Chris Meloni Said The Sweetest Thing About Mariska Hargitay

"Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" fans know Mariska Hargitay and Chris Meloni have a special relationship. Their characters, Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler, were partners for years and there was always a current of electricity buzzing between them. Even after Meloni left the show, the personal friendship between the two actors remained. During the recent Glamour Woman of the Year Awards, in fact, Meloni shared sweet sentiments about his friend that will have fans swooning.

Glamour noted Hargitay wore a stunning pink gown to the event, a choice made in order to honor her late mother, Jayne Mansfield. "I'm bringing my mother with me tonight," Hargitay explained. "She's here, and she's one of the most glamorous women in the world. I hope I can do her justice," she added. During her speech, Hargitay touched on what the term means to her. "Our glamour is something that lives and shines and breathes deep, deep in us." She added, "Inner poise, inner strength. That's glamour to me. Owning and embracing all of the parts of ourselves ... So you don't tell us what our glamour means. We decide." 

There was plenty of praise for Hargitay during the award ceremony, but Meloni's introduction was impossible to top. Hargitay noted "it's very meaningful" to have Meloni do as much, "especially after the journey we've had these 22 years." She added, "The creative journey, the trust, the friendship, he's sort of seen it all." Here's how Meloni introduced her.

As Glamour noted, when Chris Meloni introduced Mariska Hargitay at their Woman of the Year Awards event on November 8, he admitted he needed to "right a wrong that has festered for far too long." The actor mentioned an interview he did two decades prior, where he was asked about his "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" co-star. At the time, he simply noted she "had great energy." Hargitay challenged him on that, telling him it meant he had "nothing original or truthful" to share, as he recalled on-stage. 

Given the chance to honor Hargitay, Meloni took another stab at describing her. "Radiant. Charming. Funny. Generous. Elegant. Bawdy. Honest. Appreciative. Inclusive. Direct. Vivacious. That's my favorite word; it comes from the Latin, 'to live,'" he detailed. He noted she lives "with great passion" and "she's fearless, without the bravado of the warrior stance, but always with the open arms, the open heart."

Meloni described his long-time friend and co-star as "a soul in the constant search of the beauty and the truth that she knows that this world holds." He added that she always initially reacts "with compassion and empathy" and "sees hope in the hopeless; she sees the potential in the you, and me, and us." After working with Hargitay for 13 years as well as cultivating a friendship that has lasted more than two decades, it would seem Meloni knocked it out of the park.