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Mariska Hargitay | Source: Getty Images
Mariska Hargitay Considered Leaving 'Las & Order: SVU' — Here's Why She Didn't
Sep 11, 202606:00 A.M.
Mariska Hargitay is opening up about why she once considered walking away from 'Law & Order: SVU' entirely, and the conversation that ultimately convinced her to stay.
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After nearly three decades playing Olivia Benson, it would be hard to imagine “Law & Order: SVU” without Mariska Hargitay. But at one point, Hargitay revealed, she did consider the thought of leaving the show.
Mariska Hargitay during night one of the 78th Emmy Awards in Los Angeles on September 5, 2026 | Source: Getty Images
Hargitay told Variety that the thought crossed her mind at around Season 25. She confided in Julianna Margulies, who'd famously left "ER" in 2000 while it was still at its peak. "I said, 'I've got to leave the show too. I don't want people to think I'm a one-trick pony,'" Hargitay recalled. Margulies’ response was, "Sweetheart, that ship's sailed."
Looking back, Hargitay says her reason for wanting to leave was the feeling that she wasn’t exploring other avenues and other sides of herself. "The comedy thing was painful to me," she said, "because I felt like I was only exercising one part of myself. People would say, 'You need to get off that show and do comedy. You need to get off that show and have a talk show.'"
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Mariska Hargitay on the set of "Law & Order: SVU" on October 8, 2025 | Source: Getty Images
But Hargitay would later realize that she didn’t need to leave the long-running show to expand her horizons. Just this year, she ventured into Broadway for the first time in “Every Brilliant Thing.” She also directed the HBO documentary, "My Mom Jayne," about her late mother, Jayne Mansfield, which earned her two Creative Arts Emmys. And in another twist of fate, she’s hosting the 2026 Emmy Awards.
With all this going on, Hargitay said, "Do I want to quit now? No. Why? I made a movie while shooting; I did a play for six weeks on hiatus. I'm hosting the Emmys." She added that she plans to keep taking on new projects around her "SVU" schedule going forward. "And I love it!"
As it turns out, Hargitay will neither give up Olivia Benson nor slow down. In fact, she’s found a new sense of freedom to keep exploring. "After I made my film," she said, "it was unleashed. Something got unleashed, or broken open, or freed."
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