Christopher Meloni explains why Stabler and Benson never dated

NEW YORK, March 31 (UPI) -- Christopher Meloni and Mariska Hargitay worked as well together on set as their characters did on Law & Order: SVU.

The 54-year-old actor discussed his onscreen and offscreen relationship with the 52-year-old actress on Thursday's episode of Inside the Actors Studio. Meloni and Hargitay co-starred as Elliot Stabler and Olivia Benson for 12 seasons before Meloni left the NBC series.

"There was always an unspoken shorthand to what we were doing," Meloni recalled. "There's a lot to be said for that when you're working with someone for 16 hours a day, you better get along when the cameras aren't rolling as well as when it is."

"Oh my God, [we were] always cracking up," he shared. "Constantly. Try[ing] to make each other laugh. You know, not in certain scenes, no, but yeah, constantly busting chops."

Stabler and Benson were on-the-job partners throughout Meloni's time on the series but never took their relationship to the next level. The actor explained the show's writers understood the characters dating would ruin the partnership.

"That I think they always knew would be the death knell of that relationship," he said. "I think they needed to keep that line taught and very clear ... Keep the tension, never cross it."

Meloni abruptly left Law & Order: SVU in 2011 after failed contract negotiations. The actor denied he will reprise Stabler in an interview this month after showrunner Warren Leight sparked rumors of his return.

"No, I heard that rumor along with everybody else," the star told HuffPost Live. "I have no idea where that came from or what that's about."

Meloni has since played Jack Dunlevy on Surviving Jack and Jonas/Gene on Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp. He now portrays August Pullman on WGN America series Underground, which airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET.