Mariska Hargitay returns as Olivia Benson!
Two and a half weeks after the 118-day SAG-AFTRA strike was resolved, the team fell behind Law and Order: Special Victims Unit has officially begun filming on the show’s historic 25th season — and the show’s leading lady took to Instagram to celebrate the cast and crew’s first big day back at work.
In a post she shared on Instagram, the actress, 59, shared a behind-the-scenes photo of Ice-T moving to karate Hargitay, who was holding a camera on her shoulder.
“Going into Season 25 as… 🎥📽️🎬 #Season25 #DAYON #WorkFam #BackAtIt #CameraGirl #KarateChop #AndEverybodyWas,” she wrote in the caption.
In the next post, Harigitay shared a selfie she took with co-star Peter Scanavin and marked his return to the courtroom. Scanavino could be seen flashing a five with his left hand, while Hargitay held up two fingers, representing the number 25.
“Just a quarter of a century… no big deal #Season25 #HereWeGo #SetBesties #TisTheSeasonForASelfie #Reunited,” she captioned the post.
Ice-T also got in on the action, marking his return to the set with his own Instagram post.
“Going back to work on Monday,” the 65-year-old rapper captioned a photo of him out for a walk wearing a raincoat, plaid pants and black loafers. “First day of shooting 🎥 SVU season 25 💥.”
Last week, Christopher Meloni shared how excited he was for the cast to resume filming with a funny photo posted on his social media.
“The caption is either ‘keep your friends close, keep your camera closer’ OR ‘Harassment and love are like razors when it comes to me and my crew,'” he wrote alongside a hilarious picture of himself wrapping his arms around a smiling cameraman. “We’re looking forward to getting back to doing what we do,” he added.
Todd Williamson/NBC via Getty
Hargitay has hosted the NBC series since it premiered in 1999, with Ice-T joining just a year later in 2000, so it’s no surprise that the 25th season ALL, which is set to premiere on January 18, will see their characters Olivia Benson and Odafina “Fin” Tutuola return to the 16th Precinct. ADA Dominick “Sonny” Carisi (Scanavino) will also return.
During the season 24 finale that aired in May, ALL teamed up with sister show Organized crime while Benson and Elliot Stabler (Meloni) team up once again to track down the criminal mastermind at the head of the hit-and-run ring.
The partners followed the case to Ohio, where Benson was shot first in the hip at a diner and ended up in the emergency room as the joint team successfully caught their perpetrator.
Mariska Hargitay makes fun of Christopher Meloni’s bald head: ‘Rapunzel, let your hair down’
The two-part episode eventually ended with Stabler giving Benson a compass necklace “to bring her happiness.” He even broke off the letter “E” from the “Live Love Laugh” ornament Benson had in his office so that the first word mimicked her name to keep it.
On the night of the spring finale, Hargitay Instagrammed a picture with Meloni from the set with the same cheeky caption: “Liv loves to laugh.”
Mariska Hargitay calls Kelli Giddish ‘friend for life’ ahead of ‘Law & Order: SVU’ release
Even Amanda Rollins (Kelli Giddish) guest starred in the final episodes after leaving the show last winter.
Rollins was working as a forensic pathologist now that she had traded in her badge for books as a professor at Fordham University, and she surprised Benson not only with her help but with her pregnancy.
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Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images
In real life, Giddish gave birth to her third child, a son named Oldie, over the summer.
Both Hargitay and Meloni, meanwhile, have shown support for the union during months of strike negotiations by protesting with their fellow actors.
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All three of them Law and order series — OG, Special Victims Unit and Organized crime — returns on January 18, beginning at 8:00 p.m. ET, on NBC.
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Source: HIS Education