Mariska Hargitay had a troubled start after her mother's tragic death, but the Law & Order:
SVU star has truly blossomed.
Here's a closer look at her stunning transformation from the daughter of Hollywood royalty to
a famous figure in her own right.
Mariska Hargitay was just 3 years old when she was in a terrible car accident with her
mother, Jayne Mansfield, along with her brothers, her mother's boyfriend, and the driver of
the vehicle.
While Hargitay and her brothers only suffered minor injuries, her mother and mother's boyfriend
died along with the driver.
The tragedy understandably had a lifelong impact on Hargitay, who barely remembers her
mother.
Hargitay told People:
"The way I've lived with loss is to lean into it.
As the saying goes, the only way out is through."
Compounding the loss is the fact that her mother's home was raided after the accident,
with fans stealing most of her belongings.
Hargitay revealed on Bravo's Inside the Actors Studio that she was later able to secure some
mementos after they were put up for auction.
Still, she's often reminded that her mother left behind a far greater legacy than material
things.
Hargitay told People:
"Someone once said [...] 'All you have to do is look in the mirror.'
She's with me still."
The untimely death of her mother may have had a devastating impact on Mariska Hargitay's
life, but she still had a lovely childhood, thanks to her father, Mickey Hargitay.
The bodybuilder and his wife, Ellen, raised the young Hargitay.
She spoke to People about the close bond she had with her father, saying that he raised
her to, quote, "listen and to learn."
She explained,
"As a young kid, I had my antennas out for who had wisdom and why, and what was I supposed
to learn from them, and why were they there?"
She said that doing this has helped her to process the, quote, "cards I was dealt."
Mariska also had a close relationship with her stepmother, Ellen, telling Good Housekeeping
that she "called her Mom."
She explained that Ellen had no biological children but considered Mariska and her siblings
to be her own kids.
Hargitay told Good Housekeeping:
"I was very fortunate to have a maternal figure in my life after such a horrific accident."
As she grew older, Hargitay grew interested in following in her mother's footsteps.
Despite this, she didn't jump right into show business full-time after graduating from high
school in 1982.
Instead, she decided to hone her talents by pursuing a formal education.
As noted by the Los Angeles Times, the aspiring actress enrolled at UCLA but did not complete
her degree, as she decided to focus on her already-budding acting career instead.
Hargitay may have left school early, but she seems to have made the most of her time on
campus.
According to Cosmopolitan, she was a member of the sorority Kappa Kappa Gamma.
Hargitay is a smart cookie with or without a college degree.
Not only is she super-talented, but she's also quite the skilled linguist, speaking
Italian, French, Spanish, and Hungarian as well as, of course, English.
Hargitay was just a teenager when she started acting professionally.
Pens & Patron noted that she began landing roles starting in the 1984 music video for
Ronnie Milsap's "She Loves My Car," in which she played his girlfriend.
The country single was the first country hit to air on MTV, helping to launch Hargitay's
career.
That same year, she appeared in Ghoulies, but didn't appear in any other film roles
for two years, as she planned to pursue a stage career instead.
After landing the role of Jesse Smith on the CBS show Downtown in 1986, however, Hargitay
seemed to have changed her mind.
While the show lasted for only one season, Hargitay landed roles in other TV shows and
films following this experience, including Falcon Crest, Tequila and Bonetti, and Can't
Hurry Love.
In spite of the fact she was beautiful, smart, and talented, Mariska Hargitay was not immune
to the lack of confidence that plagues so many young women.
As she started her career, she was quite insecure and faced a lot of rejection.
Despite her early success of landing numerous small roles in film and television, it took
her some time to land the meatier parts that would make her famous — and all this took
a toll on her self-esteem.
As Hargitay told Ladies' Home Journal, her 20s were defined by, quote, "having people
say no."
She explained that casting directors would often pick apart her appearance, citing everything
from her height to her hair color as reasons she lost roles — some even told her to change
her name.
Hargitay admitted to the outlet,
"There was so much rejection."
Emerging from a string of smaller roles in her 20s, Hargitay landed — what is probably
her most famous television role outside of Law & Order: SVU — a meaty arc on the hit
show ER at the age of 33.
Hargitay portrayed Cynthia Hooper on the medical drama in 13 episodes from 1997 to 1998.
Surprisingly, the actress told Bravo's Inside the Actors Studio that she was convinced she
wouldn't book the part because she was competing against, quote, "beautiful blondes" which
took all the pressure off her audition.
Hargitay ended up crushing the audition, and said,
"I was so happy because you know that's rare when we really leave an audition going, 'I
killed it.'"
Still, she was initially rejected for the part because the producers wanted a, quote,
"very weak, fragile, fragmented, nervous girl" like the character to play the role.
Hargitay protested, saying that while she might have been much stronger than the character,
she "acted it better than anybody."
Speaking up for herself ended up clinching the role for Hargitay, and the rest is history.
Hargitay followed up her role on ER one year later with the career turn that would make
her famous: playing Olivia Benson on Law & Order: SVU.
"I remember the day I wrapped ER I'm going, 'Now what?
Where do I go from here?"
Just as with her ER audition, Hargitay slayed.
In an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, she revealed that she knew the part
was meant for her.
"I read the script and I knew in my gut that I had to do this role."
Hargitay had no concerns about the "dark" subject matter of the show, saying she was
so sure the part was hers — to the point that she told the show's creator Dick Wolf
that seeing anyone else audition was pointless.
Hargitay told Colbert,
"I walked in and I go, 'Listen you're confused.
Here's the deal.
I'm pretty sure this is me.
This is my part, I'm serious.
We're past this, let's not even waste your time.'"
Landing the role started a new chapter in Hargitay's life in multiple ways.
She was 34 at the time — the same age as Jayne Mansfield when she died.
Hargitay told Parade,
"My mom passed when she was 34, so I knew it would be a really big year for me.
And it was."
Of course, it's not just Mariska Hargitay's portrayal of Olivia Benson on Law & Order:
SVU that fans find so memorable.
Olivia's relationship with her on-screen partner, Elliot Stabler, played by Christopher Meloni,
also helped make the show a hit.
"We walked into the final screen test laughing."
"Hysterically.
Normally you're like..."
"That's when we felt we got the job."
Olivia and Elliot's relationship is #FriendGoals and, while Meloni left the show as a regular
in 2011, the BFFs are still beloved.
It's the kind of chemistry you can't fake, and Hargitay and Meloni have a real-life bond.
The two connected at their audition, with Hargitay telling People,
"I won't say that I fully understood it, but I knew that meeting him was important and
life-changing."
She even called Meloni one of the, quote, "four pillar men" in her life, along with
her dad, her husband, and Law & Order creator Dick Wolf.
The two stayed close even after Meloni left the show, and fell right back into character
when he briefly returned to SVU ahead of starring in his own spinoff, Law & Order: Organized
Crime, in 2021.
Meloni said,
"It was Pavlovian: Ring that bell, and you get right into Stabler and Benson."
Mariska Hargitay and her husband, Younger star Peter Hermann, tied the knot in 2004
after he guest-starred on Law & Order: SVU a couple of years earlier.
The two have been going strong ever since.
Hargitay admitted to Ladies' Home Journal that she used to really worry about not getting
married until she was in her 40s.
But she later realized that she found Hermann when she was at a point in her life where
she could, quote, "really handle it all."
Hargitay told the outlet that one of the secrets to their successful relationship is their
sense of humor, which means that arguments between the two tend to be short-lived:
"One of us usually cracks the other one up within 15 minutes.
It's as if we're saying, 'I love you more than this fight.'"
According to Hermann, though, the real reason they've been together for so long is simply
that they put the effort into their relationship.
Hermann told Entertainment Tonight,
"There is no secret.
We're all just working through it — whether it's a relationship that exists in the public
eye to some degree or doesn't."
Hargitay and Hermann have three kids together.
Their son, August, was born in 2006 and was delivered by C-section, as reported by The
Associated Press.
The couple worried about having more biological children — Hargitay was 42 when August was
born — but wanted a big family, so they turned to adoption to complete their family.
It wasn't an easy process; their first adoption fell through after the birth mother changed
her mind and decided to keep her baby, but Hargitay and Hermann eventually adopted Amaya
and Andrew in 2011.
Hargitay told Good Housekeeping,
"Adoption was a bumpy ride — very bumpy.
But, God, was it worth the fight."
Hargitay couldn't be more thrilled with her family, telling People,
"Our family is so perfect, or at least perfect for me."
In an interview with Redbook, Hargitay revealed that raising her own family has helped heal
the wounds from her own tragic youth.
She told the outlet,
"[Motherhood has] erased many of my negative childhood feelings and filled them in with
something new."
Mariska Hargitay's father, Mickey Hargitay, died in 2006 from multiple myeloma.
Mariska was devastated by the loss, especially because she and her father shared an especially
close bond, considering the untimely death of her mother.
The year before Mickey's death, Mariska referred to her dad as, quote, "a bit of a superhero"
on NPR's Fresh Air.
She also credited him with her success when she won an Emmy for her Law & Order: SVU role,
just months before his death.
Mickey was in the audience when she accepted the award, dedicating it to him:
"He's the reason I'm standing here today.
I can't wait to celebrate this with you."
The death of her father is a hole that can never be filled, but Mariska will never forget
the impact he had on her.
The actress told Parade,
"My dad gave me so much advice and shored me up so young."
Hargitay also explained to People,
"It was huge to lose this person who was my everything, my strength, my power, the person
who believed in me.
Even though he's not here physically, I carry him."
Decades into her role on Law & Order: SVU, Mariska Hargitay is more iconic than ever.
The actress turned 50 in 2014 and has come a long way from the 20-something young woman
who lacked self-confidence.
These days, she's all about embracing her inner beauty — but is also on board with
women doing whatever it is that makes them happy.
She told Ladies' Home Journal that while she used to not be a fan of plastic surgery, she
now believes that anything that makes you feel good about yourself is a good thing:
"I still think the natural look is the most beautiful.
But if you want to do something to help you look more refreshed, I'm all for it."
That being said, Hargitay is tired of women judging themselves on how they look, telling
Ladies's Home Journal,
"What about defining yourself by a different kind of measurement?
What about your heart, your soul, your compassion, your generosity, your strength, and your power?"
Wise words, Mariska!
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