NEW YORK — The crazy chemistry between detectives Elliot Stabler and Olivia Benson nearly came to a head in an episode of “Law & Order SVU,” actress Mariska Hargitay revealed.

In a new interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Hargitay recalled filming a kissing scene with co-star Christopher Meloni for Season 24. Fans of the show — and the longtime detective duo — never saw the smooch, though. Creator Dick Wolf cut it from the episode, opting instead for a near-kiss moment.

“I think we felt that this moment was earned, that this thing could happen for a second — and so that’s how we shot it,” she said. “We shot it a couple different ways.”

Hargitay said both she and Meloni “disagreed” with cutting the kiss, describing it as “really complex and very beautiful and very human and showed the complexity of their relationship and all the different ways that they’re connected.”

Meloni previously spoke on the moment and the challenges that come with maintaining the characters’ charged dynamic onscreen.

“We do the best we can to be honest with the scenes we’re given,” he said in a 2025 interview with TV Line.

“We’re doing the best we can to make it honest, not make it baited,” Meloni added. “If we do bait, at least for me, I always do it with a wink.”

“Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” premiered in 1999, with Hargitay and Meloni as partners solving sex crimes in New York.

Meloni exited the series in 2011 after 12 seasons, though he has guest starred on several occasions since. In April 2021, he returned to the “Law & Order” franchise, bringing Stabler back to television by way of “Law & Order: Organized Crime.” That spinoff was recently canceled after five seasons.

Hargitay, meanwhile, continues to star on “SVU,” which is now in its 27th season.

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