Mariska Hargitay sprung to action to help reunite a lost child with her mother after getting mistaken for an on-duty police officer in New York City.
While filming the final episodes of season 25 of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit last week, the two-time Emmy winner, 60, put her more than two decades portraying a member of the New York City Police Department (NYPD) on TV to good use.
Like her character, Captain Olivia Benson, the actress quickly provided comfort to the scared little girl, who ‘was completely oblivious to the film crew,’ an eyewitness told People.
The witness revealed that the ‘little girl had been separated from her mother in the Anne Loftus Playground in Fort Tryon Park and enlisted Mariska for help’ after noticing the police badge on her belt.
Mariska Hargitay sprung to action to help reunite a lost child with her mother after getting mistaken for an on-duty police officer
Production was briefly halted as Hargitay, who was shooting a scene with Ice-T before the interruption, played detective.
Within 20 minutes, the daughter of bodybuilder and actor Mickey Hargitay and actress Jayne Mansfield managed to track down the child’s mom.
After successfully reuniting the mother daughter duo, she consoled them both, before returning to work.
Previously, Hargitay has spoken about channeling the mindset of Olivia Benson in emergency situations.
‘There’s a thing: WWOBD, ‘What would Olivia Benson do?’ The fans would always talk about it, and one day it hit me. I also have those moments where I’ve sort of slipped into her,’ she told People in January.
She continued: ‘If there’s a crisis, I just take over and lead like that. Being strong and fearless. It’s sort of this perfect feminist story.’
In the interview, she also praised the series for helping her embrace her ‘power’ as a woman.
‘I can’t imagine the show ending, and can’t imagine not going on this journey with my cast, my crew,’ she said. ‘I have so much to look forward to.’
While filming the final episodes of season 25 of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in New York City, the two-time Emmy winner, 60, put her more than two decades portraying a member of the New York City Police Department (NYPD) to good use
Like her character, Captain Olivia Benson, the actress quickly provided comfort to the lost little girl, who ‘was completely oblivious to the film crew,’ an eyewitness told People
The witness noted that the ‘little girl had been separated from her mother in the Anne Loftus Playground in Fort Tryon Park and enlisted Hargitay for help’ after noticing the police badge on her belt
From 1999 until 2011, she played second fiddle to Christopher Meloni, who played the leading man on the program as Elliot Stabler.
‘I was the second detective alongside Elliot Stabler. He was the male lead and a little more experienced and I was trying to catch up,’ she reflected.
Things changed, however, after Christopher Meloni left the program in 2011 and she became the program’s lead.
At the same time, her character, Olivia Benson, also got prompted to squad captain.
Production was briefly halted as Hargitay, who was shooting a scene with Ice-T, played detective
Within 20 minutes, the daughter of bodybuilder and actor Mickey Hargitay and actress Jayne Mansfield managed to track down the child’s mom
Mariska admitted that she has ‘two diametrically opposed’ reactions to the fact that her program is coming up on its silver anniversary on the air.
‘One is I can’t believe it’s been 25 years, a quarter of a century! And the other is, I can’t see it any other way. I can’t imagine the show ending, and can’t imagine not going on this journey with my cast, my crew,’ she said.
‘I have so much to look forward to. And I’m still growing. I like that you can be so many things at one time. It’s learning to give yourself permission to be all of yourself.’
Her own ethos is to ‘lead with my heart. It’s hard for me to witness other people’s pain. I’m like a laser. I don’t do small talk very well. So I connect with people.’
Previously, Hargitay has spoken about channeling the mindset of Olivia Benson in emergency situations (seen in character on season 21)
‘There’s a thing: WWOBD, ‘What would Olivia Benson do?’ The fans would always talk about it, and one day it hit me. I also have those moments where I’ve sort of slipped into her,’ she told People in January
From 1999 until 2011, she played second fiddle to Christopher Meloni, who played the leading man on the program as Elliot Stabler
‘The other thing is that I’m vulnerable. That’s my superpower. I’m somebody who understands you can be vulnerable and a badass at the same time,’ she said.
In a previous interview, Mariska noted that her ‘superpower’ was derived from her upbringing, which was tinged by tragedy.
‘I think I learned about crisis very young, and I learned very young that shit happens and there’s no guarantees, and we keep going. And then we transform it,’ she told Glamour in 2021. ‘That’s been kind of my superpower, and the gift of having trauma early in life.’
She continued: ‘I clearly was in that frozen place for a lot of my childhood—of trying to survive, actually trying to survive… my life has been a process of un-peeling the layers and trust and trusting again.’
