Law & Order SVU was very good to its stars Chris Meloni and Mariska Hargitay. It not only gave them both the careers that they enjoy now, but they were also recognized for some of television’s most coveted accolades. Although they’ve both received Emmy nominations, Hargitay was considered for the prize before Meloni was. Which made things a little awkward for Meloni on the SVU set.
How Chris Meloni felt after Mariska Hargitay got her first Emmy nomination and he didn’t
Hargitay received her first of many Emmy nominations for Outstanding Lead Actress in a drama series back in 2004. Since then, Hargitay went on to be nominated 8 times for her contributions on the show. She even won the Emmy in 2006. This was a big year for SVU, as Meloni received his first nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama series at the time. Some felt this nomination was a long time coming. Especially since Meloni was left out of the Emmy conversation the first time Hargitay was recognized.
In a 2020 interview with Randee Dawn, Meloni reflected on what the mood was like on set after Hargitay’s first Emmy nom. And how his own snub affected Hargitay.
“I know it’s hard for her,” he said. “I still remember the first time she got nominated and I didn’t. And it was so weird on the set, it was just like … and I didn’t try to convince anyone, but people would be like, ‘Man, you should have been nominated, too.’ And I’m like, ‘I’m okay.’ And they’d be like, ‘Sure. You soldier on, cowboy.’ It’s like, Oh, God, you can’t win. And she couldn’t win. She just couldn’t win. I think she felt she was undeserving of it, and I was, and whatever that s*** was.”
Chris Meloni was called out for his behavior after his first Emmy nomination
Some might think that an award nomination might help inflate an actor’s ego. But it seems that Meloni’s Emmy nomination had the exact opposite effect on him. He reflected on what his reaction was when former SVU showrunner Neal Baer notified him of his Emmy nomination. The news had little effect on Meloni.
“I was called out – I didn’t even know when they were announced; I was out water-skiing. And my wife’s like out on the dock going, ‘Come here, Neal called.’ And it was like eight in the morning, and I’m like, whatever. And Neal gets on the phone and goes, ‘Congratulations!’ And I go, ‘What?’ And he goes, ‘You got a nomination!’ And I’m like, ‘Cool! Okay, I’m going back to ski,’” he remembered.
It was a conversation that the Organized Crime star had with his father that helped put his Emmy recognition in perspective.
“And I told that story because I – you know, we all know the hype and the hoops that we’re going to have to jump through and the big party that’s going to be great, and when I got it, I was like, all right. And my dad was really pretty cool, because I told him,” he recalled. “I was having a hard time placing it, because I’d never expected it, and it wasn’t part of my universe. And he listened to me and he goes, ‘Well, these are the sort of things you accept as grace.’ It’s such a simple thing, it’s like, ‘You’re so f***ing stubborn,’ that’s all it is. Someone’s giving you a gift. It’s their gift to you. Thank you. Accept it, it’s great, thank you for the party, and I finally got it, and I was like, I couldn’t move my own framework of what was important out of the way.”
