emmy Awards on Sept. 14. Her documentary has already received two Inventive Arts Emmys this month.

“I wasn’t prepared to go away, as a result of I beloved it,” she advised Selection. “After which I obtained to do all this different stuff, and that’s why I don’t take into consideration leaving proper now.”

The Benson-Stabler Kiss Actually Was Filmed

One of many stranger items of Hargitay’s long term surfaced this yr when she confirmed that Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler obtained nearer on digicam than viewers ever noticed. Season 24’s “Blood Out” aired a scene during which Stabler tells Benson that he cares about her and leans towards her earlier than she pulls again.

Hargitay later confirmed that she and Meloni additionally filmed an alternate model during which the second grew to become an precise kiss. “We simply felt like, in spite of everything these years, there was simply a lot between us that it was a second that occurred,” Hargitay advised PEOPLE. “However Wolf didn’t suppose so, so he lower it.”

She mentioned each actors believed the extra intimate model had been earned by the characters’ historical past, however Wolf and the enhancing group finally selected the near-kiss that aired. “There was a second,” Hargitay added of the deserted take.

Hargitay Nonetheless Expects Stabler Again Earlier than Season 30

Meloni’s place within the franchise modified significantly this yr when Legislation & Order: Organized Crime was canceled after 5 seasons. He had returned as Elliot Stabler in 2021 after leaving SVU in 2011. Variety reported the cancellation in April.

“I can’t think about that I’d be doing SVU until season 30 and that he wouldn’t be again,” she advised PEOPLE in Could. “That’s all I can say.” Season 28 showrunner Michele Fazekas has additionally mentioned she wish to deliver Stabler again when there’s a significant cause to take action. PEOPLE studies that neither NBC nor the sequence has confirmed a Meloni look for the approaching season.

The 2 actors have remained shut away from the present. They had been photographed collectively on the ACE Eddie Awards in February, and Hargitay has publicly supported Meloni since Organized Crime ended.

The Subsequent Season Will Additionally Include SVU’s 600th Episode

Hargitay mentioned in Could that the present nonetheless feels “nice and enjoyable and difficult” and that she stays “very a lot” invested in it. Season 27 had already given the sequence a big inventive change with Michele Fazekas turning into its first feminine showrunner.

Hargitay praised Fazekas for bringing new vitality and extra humor to Benson, saying that the shift helped hold the work contemporary after practically three a long time.

The following season can even include SVU’s 600th episode. Fazekas has teased a significant return for that milestone however has not recognized the character.

Wolf has mentioned reaching Season 30 as a purpose, however that isn’t the identical factor as NBC granting a three-season renewal. What’s confirmed is Season 28, which premieres Oct. 8 on NBC and streams the next day on Peacock.