Mariska Hargitay celebrates Christopher Meloni’s ‘SVU’ spinoff on his birthday

Mariska Hargitay celebrates Christopher Meloni's 'SVU' spinoff on his birthday
UPI

April 3 (UPI) — Mariska Hargitay is celebrating her former Law & Order: SVU co-star Christopher Meloni on his birthday.

The 56-year-old actress congratulated and sent birthday wishes to Meloni on his 59th birthday Thursday on Instagram following news he will reprise his SVU character, Elliot Stabler, in a new NBC series.

“Happy Birthday @chris_meloni,” Hargitay wrote. “Congratulations and welcome home Elliot Stabler #It’sBeenAWhile #MissedYou #ElliotStabler.”

Meloni thanked well-wishers and showed off his homemade birthday cake in a photo Thursday.

“Got my fam. Homemade cake. Health. #luckyman #thxfortheBDayshouts,” he captioned the post.

News broke Tuesday that Meloni will reprise Stabler in a new series created by Dick Wolf. The show will be part of the Law & Order franchise and will focus on the NYC police department organized crime unit that Stabler led on SVU.

Meloni appeared to confirm the series on Twitter.

Meloni played Stabler in the first 12 seasons of SVU. Hargitay still plays Olivia Benson on the series, which is in its 21st season and was renewed in February for three more seasons.

Hargitay and Meloni have reunited several times since Meloni’s exit from SVU in 2011, including for a Sunday night dinner in September.

Hargitay voiced her love for SVU during an episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in May 2019, recalling how she got “chills” when she read the first script ahead of her audition.

Meloni is also known for playing Chris Keller on Oz, August Pullman on Underground and Nick Sax on Happy!. He voices Commissioner James Gordon in the DC Universe animated series Harley Quinn.

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