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Mariska Hargitayis losing one of her “favorite” people whenKelli GiddishexitsLaw & Order: Special Victims Unitthis season.
A month after Giddish, 42, announced she would beleavingSVUsome time during season 24, Hargitay paid tribute to her costar at an event celebrating the show’supcoming season premiere.
“She is one of my favorite actors that I’ve ever worked with, and we got to build something really beautiful together and really learned together because our characters had quite a journey,” Hargitay, 58, toldEntertainment Tonighton Monday.
Hargitay has starred onSVUsince the show’s debut in 1999 and now serves as an executive producer on the series. Reflecting on Giddish’s early days as a series regular in season 13, she acknowledged, “It wasn’t so easy at the beginning, and then we just fell into this beautiful safety, trust.”
Added the Emmy winner: “I’m gonna miss her a lot, but she’s a lifelong friend and I’m just glad that our paths crossed, and I know they’ll continue to cross.”
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SVUcostarIce-Talso addressed his costar’s departure on Monday,telling PEOPLE: “It’s a sad thing. Me and Kelli were friends.”
He noted that calls “from higher up” resulted in Giddish’s exit: “It came from the top of the mountain, you know?”
He continued, “When I heard about it, I called to check on my pulse, like, ‘What’s going on?’ But this is the business we’re in, and they shuffle the deck occasionally.”
Octavio Pisano, who joined the series last season, also commented on the “bittersweet” moment the cast is facing.
“When I came to the show last season, Kelli was the first one to kind of take me under her wing, and most of my scenes in the earlier episodes were with her,” he shared. “So her and I have a bond.”
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Giddish has played Det. Amanda Rollins onSVUsince 2011.
She released a statement onInstagramAug. 24 confirming that “this will, indeed, be my last season onLaw & Order: SVU.”
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“I’m so excited to take all the things I have learned in my time onSVUand put them toward everything that’s next to come,” Giddish wrote.
Pisano, 36, also touched on his costar’s next steps, telling PEOPLE: “Obviously I’m really sad, but I’m truly excited about the next chapter in her life because she’s an amazing talent.”
Ice-T, 64, summed up up theSVUcrew’s feelings: “Kelli will be missed.”
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Law & Orderthree-hour season premiere crossover event begins Thursday at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.
source: people.com
