Mariska Hargitay said Jalen Brunson pushed her to take on her Broadway debut, telling viewers on the Today show that his humility and work ethic helped her through the fear of stepping into Every Brilliant Thing. She also said she plans to be at Game 3 tonight, extending a friendship that has become one of the Knicks’ most visible off-court storylines.
Hargitay said she was terrified to do the show and kept thinking about Brunson when the pressure built. She said his example reminded her that hard things can be done, and called him “my friend, my inspiration,” before adding, “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” For a performer known for confidence on screen and stage, the admission landed as a rare public glimpse of nerves and of where she turned to steady them.
The connection between the two has grown in plain sight at Madison Square Garden. Brunson rarely interacts with celebrity fans sitting courtside after games, but when Hargitay is there, he gives her a big hug. That detail became a running joke after Seth Meyers said last year that Ben Stiller told him all the celebrities were jealous because Brunson only hugs Hargitay after games. Hargitay said she learned Brunson was a fan of SVU and said she was a huge fan of his; Brunson has said his father always watched SVU, played the theme song in the house and that he grew up hearing it before recognizing many episodes himself.
Brunson has said SVU is a pregame show for him, and that when he first met Hargitay he was not especially starstruck. What started as a mutual fandom has turned into a warm friendship, one made more visible last year when Brunson and his wife, Alison Marks, attended the premiere of My Mom Jayne at the Tribeca Film Festival. Hargitay’s plan to show up for Game 3 tonight adds another public chapter to that relationship, even if she did not spell out what about this particular game made it a must-see.
For now, the story is less about a celebrity sighting than about how a Knicks star and a longtime TV presence ended up drawing confidence from each other. Hargitay is going to the game, Brunson is still the player she says helped her cross a Broadway line she was afraid to approach, and the next hug at Madison Square Garden may be the most predictable part of the night.
