'Law & Order' Actress Halts Filming When Young Girl in Need Mistakes Her for a Real Police Officer
Editor’s Note: Our readers responded strongly to this story when it originally ran; we’re reposting it here in case you missed it.
One lost little girl in New York City mistook actress Mariska Hargitay for an NYPD officer recently.
According to People, which cited a witness it did not name, the incident took place April 10 near the Anne Loftus Playground in Fort Tryon Park in Manhattan.
Unaware that she was walking into filming for one of TV’s most successful series, “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” the girl honed in on the badge Hargitay wore as part of her costume portraying Detective Olivia Benson, believing her to be an NYPD officer on duty.
Mariska Hargitay halted filming on the set of ‘Law & Order: Special Victims Unit’ when a lost little girl mistook her for a real officer.
After the young girl asked Mariska for help, she stopped production to help find her mom. (🎥: Splash)
🔗: https://t.co/8dgJZPgPpP pic.twitter.com/NwPrO2V4ve
— Entertainment Tonight (@etnow) April 18, 2024
The problem was that the girl, whose age wasn’t given, had lost contact with her mother and sought assistance from Hargitay.
All production of the episode — one of the show’s final filmings of the season — stopped while real life took over.
After about 20 minutes, mom and daughter were reunited.
This is why I love her so much. She’s a real life hero 😭❤️❤️
Mariska Hargitay, Dressed in Her SVU Gear, Mistaken for Real-Life Police Officer By Young Girl Looking for Her Mom #svu #svu25 https://t.co/9VNXY5d16n via @people
— Edina (@Edina87) April 17, 2024
In March, “Special Victims Unit” was renewed for its 26th season.
“We’ve been on a parallel journey,” said Hargitay, 60. “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. 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.”
Hargitay has been on the show since its 1999 debut, the New York Post noted.
“I have two diametrically opposed answers,” she told People about her time on the series. “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.”
Hargitay continued, “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.”
Ice-T, a co-star on the show, said the program has a unique niche.
“I think ‘SVU’ is a special show because it’s the first time I’ve ever done something where people walk up in the street and say thank you,” he said. “And I found out that ‘SVU’ is as much entertainment as it is therapy for a lot of women because a lot of women that watch the show are survivors — guys, too. So it has a different feeling versus just normal entertainment.”
Noting that he initially agreed to do a few episodes, Ice-T, 66, told People, “SVU was a four-episode stint that ended up 25 years.”
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