Mariska Hargitay On ‘Law & Order: SVU’ At 30 Seasons, Benson & Stabler

Law & Order: SVU, the longest-running primetime drama on American television, is set to return for a 28th season on NBC in 2026-27, part of a two-season pickup the venerable crime drama from Dick Wolf received last year.

The series’ future has long hinged on its star and executive producer Mariska Hargitay‘s desire to carry on as Detective Olivia Benson, a TV character so iconic, Taylor Swift named her cat after her.

So at NBCUniversal’s Emmy Kick-Off luncheon Wednesday, Hargitay, who won an Emmy for her role in 2006, was asked by Deadline whether she thinks SVU can make it to 30 seasons.

“I do. How about that? I do,” Hargitay said. “I love my show. I love my cast, I love my showrunner, my writers, my producers. I feel like the luckiest, happiest actress. I love Dick Wolf, and I’m so challenged still.”

That includes still striving for excellence after 27 seasons.

“One of the things that’s been so exciting is, we just finished Season 27,” Hargitay said. “I just watched the final episode of Season 27, and I thought it was the best of the season, and my best. What a way to finish a season after 27 years.”

The finale of SVU, in its first season with Michele Fazekas as showrunner, airs May 14.

“So, I don’t want to go anywhere right now,” Hargitay added. “It’s been amazing. The show really knows how to work with my schedule — I shot my movie, I figured out how to do it, I’m going to do a play now on Broadway.”

Hargitay directed and produced the 2025 documentary My Mom Jayne about her mom, 1950s Hollywood star Jayne Mansfield. She is making her Broadway debut in the solo play Every Brilliant Thing from May 26 to June 28.

“We are very well oiled machine, the producers, we’re just finely tuned, we are; we know how to do it,” she said.

Could SVU make it to 35 seasons then?

“I don’t know, let’s just go to 30 first,” Hargitay said, laughing.

For the first 12 seasons of SVU, Hargitay’s Olivia Benson was partnered with Elliot Stabler, played by Christopher Meloni. Stabler returned to the L&O universe in 2021 as the lead of spinoff Organized Crime, with the fan-favorite duo reuniting in frequent crossovers over the past five years.

Following Deadline’s report last week that L&O: Organized Crime had been canceled, fans started posting photos of Benson and Stabler, with Hargitay writing “P4L” under Meloni’s IG video in which he bid farewell to his character.

Could Meloni now return to SVU in some capacity?

“I hope so,” Hargitay said. “That is a very heartening thing for both of us, that our relationship was so iconic culturally and that Benson and Stabler still resonates is deeply meaningful to me, and Chris and I, I’m sure you know, are very, very close. He’s a very in-demand actor, so we’ll see if the schedule is lined up.”

Meloni is the lead of Hulu’s upcoming NFL drama series The Land from This Is Us and Paradise creator Dan Fogelman.

“I love Chris and I love acting with Chris, so I’m always open to working with him and getting Benson and Stabler together,” Hargitay said. “They’re happiest when they’re together.”

For Hargitay, SVU has long been more than a show as she has been advocating for victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, and child abuse through her Joyful Heart Foundation.

“That’s why I don’t want to leave, because the show really makes a difference,” she said. “And I hear that every single day.”