Law & Order star Chris Meloni was used to teaming up with Mariska Hargitay all the time in the SVU spin-off. But his new series Organized Crime saw Meloni teaming up with new cast members he’d get to know.
What Chris Meloni thought about working with this ‘Organized Crime’ co-star
Meloni found himself collaborating with familiar faces and some new ones after returning to the Law & Order universe. Organized Crime has allowed Meloni to reunite with stars like Hargitay through crossover episodes. But fans of the show have seen Meloni’s Elliot Stabler getting close to other co-workers as well. One of them would be Ainsley Seiger’s Jet Slootmaekers.
Seiger plays a former hacker who’s recruited by Elliot to work for law enforcement. It’s a pairing between veteran and young newcomer that have intrigued many fans of the show, including Meloni himself.
“I’m obsessed with my relationship with Ainsley. But the best part is her originality, who she is, how she wears it, how she carries herself. How professional she is, how good she is,” Meloni once told NBC.
Likewise, Seiger has also had a good time working with Meloni.
“The idea of getting to work with Chris Meloni was really exciting to me, and that has lived up to its expectations. It’s been amazing and so fun. I love the show. I love everyone that I worked with. It’s been great,” she said.
How Ainsley Seiger ended up in ‘Law & Order Organized Crime’
Organized Crime is a breakout role for Seiger, and one she acquired through auditioning. She impressed casting directors with her performance, and was almost immediately a part of Law & Order mythology afterwards.
“I sent in two tapes of me doing scenes from the show. One of them was the scene in the pilot episode that I have with Stabler. I sent them in, and I didn’t hear back for about a week and a half. I was like, ‘I didn’t get it.’ Then, I got a call a few hours later, ‘You’re moving to New York in three days.’ It’s been very fast. It’s been a total rollercoaster,” she once told Pop Culturalist.
Seiger noted that she was already a fan of Dick Wolf’s franchise before being cast. But this just added to the pressure of living up to the expectations of the cast, crew, and even fans.
“I really wanted Jet to be unique and original,” Seiger said. “The writers have done an incredible job making Jet her own person and her own character outside of the stereotypical tech person that we all know exists. They’ve done an amazing job, and I get so excited to play her every day, but yeah, I was definitely nervous. I wanted to make a good impression, not only for the fans and network, but also for my castmates.”
What Ainsley Seiger learned about Chris Meloni on ‘Law & Order’
Given Meloni’s decades’ worth of experience, Seiger soaked up as much as she could from her co-star while on set. She asserted she learns from Meloni through his advice, and through his example.
“Chris is always dropping little nuggets of wisdom all over the place,” she said. “This is probably where a bit of Jet comes out in me, but I learn more by watching him work and observing him doing a scene or the way that he conducts himself in the space; I learned by picking up on the things that he’s doing. He’s had such an amazing career, and it shows. I mean, just the way he walks into a room and his presence. He’s such a giving scene partner, too, which is really fulfilling. The biggest thing I’ve learned from him is to take up space.”
