Kelli Giddish Discusses Deep Friendship with Mariska Hargitay: Wish People Knew “How Funny” She Is
Kelli Giddish Discusses Deep Friendship with Mariska Hargitay: Wish People Knew “How Funny” She Is
There are few things more precious than the genuine friendship that exists between Kelli Giddish and Mariska Hargitay.
Giddish, who re-joined Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as a series regular at the start of Season 27, spoke at length about her relationship with Hargitay during an appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show on Tuesday, January 20
Their bond has been well documented over the years, but Giddish offered some fresh insight into their friendship.
Soon after the interview began, the topic of a viral video of Giddish and Hargitay dancing to the Law & Order theme song came up. The two stars participated in the social media trend that took hold in the summer of 2025, and their version garnered more than 80 million views — no small feat.
“I watched it, and she is a great dancer — is there anything Mariska can’t do?” talk show host Drew Barrymore wondered aloud.
“No, there’s nothing,” Giddish responded. “And I wish people also just knew how funny she [is].”
The hilarious video is still making the rounds today and is a testament to the real-life friendship forged over years of working together on SVU.
“When I first started the show,” Giddish shared, “one of my good girlfriends, she was like, ‘Oh my God, you got an SVU gig? This is amazing!’ She was like, “Mariska is my hero. She’s such a woman. And she just encompasses womanhood.’ … I’m like, ‘I’m so excited.’ But then, you come to know her and you come to understand what that means and what that means to get to be her friend. To get to be her supporter, to get her support from all angles.”
Giddish brought up her SVU character Amanda Rollins’ on-screen bond with Hargitay’s Olivia Benson.
“People really respond to our relationship on the show because you get to see two working moms — our characters — you get to see that dynamic,” she said. “You get to see us not agree — just like two girlfriends don’t agree — but they tell the truth to each other, and they support each other, no matter what.”
Kelli Giddish says her friendship with Mariska Hargitay was “earned”
Today, Giddish and Hargitay are two peas in a pod — but their connection didn’t magically happen overnight.
In a 2022 interview with People, Giddish explained that their bond happened slowly, just like their characters’ journey on SVU.
“That relationship really developed organically over time into such a strong female relationship,” Giddish says of Rollins and Benson. “And it wasn’t like I came on the show 12 years ago and we were like, ‘Hey, I’m going to be your best buddy.’ It wasn’t that. Every step of the way was earned, every hardship and every step back. Rollins had to fight her way back into being trusted again. So it was really fun to play and it kind of mirrors mine and Mariska’s relationship in real life.”
