{"id":9964,"date":"2018-09-20T10:03:50","date_gmt":"2018-09-20T14:03:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/qa-law-order-svus-mariska-hargitay\/"},"modified":"2018-10-03T16:17:17","modified_gmt":"2018-10-03T20:17:17","slug":"law-order-svus-mariska-hargitay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/law-order-svus-mariska-hargitay\/","title":{"rendered":"Mariska Hargitay"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Long before the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements, Dick Wolf\u2019s Law & Order: SVU<\/em> started telling chilling and gut-wrenching stories of victims of sexual violence. The series premiered in 1999 with two lead actors, Chris Meloni and Mariska Hargitay. When Meloni left the show in 2011, Hargitay found herself number one on the call sheet with an almost entirely new cast. Despite the changes, and in large part due to Hargitay\u2019s portrayal of Olivia Benson\u2014which has earned her a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award\u2014SVU<\/em> maintains fiercely loyal viewers. In fact, the outpouring of letters from viewers recounting their own traumas made such an impact on Hargitay that she set up the Joyful Heart Foundation, which assists and empowers survivors of assault and abuse.<\/p>\n

TV DRAMA:<\/strong> You\u2019ve been playing Olivia for nearly 20 years. Does she remain an interesting character for you?
\nHARGITAY:<\/strong> If it weren\u2019t interesting and challenging, I wouldn\u2019t still be here, and that has been a unique gift. In so many ways, I feel like I, Mariska, am Olivia. We\u2019ve lived parallel lives in that we both grew up on the show. Olivia was a young, good, instinctual, compassionate, rookie cop who was driven by a need for justice, a need to right the wrongs of her past\u2014many people know that she is the product of a rape\u2014and when I read the script, I was so moved. I instantly connected with her and wanted to play this character more than anything and understood her on so many levels. And moving up as I have into more of a leadership position has been so satisfying. It\u2019s been incredibly challenging to go from being equals with the group to being their boss, which is a difficult thing to do, especially when there\u2019s intimacy. I always think that the rise is uncomfortable, and [Olivia also had] to make very difficult decisions, growing into her power, growing into her leadership and, most importantly, becoming a parent. When Olivia adopted baby Noah, all of a sudden, everything changed in the character and that was so exciting for me.<\/p>\n

And we\u2019ve had different leadership in terms of showrunners: we had Neal Baer for the first 11 years, and then the amazing Warren Leight, and now, recently, Michael Chernuchin, who\u2019s been a wonderful collaborator for me. I\u2019m in a unique position; it\u2019s fun to be able to be the architect of where the character is going. For example, [this season] I\u2019m going to go in a little bit of a different direction, because of what happened to Olivia [last] year, so that is challenging. I love it. The character has changed, but it\u2019s a new character because of the different actors and the different chemistries. When Chris Meloni [who played Detective Elliot Stabler] left after season 12, I thought, [gasps<\/em>]. We were this uniquely enmeshed partnership and there was such intimacy, complexity and chemistry. Then I had a new cast. I remember at the beginning of season 13 going to the cast and saying, \u201cHi, I\u2019m Mariska; I play Detective Benson,\u201d to Danny Pino [Detective Nick Amaro] and Kelli Giddish [Detective Amanda Rollins], who joined the show. Ice-T [Detective Odafin Tutuola] was my anchor, of course. Then we had Peter Scanavino [Detective Dominick Carisi]. Ra\u00fal Esparza [ADA Rafael Barba] and I had this beautiful six-year run, and now I have Philip Winchester [ADA Peter Stone], and it\u2019s so different. Philip and I bring out something so new in each other and just the nature of me having to be the teacher, and him not being Ra\u00fal, gives me so much to play. That is deeply unique in a long-running character, so it\u2019s fun to interact with all of them, because, again, it brings out so much newness.<\/p>\n

TV DRAMA:<\/strong> What makes SVU\u00a0<\/em>unique?
\nHARGITAY:<\/strong> I learned very early on from the type of fan mail that I was receiving that SVU\u00a0<\/em>was a very different kind of show, and we had an incredible opportunity. It was speaking to a different audience and was the beginning of giving voice to issues that traditionally had been swept under the carpet. The kind of fan mail that I was receiving was very different from the fan mail that I\u2019d previously received on, say, ER<\/em>, or any other show that I did. Women were disclosing stories of abuse, their own stories. I was so grateful that this television show gave voice to those issues, that if they were indeed on television, they could be discussed the next day at a watercooler and be new fodder for conversation. So as women and men started writing and sharing stories of abuse, I learned very early that it was not just a television show, and we had an incredible opportunity here.<\/p>\n

TV DRAMA:<\/strong> You have some scenes that are very tough. How do you disengage afterward?
\nHARGITAY:<\/strong> I still get nervous before a big scene, and I think that\u2019s a gift. For example, the arc with Pablo Schreiber [who played serial rapist, killer and kidnapper William Lewis] about being kidnapped and held hostage was so rough, but you\u2019re in it and you want to do a good job. Once I do the take, and I can feel if it was worthy, and the director is happy, there\u2019s such a huge relief of getting it and not wanting to do it again that it\u2019s a natural, \u201cI\u2019m done!\u201d It\u2019s like getting to the top of a mountain. It\u2019s just a natural release. Yes, there are times\u2014I remember one time, in particular, being held hostage in the jail, I threw up after that scene. Again, because of the issues and because of what I\u2019m carrying for survivors of assault.<\/p>\n

TV DRAMA:<\/strong> What\u2019s the atmosphere on the set during the difficult life-and-death scenes?
\nHARGITAY:<\/strong> It depends on the day. Our show is particularly rough and painful, and there are days that it\u2019s brutal because to go there and do it justice and tell the truth and know that you are telling someone\u2019s story, there is an incredible amount of responsibility that comes with that. I say to the young actors, If it doesn\u2019t hurt, you\u2019re not doing it right. [On the other hand, we also] laugh so hard, and we have so much fun at work. There are days when we can\u2019t get through a scene when somebody gets the giggles and, obviously [this happens more often] in the squad room. Philip and I will be doing a scene and it\u2019s great, because, [we have] a shorthand. I\u2019ll say, \u201cNo, this sucks,\u201d and he\u2019ll say, \u201cI know it sucks.\u201d That is so beautiful because it\u2019s so intimate; we trust each other. So we\u2019ll laugh about how bad we were, and then we do it again. We can go from laughing hysterically to crying hysterically, but it\u2019s also technical. Sometimes you\u2019re on a scene and you think, There\u2019s too much blood. Or, This looks fake from this angle; can we change it? Or, Sorry, sweetie, get up [to the actor playing the corpse], She\u2019s been lying down too long. Are you cold? Can we get a blanket for her? Also, the blood is dripping weird. It\u2019s all so technical. It depends on the day, but we, as actors, feel all <\/em>of it.<\/p>\n

TV DRAMA:<\/strong> What impact has the subject matter had on you?
\nHARGITAY:<\/strong> Dealing with these issues every day, I felt a calling to respond to the subject matter.<\/p>\n

WS:<\/strong> Is that because you started receiving letters from viewers?
\nHARGITAY:<\/strong> Well, it goes back actually before that. I believe it was the first year. Dick [Wolf] was being honored at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City and he invited me to go. That night I learned the statistics of sexual assault and domestic violence, and they were so mind-blowing to me that I just couldn\u2019t believe that everybody wasn\u2019t talking about it. One in four women and one in six men have been sexually assaulted at some point in their life. I felt like this was a conversation that needed to be started. Dick started it with the show by dealing with those issues, but I wanted to take it to the next level. So, [because of] the combination of the stories we were telling, the statistics that were so staggering and the letters that I was receiving, I started the Joyful Heart Foundation in 2004 to change the way people respond to sexual violence.<\/p>\n

TV DRAMA:<\/strong> You also produced a documentary.
\nHARGITAY:<\/strong> Yes, I did a documentary called I Am Evidence.\u00a0<\/em>Our number one advocacy priority at the foundation is the rape kit backlog. In 2009, I learned that there was, indeed, a backlog of hundreds of thousands of rape kits, which is an evidence collection kit, sitting in police storage facilities. After a woman is raped, if she has the courage to come forward and get an exam, DNA is collected\u2014[it takes] four to six hours, often a retraumatizing exam. One would expect that the kits get tested and sent to the DNA facility, but we found out that they weren\u2019t. It was up to police officers\u2019 discretion. So women had been waiting for justice and waiting to find out, and there was this backlog. I just thought it was a perfect microcosm\u2014a measurable microcosm\u2014of how sexual assault was regarded, and therefore, how important women\u2019s lives were. So we tried to shine some light on it, talk about it, and hopefully, it will incite change. We\u2019re trying to clean up the backlog in our country.<\/p>\n

TV DRAMA:<\/strong> What has surprised you most after nearly 20 years on the show?
\nHARGITAY:<\/strong> So much. The show has been my greatest teacher, but what surprised me is how the show changed me as a person and turned me into an \u201caccidental activist,\u201d if you will. When Dick hired me, I was so happy and grateful because I\u2019m an actor and it\u2019s what I love to do, it\u2019s what I need to do. When I got this role, all my dreams came true because it fit like a glove. The part and the person came together, and it\u2019s been challenging for me, very much so, in a lot of ways. I was surprised\u2014and grateful\u2014that I was able to bring change and aid in bringing positivity to the world. That is something that I have thought my whole life: How do I give back? How do I show my gratitude? We\u2019re so grateful for how Dick changed our lives and made so much possible. To be given this canvas and to be able to turn it into something else has been deeply meaningful for me, and I\u2019m deeply grateful. I met my husband on the show, I have three children now, and I have this foundation that means everything to me. To be able to affect change, and have a voice and a platform from a TV show, it\u2019s quite surprising to me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The actress talks about the long-running show, which she has been starring in since 1999.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":289,"featured_media":9965,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[68,70],"tags":[134,133],"class_list":["post-9964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-interviews","category-top-stories","tag-law-order-svu","tag-mariska-hargitay","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\nMariska Hargitay - TVDRAMA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/law-order-svus-mariska-hargitay\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mariska Hargitay - TVDRAMA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The actress talks about the long-running show, which she has been starring in since 1999.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/law-order-svus-mariska-hargitay\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TVDRAMA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-09-20T14:03:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-10-03T20:17:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2017\/07\/2018-09-11-Mariska-Hargitay.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"319\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Anna Carugati\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Anna Carugati\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"9 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/law-order-svus-mariska-hargitay\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/law-order-svus-mariska-hargitay\/\",\"name\":\"Mariska Hargitay - TVDRAMA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-09-20T14:03:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-10-03T20:17:17+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/#\/schema\/person\/29356fdd67fb1b454e7b8e3d34042925\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/law-order-svus-mariska-hargitay\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/law-order-svus-mariska-hargitay\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/law-order-svus-mariska-hargitay\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Mariska Hargitay\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/\",\"name\":\"TVDRAMA\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/#\/schema\/person\/29356fdd67fb1b454e7b8e3d34042925\",\"name\":\"Anna Carugati\",\"description\":\"Anna Carugati is editor at large at World Screen.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/author\/acarugatiworldscreen-com\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Mariska Hargitay - TVDRAMA","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/law-order-svus-mariska-hargitay\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Mariska Hargitay - TVDRAMA","og_description":"The actress talks about the long-running show, which she has been starring in since 1999.","og_url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/law-order-svus-mariska-hargitay\/","og_site_name":"TVDRAMA","article_published_time":"2018-09-20T14:03:50+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-10-03T20:17:17+00:00","og_image":[{"width":600,"height":319,"url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2017\/07\/2018-09-11-Mariska-Hargitay.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Anna Carugati","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Anna Carugati","Est. reading time":"9 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/law-order-svus-mariska-hargitay\/","url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/law-order-svus-mariska-hargitay\/","name":"Mariska Hargitay - TVDRAMA","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/#website"},"datePublished":"2018-09-20T14:03:50+00:00","dateModified":"2018-10-03T20:17:17+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/#\/schema\/person\/29356fdd67fb1b454e7b8e3d34042925"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/law-order-svus-mariska-hargitay\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/law-order-svus-mariska-hargitay\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/law-order-svus-mariska-hargitay\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Mariska Hargitay"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/#website","url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/","name":"TVDRAMA","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/#\/schema\/person\/29356fdd67fb1b454e7b8e3d34042925","name":"Anna Carugati","description":"Anna Carugati is editor at large at World Screen.","url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/author\/acarugatiworldscreen-com\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/289"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9964"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9964\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}