Inside Neil Patrick Harris And Mariska Hargitay's Friendship
It's always surprising to learn that two of your favorite stars with seemingly no connection to each other are actually close friends. Take Addison Rae and Kourtney Kardashian, for example. Kardashian is twice Rae's age and has three kids, but that hasn't stopped the pair from hitting it off. And since it's not weird when Kardashian's ex Scott Disick hangs out with women half his age, why should it be weird when she does?
Perhaps the strangest, most random celebrity friendship is that between 50 Cent and Bette Midler. No, you're not hallucinating. The rapper and the much-older singer/actor have actually been friends for a few years. 50 Cent posted a photo of the two on his Instagram back in 2014, writing, "Bette milder [sic] is on my list,of my favorite people in the world." According to Amomama, the unlikely duo bonded over their love of community gardens. Midler founded the New York Restoration Project back in 1995, which works to restore parks and gardens in low-income neighborhoods like 50 Cent's native Jamaica in Queens. "When Bette calls you don't say 'no,'" the rapper told People. "Not if you want your reputation to stay the way it is."
Neil Patrick Harris recently revealed one of his random celebrity friends: "Law & Order: SVU" star Mariska Hargitay. How did this relationship come to fruition?
Neil Patrick Harris and Mariska Hargitay formed a COVID pod
Neil Patrick Harris revealed his friendship with Mariska Hargitay in an interview with The AV Club. "She is the funniest, nicest, most generous individual," he told the site. "I can't say enough about her and her husband, Peter [Hermann]." The two stars didn't meet through work either. "We have two kids that are similar in age," Harris said, "and we met, I think, in Puerto Rico at an event that [chef] Jose Andres was doing." Stars — they're just like us! Harris continued, "And when you get 9-, 10-year-old kids that enjoy each other's company in the middle of a pandemic, you become fast friends very quickly. So we are all part of the same bubble now."
According to Today, Harris and his husband David Burtka have two 10-year-old children, Harper and Gideon. Meanwhile, Hargitay has three children: 15 year-old August, 10-year-old Amaya, and 9-year-old Andrew, per Hollywood Life. As part of a bubble, the families grew close fairly quickly, and Harris pointed out that the adults are just as fond of each other as the kids. "I just think they're the loveliest," Harris said. "She works so hard, and Peter works so hard, and they still manage to maintain such great family relations with each other." He went on to say, "I think the world of them."
NPH congratulated Mariska on 500 SVU episodes
Even after his interview with The AV Club, Neil Patrick Harris continues to sing Mariska Hargitay's praises. On October 21, he posted a photo on Instagram (pictured above) congratulating his pal on 500 episodes of "Law & Order: SVU." "I am in constant awe of your professionalism, your work ethic, your positivity and your talent," he wrote. "You are an absolutely amazing role model to women and girls around the world." Harris also applauded Hargitay's commitment to the series, writing, "A massive milestone! And you were front and center for all 500! Incredible. Bravo." Hargitay replied with the dancing woman emoji and the praying hands emoji.
On "Live! With Kelly and Ryan," Hargitay revealed that she still hadn't seen the episode because she was "too nervous to watch it." "They sent me the link so many times," she said. "I think that the idea of the 500th episode was so much pressure or something on me. And I was so nervous ... coming to work this day." Hargitay also elaborated on what the 500-episode milestone meant to her. "Some episodes aren't quite as difficult, but for me, this was sort of like this moment to take in what we've made, what we've created," she added.