Mariska Hargitay Once Shared It Took Years to Perfect Her Walk for ‘Law & Order: SVU’

Law & Order star Mariska Hargitay was determined to correct a slight misstep she had with her character over the years. It took some time, but she not only learned how to act like a cop but move like one, too.

Mariska Hargitay had trouble mastering 1 character trait for Olivia Benson

Hargitay has spent an enormous amount of time with her Law & Order character Olivia Benson. She’s played the stern but empathetic detective for 25 seasons, who specialized in helping victims of sexually traumatic crimes. But despite portraying Olivia since 1999, she confided it took many years to nail down the character’s movements. Although not required, it was important for Hargitay to master Olivia’s cop walk.

“It took me years. I think it took me a few years to develop the cop muscles. I remember seeing Chris in the first few years and he’d wear like this long coat, and the way he’d walk the streets. Because he was from New York, he had such a good walk,” she once told Inside the Actor’s Studio.

Hargitay asserted she didn’t want to cramp Meloni’s style with her own less polished walk. It took a lot of practice, but eventually, she was able to match Meloni’s footsteps.

“And I would try to do some kind of, like, pimp walk. And it was not working at all,” Hargitay said. “But, eventually I got it. And I walk OK now.”

Mariska Hargitay’s instincts as a police officer kicked in to help a pregnant stranger in need

Olivia Benson has also rubbed off on Hargitay personally. In a 2007 interview with Good Housekeeping, Hargitay opened up about how the role affected her approach to motherhood.

“It really prepared me for motherhood, because as a cop, you are in charge of any emergency and you need to stay calm, take control, and get the help and the attention you need to fix it. It’s the same thing with being a parent,” she said.

Apart from readying her for the challenges of parenthood, Olivia helped Hargitay keep her wits during particularly stressful situations. The actor recalled a time when she helped a pregnant woman in New York after she fainted. She immediately channeled her Law & Order character.

“I can go totally into cop mode,” she said. “I yelled, ‘Call 911; get her water.’ Then I started going through all of the questions with her that could answer what might be wrong with her. It was completely like an episode of the show.”

Mariska Hargitay has an idea of how she wants her ‘Law & Order’ journey to end

Hargitay has remained committed to SVU since the show’s inception. But there was a moment when her loyalty to the show faltered. Back in 2011, her co-star Chris Meloni left the show due to a dispute with the series’ producers. This led to a rather unceremonious end for his character Elliot Stabler. Hargitay had such a difficult time with Meloni’s exit that she wondered if she should’ve followed her co-star’s example.

But Hargitay asserted that the show managed to reinvigorate her passion for the product, ensuring a long and faithful relationship with Dick Wolf’s creation. Still, Hargitay’s time on the show can’t last forever. And she’s even mulled where her character might end up when she’s truly done all that she could on Law & Order.

“I hope that she can get to a point where she feels like she’s done enough service and it’s time to rest and be and see the best that life has to offer because she’s spent so much time in the darkest of what life has to offer,” she once told E! News.

To be more specific, Hargitay believed it would serve Olivia’s story best if the character settled down and started a family.