Where does Mariska Hargitay go without her partner for life? Pretty much nowhere these days.
The Law & Order: SVU star's longtime friend and co-star Christopher Meloni was on hand in his best tux and SVU sneakers to present Hargitay with her 2021 Glamour Woman of the Year Awards Nov. 8. Meloni has officially been dubbed Hargitay's "Internet boyfriend," and Hargitay was all smiles on the red carpet when talking about him.
"We just had this amazing connection from the minute that we met," she raved. "There's a trust and a safety and a sort of effortlessness and a joy." And for those keeping track, the minute they met was more than 22 years ago (that's 500 episodes and counting!). Since then, Hargitay said, it's been a "creative journey. There's such trust and friendship."
"I'm so grateful," the actress, dressed in hot pink Valentino, added, "because between my husband and him, I kind of have it all!" (Yes, husband Peter Hermann, who she met while he was guest starring on SVU, was, of course, on hand to celebrate her at the Glamour event.)
For Meloni—the Stabler to her Benson—there aren't enough words to aptly describe his longtime friend. But he'll give it a try. "Radiant. Charming. Funny. Generous. Elegant. Bawdy. Honest. Appreciative. Inclusive. Direct. Vivacious," he said while introducing her Woman of the Year award. "That's my favorite word; it comes from the Latin, to live. Which is what she does with great passion, every day, with everyone that she engages, be they friends, family, strangers or commitments."
"She's fearless, without the bravado of the warrior stance, but always with the open arms, the open heart," he continued. "She's a connector of people, because she knows we're all better when we're working together. She is as comfortable in the sacred as she is in the profane; she is a soul in the constant search of the beauty and the truth that she knows that this world holds, but she also knows requires vigilance, persistence, and insistence to pry magic from the often times mundane reality. Her first instance is to always react with compassion and empathy. She sees hope in the hopeless; she sees the potential in the you, and me, and us."
Yep, we are definitely crying now. And perhaps Hargitay is too.
"I'm trying to take it all in and be present," she said of the Glamour accolade. "It's very meaningful to me because, in the world that I'm in with the show, it's like a marathon for these 21 years and it's an honor to sit in that accomplishment of 500 episodes...It's deeply meaningful."