Christopher Meloni Calls Longtime Pal Mariska Hargitay by Pet Title in Kooky Birthday Tribute
Evans Vestal Ward/NBC/Getty
Mariska Hargitay celebrated her birthday on Monday, and not less than one in every of her Law & Order: Special Victims Unit costars weren’t going to let the event slip by unnoticed.
In a wacky tribute posted to Instagram, Christopher Meloni pulled so near the digicam that solely his eyes and brow had been seen, after which despatched a message to Hargitay, 59.
“Marsha,” he hissed, referring to the actress by the pet identify he makes use of. “Have you learnt what right this moment is?”
He then leaned towards the digicam and whispered, “I do.”
Within the caption of the publish, Meloni, 61, added, “Rejoice it Marsha”
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Hargitay beforehand defined during a joint appearance with Meloni on Late Night time With Seth Meyers final March that “Marsha” is “one of many many names” her costar has dubbed her with.
The duo additionally go by “Marshmelon”, a mix of Marsha and Meloni, in addition to “Bensler,” a mix of her SVU character’s final identify, Benson, and Meloni’s character’s final identify, Stabler.
Hargitay has starred in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Detective Olivia Benson since its premiere in 1999. Meloni performed her associate Detective Elliott Stabler till his departure from the present in 2011. He returned to the franchise final yr, reprising his position along with his personal spin-off sequence Law & Order: Organized Crime.
The 2 actors share a simple camaraderie that has charmed followers each on and off display screen — a lot that Hargitay even ended up listed as Meloni’s spouse on his Wikipedia web page, regardless of them each being married to different folks.
“I imply, I do not suppose I will be marrying him any time quickly, however I’m sort of like his second spouse,” Hargitay defined to PEOPLE in September. “Spouse, therapist, bestie, sister, mom.”
Meloni equally acknowledged “the fandom goes nuts” over his and Hargitay’s onscreen chemistry, earlier than wryly deadpanning: “I feel the uber followers actually need our spouses to go away.”
Will Hart/NBC Christopher Meloni and Mariska Hargitay
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In July, Meloni celebrated 27 years of marriage along with his spouse Sherman Williams. In the meantime, Hargitay met husband Peter Hermann on the set of Legislation & Order: SVU within the early 2000s, and so they marked 18 years of marriage in August.
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Hartigay’s birthday comes simply sooner or later after Meloni celebrated yet one more essential birthday: His wife’s 63rd. To mark the event, the actor shared an Instagram post of Williams dancing the evening away in celebration.
“So…this occurred. My gurl. Ageless. Timeless. Steppin’ out with the young-uns to indicate em the way it’s carried out,” Meloni captioned his publish, including the hashtags “#HBDBaby” and “#TalkAboutIt.”