She has been the leading lady of Law & Order: SVU for more than 20 years, but Mariska Hargitay admits that the hit series was actually pretty intimidating for him at first.
When asked by TV Insider in 2018 if she was ever concerned about the difficult themes of Law & Order: SVU, Hargitay recalled the conversation she had with her agent before landing the iconic role. “My agent called to say, ‘I don’t know if you’ll be interested in this because it’s very dark subject matter.’”
Hargitay also stated that when she read her first-ever Law & Order: SVU script, she felt it was such a “truly pioneering” show. “I was shocked at first. I had to ground myself and be brave.”
While also revealing which storyline was actually meaningful for her, the Law & Order: SVU star said, “The one about Olivia getting a family after being turned down for adoption. And then having God drop this beautiful baby boy in her lap.”
Hargitay also declared that Law & Order: SVU is about the worst things people do to each other in the darkest part of humanity. This means many of the stories are pretty difficult.”But when a child suffers – those hit us hard.”
Mariska Hargitary Opens Up About Her ‘Law & Order: SVU’ Character
During her interview with TV Insider, Mariska Hargitay does share some more details about her Law & Order: SVU character, Olivia Benson. This includes how many times her character has been kidnapped. “[She’s been kidnapped] at least first [times],” Hargitay declared. “There were a few episodes where I’m like, ‘I’m not a very good cop, am I?’”
There was also a discussion about the many hairstyles that Olivia has had over the years. But Hargitay admitted she stands behind all her hairdos. However, the actress did recall one hairstyle mishap while on set. “After one shoot, the hairdresser, who was French, wanted to trim my hair. So he was drinking wine and cutting. And when I looked up from my magazine, I just went ‘This is not good.’”
Hargitay recalled the show’s creator, Dick Wolf, threatened to fire her after the hair situation. “I cried so hard, like, ‘You’re blaming me?’ It went on for two weeks. Then he said, ‘There’s no crying in television.’ And we moved past it.”
In regards to meeting Christopher Meloni, who plays Elliot Stabler, in the Law & Order franchise, Hargitay shared, “From the second we met, bells went off. We knew we were going to be a huge force in each other’s lives. He was intense and mercurial, but also fun.”
She then added how Meloni’s departure affected Law & Order: SVU. “I felt like I was almost on a new series.”
