Ellen: Mariska Hargitay Law & Order SVU
In 13 years on the beat, Mariska Hargitay’s Law & Order: Special Victims Unit alter ego has solved hundreds of cases and even won an Emmy Award. She said it’s nice to get a friendly reception, which doesn’t happen on a closed drama set.
It’s hard to believe that SVU is well into its second decade on the air, but the material keeps the job interesting. “I’m so happy, and still having fun and challenged, and it still feels fresh and different,” she said.

Emmy winning Law & Order SVU star Mariska Hargitay is known on set for her sense of humor. (Image Credit: Northfoto / Shutterstock.com)
The ripped from the headlines nature of the show is compelling, though this year Mariska Hargitay said fiction seemed to be ahead of reality. She also said writers take liberties or create a hybrid of multiple true crimes.
Ellen DeGeneres, like almost everyone in America, loves a good Law & Order: Special Victims Unit marathon. Mariska Hargitay said the weekend repeat marathons on USA are sometimes organized around a theme, and they had a theme that was Mariska Hargitay’s Birthdays. I’m still waiting for a marathon that walks you through all her 13 years of hairstyles.
Ellen: Mariska Hargitay Family
Last year, Mariska Hargitay had two new additions to her family. She now has three adopted children with her husband Peter Hermann.
She said that after child #1, she never thought she’d love another kid. Now she has three kids, and she can’t believe how much love she has found for all her children, ages five, one, and nine months.
Ellen: Mariska Hargitay Surprise Adoption
Her home baby photos are adorable, and it’s interesting that they have two young children so close in age. They’d talked about spacing out the adoptions, but they got a call out of the blue from their adoption lawyer, who was looking for a placement for a little boy.
“It was one of those things that we were not expecting at all,” she said. “And my husband and I looked at each other and have never been more sure about anything and knew it was just right.”
Ellen asked about the timing, and Mariska said that the surprise third child’s adoption happened very quickly, in just two days. “It was very exciting, and it just felt like nothing shy of a miracle,” she said. “This year has been a year of true blessings.”
Ellen: Mariska Hargitay Comedy Acting
Mariska said she didn’t want to cry, and Ellen said she’d rather make Mariska laugh. Ellen said not enough people know Mariska’s sense of humor, since she’s in such a serious role on her TV drama. She said her co-stars know about her sense of humor, and Ellen joined the campaign for Mariska Hargitay to host Saturday Night Live.
Ellen revealed that Mariska Hargitay did a guest appearance on Ellen’s 1990s sitcom, and Mariska noted that she’d expected to be a comic actress before her dramatic turn in Law & Order: SVU.
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