Chris Meloni Almost Got This "Insane" Tattoo – But His Wife Stopped Him
There's a sentimental story behind the Law & Order: OC's star's almost-tattoo.
Both on-screen as Detective Elliot Stabler on Law & Order: Organized Crime and off-air as a primetime legend, Christopher Meloni has been known to sport some ink. Luckily for those with coulrophobia (the fear of clowns) not all of Meloni's tattoo ideas have come to fruition.
The actor revealed in an October US Weekly interview that fans can thank his wife, Sherman Williams, for preventing him from getting perhaps one of the spookiest tattoos ever conceived: A clown face.
"My favorite item in my wardrobe is this ridiculous sweater my daughter, Sophia, bought me," Meloni explained. "I once told her how I wanted a tattoo of this insane clown making a crazy face, but her mother wouldn't let me get it, saying, 'You don't want that on your body.'"
Meloni continued, "But you know what, I did! I felt like the crazy clown spoke to me. One day, my daughter walked into a vintage shop, found this crazy clown sweater, and bought it for me."
RELATED: Yes, Chris Meloni's Stabler Tattoo Is Fake — But His Real Ones May Be Even Cooler
While Stabler sports some veteran ink on-screen — a United States Marine Corps emblem as a nod to his time overseas — Meloni also has a few bona fide tattoos.
Does Chris Meloni have any tattoos?
While he never managed to get that clown face design done, Meloni sports three tattoos. The one that many fans have come to recognize on both Meloni and his Stabler persona is his left bicep tattoo depicting a scene of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Joining his USMC tattoo in later episodes of Law & Order, it's the largest one he has.
"One quality I share with Elliot Stabler is a complicated relationship with God," Meloni told US Weekly.
Meloni revealed in a 2013 interview with HuffPost Live that his first-ever tattoo was of a butterfly on his upper thigh, which he got when he was 18 years old, inspired by a recent viewing of Papillon. The tattoo has never appeared on SVU or Law & Order: OC, likely because, like many people who get ink at the dawn of adulthood, Meloni looks back on the choice as a "rash decision."
Aside from the butterfly and bicep tattoo, Meloni reportedly has another tattoo of his family's Chinese astrological chart on his right leg.
Watch Law & Order: Organized Crime on Peacock.
