Mariska Hargitay recently had an overdue reunion with her former Law & Order: SVU castmate Danny Pino, and now a hoard of nostalgic fans are demanding a Benson and Amaron reunion.
Hargitay met up with her friend when she went to Los Angeles to support SVU‘s Ice-T at his Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony in February. Since she was in town, she visited Pino on the set of Mayans M.C. Pino stars in the FX series as Miguel Galindo. And when Hargitay stopped by, he was directing an episode.
Try Paramount+ FREE for a week. Subscribe here to watch your favorite shows.
This week, Hargitay posted a Throwback Thursday snapshot of the meetup on her Instagram, and it immediately threw Law & Order: SVU fans into a frenzy.
“The way I almost screamed thinking he was doing a guest star on SVU,” one disappointed person commented.
“Can Amaro come back?” begged another. “Please?”
“So much talent and gorgeousness in one picture!” wrote a fan. ” I miss seeing #Bensaro on my screen each week! Definitely need another visit from Amaro at the 16th precinct.”
The ‘Law & Order: SVU’ Writers Left the Door Open For Danny Pino
Danny Pino starred as Detective Nick Amaro from 2011 until 2014 and returned once more for Law & Order: SVU’s 500th episode. While he was a favorite on the series, Pino didn’t want to make a long-term career out of the procedural as some of his castmates did, and his character had also hit a wall, according to Distractify. So in a mutual decision, the show wrote him off by sending Amaro to another district.
The transfer gave the character an easy way to come back to the screen for special appearances, which Pino took advantage of in 2021.
After leaving SVU, Pino took a few guest roles on shows like The Good Fight and One Day at a Time before finding a lead spot on Mayans. But despite having successfully moved on, the actor hasn’t completely washed his hands of Law & Order.
While speaking with ET ahead of the 500th episode premiere, the actor admitted he’d consider making more cameos in the future. So fans can keep hoping for more Amaro because there’s still a chance.
“I’ve learned in this business never to say never,” he said when asked about a future SVU return. “I think that the show’s in fantastic shape. It’s been doing incredibly well without me. So, I’m just happy to reconnect and to give the fans something back because there has been so many people reaching out to me over the years, asking if and when Amaro would come back.”
