Mariska Hargitay‘s long-running career as Olivia Benson on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit was written in the stars.
The actress opened up about the early days of her career on the Wednesday, June 25, episode of Alex Cooper‘s “Call Her Daddy” podcast, revealing she took a friend’s suggestion to visit a Long Island psychic during a visit to New York City when she was 34.
“I drive out to this guy’s house on Long Island, and he gives me a psychic reading. And because my mom was famous, I always was like, ‘You are just probably going to Google me and, you know, [learn I’m] Jayne Mansfield‘s daughter and then come up with some bulls***,” she recalled. “So, I sit down with this guy, and we’re talking, we’re talking, we’re talking. He says some things. And then he says to me, and I was listening to him, and I’m like this [straight-faced].”
Her unimpressed reaction to the reading caught the psychic’s attention. “He says, ‘You see that face right now?’ I said, ‘Yeah.’ He goes, ‘You’re going to be famous for that face. That face. That serious face,’” she shared. “And I said, ‘No. I am funny, and I’m pretty. Deadly combination. I’m going to be a comedian.’”
The psychic followed up with something Hargitay said was her “favorite thing I think anyone’s ever said me,’” stating, “He goes like this, ‘I don’t give a rat’s a** what you think. You’re going to be famous for that face.’ And then he says to me, ‘And you’re moving to New York.’”
NBC
His prediction came to fruition for Hargitay, as she was 35 years old when she began her tenure on Law & Order: SVU. She has played the tough yet kind NYPD Captain Benson ever since the show’s premiere in 1999, becoming the longest-running female character on a primetime TV show and earning eight Emmy nominations and one win for her portrayal of the character.
The upcoming 27th season of the NBC show will mark the return of Kelli Giddish‘s Sergeant Amanda Rollins as a series regular. “It is so purely joyful to me. She is a formidable actress and an incredibly creative partner and has been such a joy and huge part of the fabric of SVU,” Hargitay gushed of Giddish in an interview with Deadline last month. “I love her, and I love acting with her and co-creating with her, and it feels like home with her, So, I am ecstatic about her return.”
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Season 27 Premiere, Fall 2025, Thursdays, 9/8c, NBC