Meloni paid tribute in November 2021 to his costar during Glamour‘s Women of the year ceremony. “I have been trusted with one task tonight, introduce someone who needs no introduction, who I’ve been working with for 13 years, and been friends with for 22,” he started. “Because tonight, I am here to right a wrong that has festered for far too long. Twenty years ago an interviewer asked me about Mariska, and I said, ‘She has great energy.’ She read the article, she brought it to me in hair and makeup, she goes, ‘What is this?’ I go, ‘What do you mean? You have great energy.’ She goes, ‘You don’t say someone has great energy, because what that means is you have nothing nice to say about them, you have nothing original or truthful, you might as well say I have a great personality.’
“And to be truthful, have you ever met Mariska?” Meloni continued. “She’s got great energy, great personality. Tonight, I’m going to say Radiant. Charming. Funny. Generous. Elegant. Bawdy. Honest. Appreciative. Inclusive. Direct. Vivacious. That’s my favorite word; it comes from the Latin, to live. Which is what she does with great passion, every day, with everyone that she engages, be they friends, family, strangers, or commitments.”
He continued, “She’s fearless, without the bravado of the warrior stance, but always with the open arms, the open heart. She’s a connector of people, because she knows we’re all better when we’re working together. She’s equally at home in the sacred and the profane. She is a soul in constant search for the beauty and truths of this world. But she also knows it takes perseverance, persistence, and vigilance to find magic in the mundane. Her first example is to always respond with compassion, empathy, and understanding. She sees hope in the hopeless; she sees the potential in the you, and me, and us.”
Source: Glamour
