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Kelli Giddish is Back with the Entire SVU Cast in New Selfie After Her Return to Set
The stars are happier than ever as they begin filming on the 25th season of the iconic show.
Detective squad, friend squad, cast squad...whatever this group is, it's squad goals. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit star Mariska Hargitay, who plays Benson on the long-running crime drama, just posted a selfie with her fellow cast members that's as heart-warming as the show is bone-chilling.
"The kind that lasts a lifetime🫶 #25" Hargitay captioned the picture, referring to the show's upcoming landmark 25th season, which just began production. In the photo she's with co-stars Peter Scanavino (Carisi) and Octavio Pisano (Joe Velasco), plus a smiling Kelli Giddish (Detective Amanda Rollins) who after a long absence, is coming back to the series for its premiere when it returns on Thursday, January 18 at 9/8c.
Hargitay celebrated Giddish's upcoming appearance when she posted a fun clip of the two dancing to Paul Russell's "Lil Boo Thang" during their first week on set.
"Back with my lil boo thang," Hargitay cutely captioned the post.
RELATED: Kelli Giddish Is Returning to SVU for Season 25! Get the Details
Mugging next to Hargitay is, of course, Ice-T (Fin Tutuola), because it wouldn't be SVU without him.
The actor and rapper has becoming something of a role model to Pisano, a relative newcomer in the cast. As Pisano recalled, "I remember shooting an episode last season with Ice, and we were up north somewhere, and it was like two in the morning, and it was freezing cold. And, you know, I had a moment of like, 'Oh, my God, like, this is too hard,' and [Ice T] looked at me. He's like, 'Remember, this is the dream. You're living the dream.'" He continued, "Just having said it, it put everything in perspective, you know? Because Ice and I have a very similar upbringing. And that was one of the best moments... I've learned so much from Ice-T. Just how he handles himself in all these situations. And he keeps it so grounded."
The whole unit has been happy to return to filming, and when Hargitay stepped back on set, she included a special Bensler Easter egg in her post. In the picture she shared, she's wearing the compass necklace that Stabler (Christopher Meloni) gave Benson during the Season 24 Finale crossover episode of SVU and Law & Order: Organized Crime.
RELATED: Mariska Hargitay Finally Reunited With Her TV Son to Film SVU Season 25: See Pics
The actors are just as close off-screen as the detectives are on, and Meloni delivered a touching tribute to his longtime co-star during the Glamour Women Of The Year Awards in 2021.
“She’s fearless, without the bravado of the warrior stance, but always with the open arms, the open heart. She’s a connector of people because she knows we’re all better when we’re working together. She is as comfortable in the sacred as she is in the profane; she is a soul in the constant search of the beauty and the truth that she knows that this world holds, but she also knows that it requires vigilance, persistence, and insistence to pry magic from the oftentimes mundane reality. Her first instance is to always react with compassion and empathy. She sees hope in the hopeless; she sees the potential in the you, and me, and us," he said.
