Meloni and Hargitay had instant chemistry at their auditions for SVU; Meloni once said, according to E!, "[Hargitay] and I hit it off right from the get-go."
According to the 2009 book Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: The Unofficial Companion, Hargitay once recalled, "It was nonstop chitchat; couldn't stop talking. All of a sudden someone comes out and pairs us up: 'Mariska and Chris.
' And I thought. 'I want to be with that guy!' Because we already had a thing."
Meloni echoed the sentiment.
"I'm like, 'Who's the chick with all the energy?' I just knew that Mariska was going to be The One," he said. "I was in the middle of telling her this story, this joke. So we got up on the stage and I'm like, 'Hold on just a second, I'm going to finish telling this story. Not being disrespectful, but this is important too.
This may change my life, but the story is that funny.' And I think that put us at ease, and unconsciously there was a connection you could see: That she was now my partner.
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