-You know our first guests tonight from their work
as Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler on "Law & Order: SVU"
as well as the latest spin-off, "Law & Order: Organized Crime."
You can see both shows beginning Thursday nights
at 9:00 here on NBC.
Please welcome back to the show
Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni.
♪♪ [ Cheers and applause ]
♪♪
Welcome back, both of you!
[ Cheers and applause continue ]
-Wow!
-You say our names backstage to announce us,
the crowd's reaction.
She turns to me, she goes, "We've still got it."
[ Laughter ] [ Cheers and applause ]
-Well, and I should say. I should say.
-We still got it. -I think you --
I think you both independently have it,
but I think there's an extra excitement
that you're here together, so thank you so much for making --
[ Cheers and applause ]
And I should also note, you were --
this was planned a while ago.
There were some scheduling issues
and you guys had to back out.
And you have such intense fans,
a lot of them took it out on me on social media.
-No! -They did.
It was as if, last minute, I decided I didn't want you.
[ Laughter ] -That's great, though.
This is perfectly us. You go, "No!"
And I was thinking, "Better you than me."
[ Laughter ]
Is this too casual, by the way? -No, I think it's lovely.
-Not the dress but my posture. -It's a little casual.
-Okay, great. -What I wanted to say is
our fans are crazy, crazy loyal and they're so nuts.
I don't think other people have fans like we do.
I'm not ribbing on your fans. I'm sure they're great.
I'm just saying the "SVU" fans are -- They're hard-core.
-And you know, there's a very -- [ Cheers and applause ]
There's the thinnest of veneer between you and your fans
when you film a show that is often outdoors
in New York City, right? -Oh, yeah.
-You see fans a lot. They feel very close to you.
They have made art based on you guys.
-They have made art. -A beautiful mug, Christopher.
You sent us a picture. Can I show this?
And I mean, just to get the likeness right
on a mug like this. -It's not easy.
-I mean, it is --
[ Laughter ]
I mean, when you...
-Spit in it. -Yeah.
[ Laughter ]
-I've had that for 20 years.
-Have you really? -Yeah.
-'Cause it looks like it just came out of the box.
-I know. [ Laughter ]
Right out of the kiln.
-Right out of the kiln. And look at that.
That's really nice, too,
'cause you do have such a beautiful profile.
-And a strong chin. -Strong chin.
-Big nose, strong chin. -That's like a double shot
of espresso when you have that in the morning.
-Every morning. -Yeah.
Also, people have referenced, when the two of you
are together, and again this is just on my social media,
Chriska or Chrishka.
-It's Chrishka. -Chrishka, thank you.
[ Cheers and applause ] -It's Chrishka.
Oh, yeah, we're Chrishka. -That's really nice.
-Yeah, it's beautiful. -Or Bensler.
-Bensler. Is it Bensler? -Yeah.
-Chrishka and Bensler. -Oh, Bensler and Chrishka.
Okay, great.
-There was a new one that just happened.
Oh, Marshmelon.
-Yes. [ Cheers and applause ]
-Marshmallow?
-Chris calls me Marsha sometimes.
-Gotcha. -One of the many names.
-Now, last time you were here, you were here with Ice-T.
Did you want to come out to prove
that you guys have better chemistry?
-No. -Okay.
[ Laughter ]
I want to -- Alright, so, the show, 23 years.
-Wait, I want to show what my fans did for me.
-What did they do? [ Laughter ]
-Did you bring it? -Yes, I did.
-"But what about me?" -Oh, yeah, they did. I'm sorry.
-Yeah, because look. -Okay, I apologize.
-So, there's three. -Okay.
-Guys? [ Audience awws ]
Come on, all I ever wanted.
-They're voodoo dolls.
[ Laughter ]
-All I ever wanted was a doll named after me.
-I think we only have two. -No, there's three.
Just saying, if you didn't -- -He wants to keep one.
-My fans are gonna be so mad that you didn't have the third.
-This is all I have down there.
-How about this? And look at the hair. Whoo!
-If there's one backstage, we'll have it
'cause we'll do two acts with you guys.
So if we find the third one, we'll bring it out.
But I will be honest. Can I just say something, Mariska?
Don't take it the wrong way. If it looks just like these two,
I don't know if we needed to show it.
[ Laughter ]
-I hear you, but the other one was the first one.
It's a frownie face doll. -Okay, gotcha, alright.
Alright. So I want to ask, you had done --
I knew you first from "Oz."
You had done a couple episodes of "E.R."
When you read the pilot for "SVU,"
what were your first reactions to it?
-It was called "Sex Crimes." -Yeah, I remember.
-I literally went, "Okay," as did my mother because once --
because when we got it, when we screen-tested and we got it,
I go, "Mom, I got it." "You got what?"
"I'm on 'Sex Crimes.'" [ Laughter ]
She's like, "Can they change the name?"
-Did you have to say, "Trying to catch them;
I play one of the guys trying to catch them"?
[ Laughter ]
-Exactly, yeah. "I'm the good guy."
-And then she called Dick, and he did change the name.
-Exactly.
-Did it ever air as "Sex Crimes"?
-No, no, no. -Never? Okay, gotcha.
-We were actually beginning to do a little publicity for it,
and one of the publicists ran up to us --
We're doing whatever publicity line.
-Yeah. -And I said, you know,
"It's great to be working on the new show 'Sex Crimes.'"
And she came running up,
"Hey, don't ever say those words again!"
[ Laughter ] "SVU."
-Nobody will watch a show called "Sex Crimes."
-So, "Law & Order" is obviously a franchise at this point,
so you know that it has a certain weight to be
auditioning for a Dick Wolf show.
Do you remember being nervous at the time like,
"Oh, this could be --" I mean, no one thinks this could be
a show that is on for 20-plus years.
But did you think, "Oh, this might be actual --
you know, it's kind of a normal job"?
-Well, yeah, I thought -- You never think,
after being a struggling actor for so long,
that any show is going to go. -Right.
-But this was a unique audition for us because when we met,
there was a certain chemistry,
so I actually wasn't nervous at the audition.
But you never think what happened would happen.
You can't -- You can't dream it, quite frankly.
-Do you want to re-enact how that happened?
-Yeah. -If you do.
-Sure, go ahead. What's the best camera?
[ Cheers and applause ]
Is this good? -This is real.
This is what happened. You ready?
Alright, ready?
-So, I open the door to the audition, and I go like this.
-Slattery!
-Meloni!
-And it was that. [ Audience awws ]
-Wow.
-I had heard that John Slattery was testing for the part.
-The guy who did "Mad Men." -And I was so excited.
Never met him. -Yeah.
-And he comes in, and so I knew the other two guys,
so I knew that they weren't Slattery.
And I see him and I go, "Slattery,"
and he just goes, "Meloni!"
-Wow. [ Laughter ]
I know Slattery, and it's a big whiff to think --
-It's a different guy, right? -Real different guy.
It's not like you're ever like, "Those two,
you can't tell those two apart," because you definitely can.
[ Laughter ]
-And yet Slattery and I would have been great together.
Right? -I hate to spend today making it
about that, but you guys would have been great together.
-Whatever. [ Laughter ]
-Noooo! -No, no, no, no, no.
We're so happy it ended up this way.
I have so much more to ask. -It was in the cards.
-We will be right back with more
from Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni.