Cute Photos of the Law & Order: SVU Cast Hanging On and Off the Set

Snow Day

After a long hiatus, Christopher Meloni returned to the Law & Order universe in 2021 with the introduction of Elliot Stabler's spinoff Law & Order: Organized Crime. And part of that reintroduction meant meeting the son of Mariska Hargitay's Olivia Benson, Noah, played by Ryan Buggle.

The young actor shared this photo on Instagram back in 2021 along with the cute caption, "I guess i’ll find out who this guy is tonight? 🤔😉."

All in the Family

While Hargitay and Meloni's friendship is now more than two decades old, they knew from early on that their relationship was a lifelong kind of thing.

When Meloni and his wife Sherman Williams welcomed their daughter Sophia in 2001, they chose Hargitay as her godmother.

Here, Chris, Sophia and Hargitay pose together during Thanksgiving 2021.

Triple Threat

When gearing up to say goodbye to her character Amanda Rollins in 2022, actress Kelli Giddish shared a collection of sweet photos from her 12 seasons on the show.

"To everyone who supported Rollins – THANK YOU!" she captioned the slideshow of snapshots with costars from the past and present.

In this shot, Giddish, who is making a return for season 25, sits on a stoop with Ice- T and Molly Burnett, who plays Detective Grace Muncy.

Out of Office

Also included in the roundup was a causal shot with costar and onscreen love interest, Peter Scanavino.

Mask On

And Hargitay and Giddish were adorable in their floral dresses in the squad room!

Ride or 'Dye'

Ice-T and Hargitay have starred on SVU together for nearly as long as the show has been on the air (Ice-T joined the cast in season 2 and has been one of the show's leads ever since).

Together, the two have shared countless memories as Olivia Benson and Fin Tutuola, including visits to the SVU hair and makeup room.

"'A little dye will keep us fly' - @icet," Hargitay captioned a picture of the duo with hair dye setting on their heads.

Costar Smiles

Buggle has grown up on the set — first appearing as Noah back in 2017 — and in doing so has built special relationships with members of the cast. In his downtime, Buggle told PEOPLE he often plays Mario Kart  with Ice-T.

"He kind of crushes me a little bit. I think he's had a lot of practice," he shared.

The Man Who Started It All

In 2021, Hargitay and Meloni had a get-together with the creator of the Law & Order franchise, Dick Wolf.

Staying Connected

In this super-relatable shot shared on Meloni's Instagram, the actor was seen FaceTiming with his longtime pal.

Giving Thanks

While Hargitay has appeared on the show for 24 seasons, other members of the squad have come and gone. Scanavino has starred as Dominick Carisi — detective turned ADA — since 2013, while Octavio Pisano (left) joined the cast more recently in 2021 as Detective Joe Velasco.

Hargitay gave a sweet shoutout to her costars in this behind-the-scenes shot captioned, "How lucky am I to have these two beautiful humans by my side? @octaviopisano and @peterscanavino I love respect and admire you both so much. Thank you for your beautiful performances."

"Thank you for trusting me and thank you for just making everything better.♥️#KingOfTheMoon," she concluded, noting the name of episode 15 season 24, which she directed.

Cheers for the Birthday Boy

A cast that celebrates birthdays together, stays together! When it was time to ring in the birthday of Danny Pino — who played detective Nick Amaro — the gang was back together to celebrate.

In a photo shared to Instagram, Hargitay called the foursome of herself, Pino, Giddish and Scanavino, "#FriendsForLife"

Back to Work

And speaking of celebrations, to celebrate being back on set to film the show's 25th season, following the 118-day SAG-AFTRA strike, Hargitay shared this shot from set as she held a camera on her shoulder and Ice-T posed.

"Rolling into season 25 like… 🎥📽️🎬 #Season25 #DAYON #WorkFam #BackAtIt #CameraGirl #KarateChop #AndEverybodyWas," she wrote in the caption.

Courtside Pals

When it was time to catch the 2021 U.S. Open, Hargitay and and Meloni were close by in the Grey Goose box to watch Novak Djokovic take on Alexander Zverev. At one point during the game, Meloni gave his longtime pal a kiss on the forehead as she sat next to husband Peter Hermann.

Silly Selfie

Meloni sure knows how to have some fun with a selfie camera, as evidenced in this candid shot shared to Instagram.

Milestone Moment

When Ice-T was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2023, Hargitay was of course there to pay tribute to her longtime friend.

"The reason that you have fame in my heart is because you are the OG of friendship," she said during her speech at the ceremony. "You are my real deal, my true blue, authentic, unshakable friend, and I cannot tell you what that means to me."

Foe to Friend

Alongside a sweet photo of the pair, Meloni nodded toward his often fraught onscreen relationship with Robert Burke's Ed Tucker in an Instagram caption writing, "Weird things happen when u make up with IAB @bobby1960."

Say Cheese!

Back in 2014, Hargitay was joined by some of her leading guys including Scanavino, Pino and Raúl Esparza — who played ADA Rafael Barba — at the second annual Paleyfest New York.

Sweet Memory

During his 12-year tenure on the show, Meloni had the chance to star alongside Richard Belzer, who played Detective John Munch for more than 15 years.

"Hangin with my favorite of peeps- Da Belz!," Meloni wrote in 2018 alongside this shot with the late actor.