“Law & Order: SVU” actress Mariska Hargitay was filming a new episode of the long-running drama series when a lost little girl asked her for help, mistaking her for a real police officer.
The incident occurred in New York City on April 10, according to a Wednesday article from People. A witness told the outlet that the young girl saw Hargitay’s badge and thought it was legit. She had apparently been separated from her mother in the Anne Loftus Playground in Fort Tryon Park and asked Hargitay for help, the witness stated. She didn’t seem to notice the film crew or Hargitay’s co-star, Ice-T.
The actress, who is a parent to three children with husband Peter Hermann, then stopped production on the scene for 20 minutes until the child’s mother could be located. She was seen by the witness comforting both the mother and the reunited child following the incident.
Hargitay has played Detective Olivia Benson on “Law & Order: SVU” since 1999. Benson is the longest-running primetime drama character in TV history, and “SVU” is the longest-running primetime drama series. The show just returned for its 25th season on January 18 and has been renewed for Season 26, the outlet noted.
The actress previously spoke to People about being part of such a historic TV series.
“We’ve been on a parallel journey,” she said in January. “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.”
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Hargitay added, “I have two diametrically opposed answers. 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.”
“I have so much to look forward to,” the actress concluded. “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.”