Mariska Hargitay Revealed Why Sometimes She Went Home and Cried After Filming ‘Law & Order SVU’
Law & Order SVU star Mariska Hargitay’s life changed in more ways than one after joining the hit television series. But the show’s hectic schedule made it difficult for Hargitay to balance other areas of her personal life, which could occasionally take a toll.
Mariska Hargitay found balancing her home life with ‘Law & Order SVU’ difficult
As fulfilling as Law & Order SVU might be for Hargitay, it’s a series that also requires a lot of work. Hargitay and her crew often have to spend long hours on set each episode, which commonly includes working 12-hour work days. But the work doesn’t only start and end after filming wraps. Hargitay and her co-stars have to read and memorize the scripts they’re given to deliver consistent performances.
Juggling all of these responsibilities may be difficult enough as it is, but it might be even more challenging when family is involved. Hargitay shares three children with her current husband Peter Hermann, and finding the time to spend with them isn’t always a simple process.
“It’s hard. I’m not going to say it’s easy, it’s hard,” she once told Us Weekly. “I’m learning to [balance]. I try to be super present with where I am. I’m at work, I’m at work. When I’m with my kids, I’m with my kids.”
Hargitay admitted that certain days can be harder than others. And on those days, that was when she’d briefly second-guess continuing her Law & Order career.
“There are days I go home and just cry. There have been days when I didn’t see my kids. Those are the days I’m, like, ‘Maybe I’m done.’ But now, this is a gift of doing something for 20 years. We’re such a well-oiled machine. I go in there and I’m like, ‘Guys, I’ve got a kids’ thing. I’m out.’ They’re like, ‘Got it, boom,’” she said.
But Hargitay confided that there are creative ways she and her family try to accommodate her busy schedule.
“I have an incredible support system with my husband. He’s an actor so he also understands. I try to keep it organic. The kids come to set all the time. I’ve worked out my schedule a bit that I have a little more flexibility. I have a great team behind me,” she said.
Mariska Hargitay joked that her kids wouldn’t be able to watch ‘Law & Order SVU’ until they were 40
Law & Order SVU often tackles serious subject matter based on real-world events. Even Hargitay’s character, Olivia Benson, has found herself in harrowing situations. In a resurfaced interview with Entertainment Tonight, both Hargitay and Hermann were asked if their children watched their parents on the police procedural.
“Are you out of your mind?” Hermann responded to the inquiry. “They get to read this [children’s book]. Why do you think I wrote it? ‘You can’t watch the shows, but here is a really funny book that you get to watch!’”
Hargitay also chimed in, joking that her kids wouldn’t touch Law & Order until they were middle-aged.
“They’re not going to watch SVU until they’re, like, 40,” she said.
Hargitay also added that her children didn’t seem too interested in following in their parents’ footsteps.
“There is a lot of stick, I’m not going to lie, in our house,” Hargitay said. “But, no. They’re funny, they’re super funny, but they are…no [acting].”
1 of Mariska Hargitay’s children was confused about her fame
Hargitay asserted that her children understood their mother plays a cop on television. But according to the actor, that was as far as their awareness went regarding her occupation. This was why one of her children still seemed a bit confused as to why Hargitay received so much attention when out in public.
“He thinks I play a cop on TV, end of story,” Hargitay recalled to People. “So he asked ‘Why does everyone say I love you’ when we’re walking down the street?”
