Mariska Hargitay is thankful for her recent real-life Olivia Benson moment.
Mariska (60) was filming the movie “Law & Order: SVU” in New York City on April 10th when a young girl separated from her mother approached her, thinking she was a police officer on duty.
The show halted production for about 20 minutes after Mariska successfully helped the young child find his mother at the Ann Loftus playground at Fort Tryon Park.
While talking with entertainment tonight At Variety’s “Power of Women” event held on May 2nd, Mariska reflected on the “beautiful” moments she shared with her children last month.
“We were supposed to connect to this moment,” she said.
“This little angel girl was in trouble and we connected and I got it,” Mariska continued. “So I did what any mother on this earth would do.”
The Emmy Award winner was also overjoyed to be able to hug mother and daughter when they reunited.
“It was beautiful,” she said.
However, Mariska said she has not had any contact with the two men.
The “Law & Order: SVU” team was filming Season 25 at the time of the lost child incident. Mariska, who plays the detective, has a police badge on her belt, which explains why children mistook her for a police officer.
Mariska has appeared on the hit NBC series since its debut in 1999.
In an interview with variety In the May 2 issue of the magazine, Mariska opened up about how her SVU character continues to be loved by viewers.
“I feel like I have different kinds of fans because of the subject matter,” she said. “They’re very loyal and protective and feel personal.”
Mariska also admitted that fans of the show have been inspired by her TV persona since the series’ inception.
“The world and the culture needed Olivia Benson, it needed someone to talk about these things and to believe and fight for survivors and victims,” she explained. “The beginning of this show was so genius because Olivia was the loving mother we all wanted.”
Mariska is also a mother in real life.
She and her husband, fellow actor Peter Hellman, 3 children: Daughter Amaya, 12, sons August, 17, and Andrew, 12.
The two met on the set of “SVU” in 2001 and married three years later.
