Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni are making memories to last a lifetime.
The pair were spotted filming Law & Order: Special Victims Unit on Wednesday, March 19, walking arm-in-arm on the streets of New York City.
In photos obtained by PEOPLE, Meloni stopped to take a selfie of him and Hargitay as she wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned against his shoulder in a sweet moment.
Hargitay, 61, also shared the snapshots of the pair strolling together and taking the selfie on Instagram, writing, “Just leaving this here 👯♂️”
The actors have been friends for 26 years after first meeting at their audition for SVU in 1999. During an interview with Today in January, Hargitay said she and Meloni, who has gone on to lead the spinoff series Law & Order: Organized Crime, had chemistry from “minute one.”
“In the room, when he walked in, I sort of sized him up, and I said, ‘That’s the guy.’” she recalled. “It was so obvious to me that that was the guy, and apparently, he felt the same way.”
“So, it was — just felt meant to be,” she explained, calling the moment a “once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
Hargitay has starred on SUV — which has become one of the longest-running primetime shows in history at 26 seasons and counting — since its inception, while Meloni exited as a series regular following its 12th season in 2011. Looking back, she said they always worked well together and formed a lifelong bond.
“We were like, ‘I know we have good chemistry.’ Even at times when we were, like, fighting or had a difference of opinion, or things getting tense, we still had it,” Hargitay continued. “It’s chemistry, right?”
“And, we were just always very important people in each other’s lives, and we knew it. We knew it from minute one,” she added. “And we’re still very close, very close.”
Fans have always rooted for their characters, Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler, to take their partnership to the next level. In season 24, they nearly shared a kiss when Elliot looked to Olivia for comfort after his wife died, but she pulled away before it happened.
After the dramatic episode aired in 2024, Hargitay revealed that she and Meloni “want to make sure and get it right” when it comes to their characters’ romantic connection.
“The good news is we are so comfortable around each other, it was effortless and fun and we trust each other, it was beautiful that way,” she told Today at the time. “We just focused on the work.”
Earlier that year, Hargitay also admitted to PEOPLE that their dynamic is “intense,”
“It’s intimate, and it’s reassuring,” she said.
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Law & Order: Special Victims Unit airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on NBC.
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