Mariska Hargitay stays tuned to fans and tries to bring back her friend and former colleague Kelli Giddish for season 26 of “SVU” which should begin this fall…
If you’re excited about Kelli Giddish’s temporary but imminent return to SVU, know that series star Mariska Hargitay sees you — and is doing what she can to get the actress back permanently for the next season.
Kelli Giddisha former show regular, reprized her role as Amanda Rollins this Thursday, May 2, when a runaway bride called the task force for help and Rollins intervened on her day off.
This will mark the actress’ third appearance since she left the series in December 2022. When she first returned almost a year ago, for the season 24 finale, Amanda Rollins was pregnant with her third child – her first with her new husband, Assistant District Attorney Dominick “Sonny” Carisi (Peter Scanavino). During this episode, we learned that Rollins taught criminal behavior at Fordham University… and that she was very bored since she left the team!
Eight months later, during the first episode of season 25, broadcast last January, we were able to find her at the baptism of her son, Nicky – and of course Olivia Benson was there as the baby’s godmother.
“Kelli is my heart”
During an interview with Variety, published on May 1, Mariska Hargitay revealed that he fought the decision to withdraw Kelli Giddish of the casting in 2022 – a decision which came neither from the main interested party, nor from the showrunner David Graziano but from the production, according to the publication.
Mariska Hargitaywho is also a producer of the series, would have in fact lobbied for Kelli Giddish remains, but the decision had already been made.
“Kelli is my favorite actress to work with. Kelli is my heart”, she said. “It’s a sensitive subject. I have a say in the series [en tant que star et productrice depuis la saison 15]but I didn’t have enough at that time.”
Despite this, Mariska Hargitay said she was now trying to arrange the permanent return of Kelli Giddish for the 26th season of the long-running procedural series, which is set to debut this fall. The actress joined the series in 2011 following the departure of Christopher Meloni, subsequently forming an essential duo with Olivia.
“I don’t like not being listened to, especially when I’m right“, she added. “That relationship was one of the most powerful relationships on television because you saw these two badass women, so flawed and so there for each other.”
In the USA, New York Special Unit continues to broadcast its season 25 every Thursday. The season finale will be broadcast on May 16.
In France, you can currently find season 24 of the series every Monday from 11:10 p.m. on TF1. On the streaming side, the first 9 seasons of the show can be found on Prime Video.
