Mariska Hargitay & Christopher Meloni Cuddle Close in Sweet Photo Ahead of the ‘SVU’ Season 25 Premiere

The ‘Law and Order: SVU’ stars snapped a selfie together before the new season premieres tonight on NBC. 

Law and Order: Special Victims Unit stars Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni shared a sweet selfie together in honor of the season 25 premiere! Since the episode airs tonight on NBC at 9 p.m EST, fans are anxiously awaiting to see what’s in store for the crime series. 

“…and in the beginning,” Christopher, 62, captioned an Instagram post on January 18 just hours before the season premiere. In the photo, Chris and Mariska, 59, appeared to be at a restaurant having dinner together, as the two have been castmates for more than 20 years now. 

Ahead of the season’s release, Mariska recently teased what viewers can expect from the storyline. During an exclusive interview with Hollywood Life, the Emmy Award winner noted, “The theme of this year is healing, so I think that opens up a whole new avenue.” 

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As for her character, Olivia Benson, Mariska pointed out that her beloved TV character is now “ready to open up.” 

“Well, that’s the beauty of it. We’re still exploring,” she replied when asked if there was any stone left unturned about Olivia. “We keep going to new places. We keep saying, ‘What haven’t we done?’ And that’s what’s so exciting is that we’re finding these new places and going into uncomfortable zones, but I think that the biggest place to go is inward. And so, that’s where Olivia is going. I think she’s ready to open up a little bit.”

Olivia is now the only character who has been on the show since the very beginning. Chris, for his part, left the series in 2011 but returned in 2021. His character, Elliot, has been on the show since then. 

Previously, Chris opened up to Entertainment Weekly about his departure and return to the hit drama, confessing that he didn’t miss the series when he wasn’t on it for 10 years. 

“I would have no problem admitting to it. But I was pleasantly surprised it played out as well as it did,” he pointed out. “Because, you know, that’s not how life shakes out, right? You can have all the dreams you want, all the preconceived notions of how it’s going to be. But I must say, the intervening decade was everything I could have hoped for.”

As for Mariska, the actress told Hollywood Life in her recent interview that while she isn’t making any future plans regarding her time on the show, she’s open to the idea — even as far as starring in season 30. 

“I don’t think that far in advance,” she emphasized “But I’ll give you a maybe. I’m just getting through this year and the next year. I’m definitely in for season 26.”