Christopher Meloni Recalls His ‘Law & Order: SVU’ Screen Test With Mariska Hargitay On ‘The Kelly Clarkson Show’: “Whoever’s Paired With Her, That’s Who They Want”

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit co-stars Christopher Meloni and Mariska Hargitay were partners in (fighting) crime on screen, and to fans’ delight, are “real friends” off screen, too.

Meloni — who originated the role of Detective Elliott Stabler alongside Hargitay’s Olivia Benson on SVU decades ahead of his current work on Law & Order: Organized Crime — joined Kelly Clarkson on The Kelly Clarkson Show on Monday, where he recalled his SVU screen test.

“It’s three guys, three girls. And there’s Mariska,” he detailed, prompting the audience to burst into applause.

Clarkson quipped, “A few people know her.”

Meloni teased, “I’m so glad they do know her because I didn’t want to explain the whole thing of who Mariska is.”

Afterwards, Clarkson asked Meloni if he knew “right off the bat” whether or not he and Hargitay and would be “real friends,” to which he replied, “Pretty quickly from the start.”

“What I did know was… because we went in separately, did a scene against a reader, each person. And then they paired us up,” he added. “And when I heard that, I went, ‘Whoever’s paired with her, that’s who they want.’ And they paired me with her. And I went, ‘The fix is in. I’m as good as gold.'”

Clarkson shared a clip from Hargitay’s May 2021 appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show, where she praised Meloni’s support.

“I know Chris Meloni has my back, and he’d kill anyone that messed with me,” she said at the time.

In response, Clarkson joked, “We just wanted to keep that little chunk of it. Question is, where are the bodies buried?”

Clarkson also commended Hargitay for being “so nice” in person, noting that she “genuinely loves” Meloni.

“Y’all have such a cool relationship, and I think that’s special for all the fans that love the show so much. That’s really cool,” she told Meloni, who conceded that he “understand[s] why.”

“I think you have to have a certain sensibility, and it’s an odd matrix,” he continued. “I think the fact that — this is my personal opinion… She grew up Catholic, so did I. I’m not even a practicing Catholic. There’s something in that, a commonality. I don’t know what it is.”

After Clarkson proposed that something from their “childhood” may bond them, Meloni proceeded, “Maybe so. Or a way of viewing the world. I don’t know what it is. I can’t quite put it into words. But I do feel it. I feel that we’re speaking the same language.”

The Kelly Clarkson Show airs on weekdays. Check out their website for your local listings.