Mariska Hargitay is known for her role as Olivia Benson on “Law & Order: SVU,” but she originally thought her career would go in a completely different direction.
During an appearance on Amy Poehler’s “Good Hang” podcast last week, the former “Saturday Night Live” star shared that Hargitay originally started out in the Los Angeles comedy improv troupe The Groundlings.
“I always thought that I would end up being on a sitcom or doing comedy,” Hargitay said, adding that she guest-starred on “Seinfeld” and “tested for ‘Friends’ so many times.”
The actor said she was auditioning for the part of Monica, which ultimately went to Courteney Cox.
And while she couldn’t see what her future would hold, one person correctly predicted it.
“I met with this psychic. Everyone said to me, ‘Oh my gosh, Mariska, you have to meet with this psychic. He’s amazing,’” she told Poehler of an experience she had while visiting New York. “So I drove out somewhere on Long Island to this man and I went there and he started saying all this amazing stuff to me.”
“I was listening to him really intently like this,” Hargitay said, revealing a very serious face that she’s now known for.
“And he said to me, ‘You see that face you’re doing right now? You see that face?’ ... He goes, ‘You’re going to be famous for that face. You’re moving to New York, and you’re gonna be famous for that face,’” the actor recalled.
“And I said, ‘Uh, no! I live in LA and I’m going to be a comedian because I’m funny and I’m pretty, and that is a deadly combination ― I am going to be a comedian!’” she quipped, though we all know how the story goes.
The psychic wasn’t having Hargitay’s protests and told her “I don’t give a rat’s ass what you say!”
“Six months later, swear to God ... I got ‘SVU,’” the actor said.
Hargitay landed the role of Benson in 1999 and has remained on the show for nearly 27 seasons.
After all that time, Hargitay still gushes about the job.
“I love going to work every day. I love the community that I’m in,” the actor told NBC insider last year. “I love my cast, my crew, and I love the intimacy of it all and the fact that we work in a culture that says, ‘Let’s do the work, let’s have a fun time, and best idea wins.’ It is such a team. It is such an incredible team, and we rely so much on each other. We’re a unit. It’s so sacred to me.”