Mariska Hargitay Rewatches 'Law & Order: SVU' from Seasons 1 to 25

[Interviewer] Can you identify this sound?

[SVU theme music]

Doesn't ring a bell.

[interviewer laughs]

That is the story of my life, that sound.

Dun-dun.

I understand why people can't agree on it.

They write, dun-dun, but it is a very layered sound.

So, I'll stand with the people that say clank-clank.

I stand with them.

[TV static buzzes]

Hi, I am Mariska Hargitay,

and we're gonna be looking at some scenes

from Law and Order Special Victims Unit,

for over the past 25 seasons.

[upbeat nostalgic electronic music]

[Character] We came across the desert

and through the big fence.

A man was waiting. He took me to New York.

[Olivia] And, this was after your mom died?

[Character] No, she was still alive.

See, this is very funny to me, 'cause I'm just,

it's all coming back to me.

[Character] When are you coming to get me?

Soon Maria, you have to be brave.

I did this entire episode

with the script supervisor reading the lines off camera,

and we put in the voice afterwards,

and that was the hardest thing ever!

'Cause I've got the script supervisor,

whatever her lines are, come help me, come help me.

[Character] Please, when are you coming to get me?

Going, come help me. Come help me. I'm in a room.

I don't know where I am. [laughing]

I should have won an Emmy just for that, okay?

Actually they should gimme another one for that.

Maria, listen to me. Richard isn't gonna hurt you.

The other thing about this episode,

Ted Kotheff, who was our directing producer at the time,

would only shoot pieces, four lines at a time.

Which is very hard for an actor for flow.

I don't like stopping, I like doing the whole scene.

With this, we do one or two lines and he is like,

good, got it, moving on!

So, it was really disjointed, and not to mention,

we don't even shoot the episode in order.

So, it was really mental gymnastics

to [snaps fingers] keep track of where I was in the episode.

Plus, not acting with an actor,

but just somebody reading the lines.

This ground's been disturbed.

[ominous music] Footprint.

[Olivia] We need to dig, get some tools.

[Character] Okay, you, Wood, get pieces of fence,

anything. Such weird wardrobe choice.

[tape player clicks]

Was I going to a rugby game? But, moving on.

I remember shooting the scene, it was so hard.

The little girl was buried underground,

and I was so stressed out

about how long she was under there.

We feel so protective of the actors,

and the people that play these characters,

'cause so many times, I mean we find bodies in the snow,

in the cold, when it's raining.

[kid coughs]

It's okay honey. It's okay, good girl.

It's okay. [somber music]

You know, the actors are usually so like,

no, this is fun for me!

But, it still can be traumatizing or triggering.

And, for this sweet little girl that was so game,

I just remember being so tight when I was little,

[chops hands together] that day. I remember that.

[funky 80's dance music]

How's the baby?

[sighs] Great.

If I'm correct, I think that's the first time we ever hugged

on the show.

And, he surprised me with it.

And, it was so right.

And, in that scene,

I think it's somewhere where you can really feel

everything unspoken, almost more than than the spoken word.

Chris and I were very careful, and very judicious.

The way we interacted physically.

I think Chris and I, Benson and Stabler,

at the end of the day, it's all the same.

Pick a name?

In the relationship,

whether it was acting, or being partners,

there was a level of trust.

If I had like six dots, and this was him, and this was me.

And, then you connect the dots, they connected so many ways.

Acting partners, friends, comedians,

people that hold each other accountable.

We almost had like our own language.

I mean, here we were for these 12 years,

and we spent more time with each other then our spouses.

All day, we were making this thing together,

all day long that we built together,

that we created together.

Kathy wants to name him after me.

Just what the world needs, another Elliot Stabler.

The level of trust was deep.

It's crazy, it's profound, right?

I would do anything for you, and that's what we were,

is having that person, not a boyfriend, not a wife,

not a sexual relationship,

but that person that you can trust,

and all that that means.

Oh, is this the game here, Make Mariska Cry?

Okay!

That was very beautiful to watch,

'cause usually you watch old scenes, and you go,

I'd do it differently now, you know?

I could bring more colors to it,

but it's also nice to see something beautiful

for what it is, and love it.

[upbeat 80s music]

You walk out that door

and we will pretend that this never happened.

You'd pretend that this didn't happen, would you?

[Olivia gasps in pain]

You're lying.

It's funny.

You do these scenes,

and then you have to put it out of your mind.

Almost self-protection to go on and do the job at hand.

[Character] There's something

I think that you should hear.

[Recording] Hey Lou, it's me.

Look, I know we were talking about getting together,

um, tomorrow,

but these guys are jerking me around over here.

I got a pull of double..

[VCR clicks]

[sighs] It was one of the first times

when Olivia really wasn't in control,

and at points there was no recourse, and he was a sadist.

Billy, I'm offering you a way out.

You still bargaining with me? Really?

What is profoundly frightening

when somebody doesn't regard another human being as human?

I think the fright most scary thing

is when somebody is dealing with somebody,

a violent person who's not present.

And, the idea of not being able to get through

to another human being is as dark as it gets.

I'm an NYPD detective.

My partner, my squad,

the entire department will hunt you down.

Pablo Schreiber, amazing actor and amazing scene partner,

scared the outta me.

Even though some of these scenes

were on the edge of being out of control,

I always felt very safe with him.

It will rain back down on you.

You know what, let it rain. [ominous music]

This was an episode outside the comfort zone,

and where you have to live in the unknown,

'cause you don't know what's gonna happen,

or if you can get out of it.

[upbeat 80s music]

Please don't come in, please.

That's it. That's it. Satisfied?

You can end this right now.

All you have to do is walk out that door.

Ah, I think it's a little too late for me.

How great is this kid, Riley?

Are you a man Seth, or are you an animal?

Animals are weak.

He's so money! We need our own show.

Are you? No.

Well, then I think you know what your next step is.

This was a case that pushed Olivia Benson

out of her comfort zone, and was so triggering.

It's called Children of Wolves,

obviously dealing with the animal in all of us,

the animal that we need to tame.

And, I wanted to do something outside my comfort zone.

Every time I direct, I'm utterly terrified,

and I say, what am I doing?

And, then I start directing,

and I go, oh yeah, I remember.

A director takes eight days to shoot an episode,

but you have eight days of prep.

And, that's when most directors do all their work,

is in prep.

And, I don't get that.

I was also heavily featured in the episode before,

and I sort of begged them to write a lighter episode for me

so I could do my prep.

The director who who went before me got COVID,

and so I had to shoot, I had two days of prep.

And, then they're like, okay Mariska, she can do it!

And, I sort of like, what, what?

Do they think I have superhero powers, 'cause I don't.

And, I've only directed nine hours of television.

So, everyone needs to calm down.

[ominous music]

Hold your fire!

It was very challenging,

and this day was particularly challenging

because this was the whole mobilization unit.

You know, I had a hundred background, and all of the cast,

and not to mention all the kids inside.

And, the best part about this is,

if you see this scene, it's not raining.

And, in the next scene, it's pouring,

and it wasn't supposed to rain till the next day.

So, I shoot the scene,

and all of a sudden the skies opened up.

It was like a comedy.

And, I was like, [playfully shrieks excitedly]

Because all you can do is make peace with it.

But, there were so many degrees of difficulty.

You don't have the luxury of a movie of time.

We have like eight days, baby.

This is the schedule,

'cause we got another one starting in eight days.

So. [clicks tongue]

[80's dance music]

Liv, Elliot's here.

Do as he says, L.

Liv, you all right?

Elliot, please, just do what he says!

Liv! Shut up!

It's very interesting watching that

because I don't remember it, at all.

[Interviewer] Do you remember the pillow fight

in Brian Park? I do.

That wasn't the same episode was it?

[Interviewer] It was!

Oh.

[Character] We are here to celebrate the unexpected!

[crowd cheers]

We are here.

I mean, who thinks of a pillow fight at Bryan Park?

Let's put 'em in Bryan Park with a pillow fight.

Pillows?

[Crowd] Yeah, yeah!

Oh yeah. Right, right, right, right.

We could arrest the mayor for littering.

To watch somebody in utter flow, to watch flow happening,

that which is invisible.

He was the personification of, it was magnificent.

Different every time, funny every time.

And, truthful and believable. And, what is happening?

How am I so lucky that I get to witness it?

It was magic.

Everything was electric with him.

Like, there was no line between sort of acting,

and who he was as a person,

and the most fun person, and the most generous.

And, it was pure joy,

and he made all of us feel so special.

I remember, my son was I think two or three,

and Robin grabbed him and picked him up,

and was so kind and doing voices for him.

And, you're just in this moment going,

I'm pitching myself that I get to live in the same time

with somebody so magnetic, and so magic, and so generous,

that you go, I'm just different

'cause we got to breathe the same oxygen.

It was pretty great.

Sorry, may I tie my shoe?

Yeah, sure. Go ahead. Thank you.

Oh yeah, and didn't we all blow up here?

[building explodes]

[characters grunt] [glass shatters]

Yes, I did that stunt that day.

I've been pretty athletic, and I would push hard.

I don't anymore,

but at the time I pushed hard to do my own stunts,

as as long as I was safe.

But, these kinds of things, yes I did, and I loved it,

and it was super fun that day, and it was so cool.

Yeah.

When you're doing it, and you're shooting 10 months a year,

I'm just trying to do what's in front of me.

I have to focus on the day's work,

and then the next day's work, and the next day's work.

So, I haven't had the luxury to sit in it.

It's a marathon that I've been running.

I mean this is so joyful for me

to sit here, and sort of revel in it,

and re-experience it again.

This is a gift.

[VCR clicks]

Thank you for watching,

and for going on this journey with me.

[upbeat 80's music]