“It was earned on-screen, it was earned off-screen, and we’re such great friends,” the SVU star gushed.
etween the heart-pounding cases and courtroom showdowns, Season 27 of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit has been a wild ride. But fortunately for Captain Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay), her longtime ride-or-die, Amanda Rollins (Kelli Giddish), is back on the rollercoaster.
While Rollins took a brief hiatus back in Season 24 to become a criminology professor, it didn’t take long for her to realize she’s made for the investigative beat. After returning to the NYPD as an Intelligence Unit Sergeant, Rollins wasn’t too upset once she learned she was transferred back to the SVU. Rollins has slid right back into the grind with panache, meanwhile connecting with her A.D.A. husband Sonny Carisi (Peter Scanavino). With over a decade of procedural thrills behind her, Giddish couldn’t be happier to return to the squad.
During a March 2026 appearance on NBC New York, the SVU star opened up about her return as a regular cast member on the NBC nail-biter, gushing over the excitement of reuniting with her “family” on set. “I’m so happy to be back, it’s like a little family there… It’s great, absolutely great to be back,” Giddish raved.
“It’s like riding a bike. I love love love the crew there, I’ve done so many seasons there, and to get to come back and laugh as much as we laugh,” Giddish continued. “Even though the subject matter is so dark, but even through all that, we just know each other so well. And it’s a common language, and we just have a good time there. It’s just great to be back in the family.”
Kelli Giddish on her bond with Mariska Hargitay: “A really big reward”
Considering Giddish first settled into the squad room in Season 13 of SVU, it’s no wonder she has formed a steel-tight bond with Hargitay over their many shared years on screen. There’s a unique camaraderie forged when bringing a series like SVU to life, and Giddish agreed during her interview with NBC New York that her connection with Hargitay feels very much “like a sisterhood.”
“It totally is, and it was built organically,” Giddish told the news outlet. “It’s not like we were thrown together and like, ‘You guys love each other.’ No, it was earned on-screen, it was earned off-screen, and we’re such great friends.”
Giddish added that she also connects to Hargitay as a fellow mother, which has only strengthened their bond. “She’s like a mom friend to me; she’s one of my mom friends,” Giddish said. “To get to download to your friend and then you get to act with someone you so respect and trust, it really is a really big reward.”
Giddish echoed the sentiment during a 2022 interview with People, adding that her IRL friendship with Hargitay is heavily reflected within the evolution of Benson and Rollins’ trajectory on SVU.
“That relationship really developed organically over time into such a strong female relationship,” Giddish said while breaking down the fan favorite Benson-Rollins relationship. “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.”
