Christopher Meloni on Working with 'Law & Order: SVU' Costar Mariska Hargitay Again: 'Effortless'

After all these years,Christopher Melonistill has an immense amount of love and admiration forMariska Hargitay.

Whileappearing virtuallyonThe Tonight ShowThursday, Meloni, 59, gushed about returning to the set ofLaw & Order: SVUand reuniting with Hargitay, 57.

The actors previously costarred on the series for 12 years as the famed detective duo before Meloni left in 2011 due to issues with contract negotiations.

The moment, Meloni continued, settled in for him as soon as the pair started working together. “We know each other and mess around socially and all that, but when we got down and cameras were rolling … it was such a seamless, effortless endeavor,” the actor said. “It was great.”

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On April 1, Meloni will reprise his role as Detective Elliot Stabler and reunite onscreen with Hargitay’s Olivia Benson for a new episode of the NBC drama.

The episode will air right before the premiere of theLaw & Orderspinoff,Law & Order: Organized Crime, in which Meloni’s Stabler is the central character.

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Along with Meloni, the new spinoff, from creator Dick Wolf, will also starDylan McDermottand Tamara Taylor.

The series will follow Stabler, who returns to the New York Police Department to battle organized crime. After adevastating personal loss, he will aim to rebuild his life as part of a new elite task force.

RELATED VIDEO: Law & Order: SVU: Elliot Stabler Returns and Calls Out to Olivia Benson in Sneak Peek

Speaking with PEOPLE last month,Hargitay said she was “devastated"when her friend and costar abruptly exited the series years back.

“I was just so sad, because we started this thing and built it together,” she said at the time. “And we went through so many milestones and spent so much time together and understood so many things that nobody else could understand.”

Meloni said he saw things differently, though. “She was left in the familiarity of what we were. And I’m sure there were echoes, constant reminders, everywhere,” he said. “But for me, it was about how things fell out — and the word I’ll use is that it was inelegant.”

source: people.com