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Tag: Law and Order Special Victims Unit

  • Olivia Benson the cat is ‘Big News’ to Mariska Hargitay

    Mariska Hargitay adores the fact that Taylor Swift named her cat after her iconic Law and Order: SVU character, Olivia Benson.

    To promote the 16th season of the hit NBC show, Hargitay sat down with Billy Bush and Kit Hoover on Access Hollywood to discuss the upcoming season and Swift’s cat. Hargitay revealed that she first became aware of the cat from Twitter. She jokingly told Bush and Hoover that having a cat named after her character was “big news.” Hargitay mentioned how after finding out about the cat on Twitter, she received a flood of emails from friends and family about it.

    Hargitay used Twitter to express her excitement over the news. She posted a picture of herself wearing a cat collar. Hargitay told Access Hollywood that “if you name your cat after me, you’re gonna get a response, damnit!” She laughed and then said, “I got her a Tiffany collar. She’s getting it in the mail. It’s Tiffany – I spared no expense on this!”


    The Olivia Benson cat is also become quite famous with Swift’s Instagram cat videos. There could possibly be a Hargitay and Olivia Benson the cat acting collaboration soon.

    Tonight Hargitay reprises her role as Olivia for Law and Order: SVU‘s 16th season. After last season’s highly dramatic showdown between Olivia and serial rapist William “the beast” Lewis (Pablo Schreiber), she finally gets some joy back into her life. This time in the form of motherhood. Law and Order: SVU season 15 ended with her adopting baby Noah. A lot of this season will revolve around Olivia’s transition as she becomes a parent. “I think this year she’s going to be trying to balance motherhood with being acting commander of a squad and constantly under scrutiny and being threatened by a sex-trafficking gang. She has quite a bit to manage,” disclosed Hargitay.

    Law and Order: SVU season 16 premieres tonight at 8:00 pm CST.

  • Mariska Hargitay Talks SVU Character Olivia Benson

    Mariska Hargitay has spent the past 16 years of her life playing the character Detective Olivia Benson on the hugely popular show Law and Order: Special Victims Unit.

    We have watched her character grow throughout the years, and in anticipation of the new season appearing on Wednesday, Hargitay sat down with James Lipton for Inside the Actors Studio to talk about everything from the development of Benson to her former partner Christopher Meloni.

    To prepare for her role, Benson revealed that she shadowed cops, and learned to shoot a gun like a professional. She had to get herself into the mindset of a detective, and that meant doing whatever she had to do, even viewing an autopsy.

    For 12 seasons we saw Hargitay and Meloni develop a relationship that the fans came to love. However, Meloni decided to end his career as Detective Stabler just before season 13. Hargitay said she loved the time she got to spend acting with Meloni and praised him for being such a good actor.

    “I’m so grateful for my time with him,” she said. “I think Chris is incapable of lying. He is a truth-teller; he’s committed to the truth at all costs. I loved his passion and commitment…He made me better and I love him. I loved acting with him and I love him as a person.”

    Season 16 of Law and Order: SVU airs on Wednesday, September 24, and Hargitay says she is excited to find out what is in store for her character. “I love her more now than ever…I love her because I am challenged by her,” Hargitay said. “I never know what’s going to happen. She surprises me. [Warren Leight, showrunner] surprises me. This character has evolved, which is the most exciting part of it. I feel in many ways she’s a new character because she’s gone through so much that has truly transformed her.”

  • Mariska Hargitay Has Her Last Dance With Pablo Schreiber

    WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!

    For those of you who did not catch last night’s intense episode of Law and Order: Special Victim’s Unit you definitely missed out!

    During the episode, titled Beast’s Obsession, William Lewis (Pablo Schreiber) returns to traumatize Detective Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay), once again.

    Since the season 14 finale, when Benson finally escapes from Lewis, we have seen her struggling to cope with life, and looking over her shoulder for Lewis at every turn. Benson was finally starting to feel safe, and move on from the torture he put her through, when Lewis manages to escape from prison. His one goal and obsession is to get Benson back in his grasps.

    Even though a protective detail has been placed on her at all times, Lewis will stop at nothing to have Benson back where he wants her … dead.

    After his escape, Lewis goes on a killing spree and takes a young girl Amelia (Lily Pilblad) hostage. “Everything he’s doing from his escape on is meant to lure Olivia to a confrontation with him and she knows it. And he knows it. The NYPD has her on a protective detail and even so, it’s one of those ‘they’ve had this date from the beginning’ kind of climaxes,” Warren Leight, SVU executive producer, told E! News.

    As to be expected, Lewis finally gets his hands back on Benson and tries to force her to admit that she perjured herself on the stand during his trial. He attempts to rape her, and plays Russian roulette with her life. At the end of the very climatically charged episode, Lewis takes his own life, and leaves Benson covered in his blood.

    So, is Lewis really dead? Is the horror finally over? According to Leight, Lewis is dead and will not be returning. Benson had her last dance with Lewis and finally won the battle. “He’s not coming back. I can now affirm that fact. We have a morgue scene in the next episode…the hand isn’t going to reach up from the grave or anything like that,” Leight revealed.

    Image via Twitter

  • Mariska Hargitay: SVU Is A Different Show Now

    Last night, the final episode of the “Save Benson” saga aired on Law and Order: Special Victims Unit. If you will recall, during the season 15 premiere, Olivia Benson [Mariska Hargitay] was kidnapped and tortured for days by William Lewis [Pablo Schreiber]. During the January 8 episode, Olivia must face William in the court of law.

    Hargitay recently sat down with NBC’s Today and talked about why it was important for Olivia to face her attacker.

    “[A] lot of time people sort of put Benson up on a pedestal, right? Because they think she’s so strong, ‘I wish I could be like that.’ A lot of this is sort of Joyful Heart-induced and I always say, ‘She’s not so strong.’ We can’t define ourselves by an event. That’s something that happened to you,” Hargitay said. “I think it was important for her to face him again because she can, and victims, I feel, need to sometimes be reminded of their own inner strength. That’s what I wanted to do.”

    “Yes, it’s a struggle,” she continued. “I couldn’t take any of the advice I’ve been giving people all these years because it’s different once you’re in it and it just shows how hard it is and how courageous she is. But that’s what I love about her, it’s not that it’s not hard, it’s that we feel the fear and we do it anyway and we fight through. And she is a fighter, even at all odds. He was in her head; she didn’t know that she could do it. Plus, she’s battling a moral issue, which is she’s under oath, that’s her badge. It’s her honor. For me, I found the story so compelling, I thought it was even better than the season premiere.”

    Hargitay has been playing detective Olivia Benson for 15 seasons now, and she says it has been an incredible journey. “I think it’s been a journey. I think the writing changes now that we have new showrunners,” she explained. “It feels to me like a different show now, which I think is a great thing. After 15 years, the show feels so unbelievably fresh, and that’s a gift.”

    Law & Order: SVU airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on NBC.

    Image via Twitter