Law & Order: Special Victims Unit has had a lot of storylines play out over the last two decades, whether it’d be a blossoming romance between Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler or a chill-inducing blast from the past for Finn. It's particularly great that amid the legal-related drama, the show has been able to put focus on the personal lives of the detectives at the Manhattan unit. However, even that can get mixed up with the business sometimes, and Ryan Buggle -- who portrays Benson’s son, Noah -- knows that all too well. In fact, he opened up what it was like filming a violent scene with his on-screen mom, Mariska Hargitay.
Ryan Buggle chatted with People, during which he discussed what it was like filming the Season 24 episode “Jumped In.” The scene he recalled featured Noah watching his mother get attacked by gang members just outside their apartment building. While speaking to the news outlet, Buggle explained just how he prepared to shoot the intense moment and, as you might imagine, his TV mom played a role in how he got ready:
It was the BX9 scene. It was fun, but also really hard and scary, too, because I literally saw Mariska getting beat up in front of me. I talked to Mariska about it a lot before [we filmed]. And I just think because I've been Noah for so long, I just kind of think, 'How would Noah feel?' and that's just how I do it.
It definitely wasn't easy for this fan to watch Benson getting beat up, so you can definitely understand why it would be hard for the 13-years-old actor to actually film it. Nevertheless, he pushed through it, and Mariska Hargitay deserves credit for making sure that her young co-star was doing alright before they began.
Given the nature of the show and his character's mother, the star will probably be involved in more emotionally-charged scenes like this as time goes on. I'd assume that his co-star will assist him with those if she can, though. In terms of their characters, I hope they get a bit of a reprieve from such turmoil, as they went through quite a lot with Duarte and deserve to be happy for a while.
Ryan Buggle’s talk with Mariska Hargitay helps to indicate just how close they've been since they started working together. In 2022, the young actor shared some sweet BTS stories involving Hargitay, even admitting that she’s taken him to the toy store. Not only that, but he also plays video games with Ice-T, whose character has a close relationship with Noah. All in all, it sounds like Buggle has a strong support system that can help him through any potentially difficult scenes.
Law & Order: SVU has been renewed, so you'll get to see more of Ryan Buggle and Mariska Hargitay's chemistry moving forward. New episodes air on Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on NBC as part of the 2023 TV schedule.
