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SVU Taught Mariska Hargitay to Ask This Question Every Time She Visits a New City
After putting criminals behind bars for more than two decades on SVU, Hargitay knows what questions to ask before booking a hotel.
After playing the butt-kicking Olivia Benson for 25 years on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, it's no wonder Mariska Hargitay has her wits about her.
The Law & Order legend has charmed audiences far and wide with her captivating portrayal of the SVU Detective-turned-Captain. Over the past 26 years, the line where between Benson ends and Hargitay begins has faded.
"They're just becoming so enmeshed and entwined, and I think that's a good thing," Hargitay told E! News in 2017. Not only is Hargitay at the helm of the Joyful Heart Foundation, a nonprofit committed to helping survivors of sexual assault, but she's no stranger to NYC residents flocking to her side for help while she's in her Benson garb during filming. Benson — sorry, Hargitay — is as much the people's champion in real life as she is on-screen, and she's spoken proudly about how Benson has shaped her as a person over the years.
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In a June 2024 interview with Selena Gomez for Interview Magazine, Hargitay revealed that her role on SVU has even impacted how she travels.
Mariska Hargitay says SVU is always "on the brain"
Hargitay has broken records as the longest-running primetime actress through her role as Benson on SVU, where fans have watched her bust hundreds of criminal cases. After playing a cop for nearly three decades, Hargitay's mind has become geared to anticipate whatever nonsense may come her way. And she has a question ready for wherever she goes.
"When I started the show, I wasn't aware of how deeply it would go into me," Hargitay told Interview Mag. "My husband Peter [Hermann] is always like, anytime I go anywhere, my first question is, 'What's the crime rate here?' So it's on the brain."
When asked about how it feels to be approaching 26 seasons of SVU, Hargitay remains humbly gracious. "It totally feels crazy. I'm in denial about it," Hargitay told Gomez. "During, I call it the school year, there's so much to do and so many problems to fix and so many scenes to shape. And when there's so much to do, you just do it. There's not a lot of time in terms of sitting around thinking about it. I feel a little bit like I woke up one day, and it was 25 years later."
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"That's been the gift of the character — she has evolved so much, going from detective to sergeant to lieutenant, and here I am now as captain, which is a completely new skill set from being a detective," Hargitay continued. "And I've actually grown up in front of the country, became a parent, gone from being equals to, 'Oh, now I'm your boss and have seniority.'"
During the wrap party for Season 25, Hargitay spoke with NBC Insider about how grateful she feels to be at the center of a mythic series like SVU.
"I love my job," she told NBC Insider. "I love going to work every day. I love the community that I'm in. I love my cast, my crew, and I love the intimacy of it all and the fact that we work in a culture that says, ‘Let's do the work, let's have a fun time, and best idea wins.’ It is such a team. It is such an incredible team, and we rely so much on each other. We’re a unit. It’s so sacred to me."
Watch the Season 26 premiere of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit on Thursday, October 3 at 9/8c on NBC.
