‘Law & Order SVU’ Newcomer Described What It Was Like Auditioning With Mariska Hargitay

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<p id=”par-1_30″><em><a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/tag/law-and-order-svu/”>Law & Order SVU</a> </em>recently welcomed a new star to tag along with <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/mariska-hargitay-didnt-mind-playing-olivia-benson-long.html/”>Mariska Hargitay’s Olivia Benson</a>. After screening with the veteran actor, Julian Aidén Martinez’s life immediately changed.</p>

<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-how-juliana-aiden-martinez-reacted-to-mariska-hargitay”>How Juliana Aidén Martinez reacted to Mariska Hargitay</h2>

<figure class=”wp-block-image size-full” id=”emb-1″><img decoding=”async” src=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Law-Order-SVU-Mariska-Hargitay.webp?strip=all&quality=80″ alt=”Mariska Hargitay standing alongside Juliana Aiden Martinez and Octavio Pisano in an episode of ‘Law & Order SVU’.” class=”wp-image-3725992″><figcaption class=”wp-element-caption”>Mariska Hargitay, Juliana Aiuden Martinez, Octavio Pisano | Jose Perez/Getty Images</figcaption></figure>

<p id=”par-2_84″>Martinez made her premiere as Kate Silva in the recent season 26 premiere of<em> Law & Order SVU</em>. Prior to joining the squad, Martinez was most known for Sofia Vergara’s<em> Griselda</em>. But doing<em> Griselda</em> was a different experience than joining<em> SVU</em>. The Netflix miniseries didn’t have <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/law-order-svu-turns-25-see-cast-then-now.html/”>the history that<em> SVU</em> had</a>, which is currently enjoying its 26<sup>th</sup> season on air. Before Martinez officially joined the cast, she had to figure out how to add something fresh to the show while still honoring its legacy.</p>

<p id=”par-3_64″>“The creative challenge for me was, how do you honor the material and the foundation that already exists and yet bring something new that still honors the integrity and brings a different dynamic?” she <em>recently told <a href=”https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-features/law-and-order-svu-juliana-aiden-martinez-kate-silva-season-26-1236024031/”>The Hollywood Reporter</a></em>. “Then finding, where is a young woman’s voice now? Where does my voice and my community, where does it reside, and where is it relevant?”</p>

<p id=”par-4_32″>To be a part of the show’s rich history, Martinez had to prove she could go to toe with Hargitay on the screen. The whole process happened incredibly quickly for the actor.</p>

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<p id=”par-5_44″>“I had never met Mariska before, and so justifiably, I was a little nervous. She was fantastic. It was kind of like when that finger fits perfectly into a glove. And within, I want to say, three days I joined the team,” she said.</p>

<p id=”par-6_14″>Afterwards, Hargitay made Martinez feel even more at home by mentoring the new star.</p>

<p id=”par-7_70″>“There’s kind of an innate admiration for Mariska and what she’s done for the show. She operates so much as a captain and No. 1 in the cast,” she said. “That really bleeds into that kind of relationship in which, ‘You can teach me so much, and I want to honor what you have, and then bring something new to it.’ And so there’s this neat, kind of mentee-mentorship quality.”</p>

<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-why-juliana-aiden-martinez-wanted-to-join-law-amp-order-svu”>Why Juliana Aiden Martinez wanted to join ‘Law & Order SVU’</h2>

<p id=”par-8_26″>Like many, Martinez found herself exposed to <em>SVU </em>at an early age. Which, Martinez felt, spoke volumes about the show’s reach in the world of television.</p>

<p id=”par-9_80″>“I watched it when I was in high school with my friends,” she once explained to <a href=”https://www.thewrap.com/law-and-order-svu-season-26-juliana-aiden-martinez-interview/”>The Wrap</a>. “When I joined <em>SVU,</em> I asked my two best friends, ‘What are your first memories of <em>SVU</em>’?And they said, ‘I remember watching it together,’ and I thought that that was such an interesting observation. I feel like for so many young women, they’re watching it with their friends or their family. There’s some kind of [communal] or familial aspect to watching it.”</p>

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<p id=”par-10_51″>But Martinez also felt there was a more meaningful cause behind joining <em>SVU</em>. Hargitay has remarked how the topics that <em>SVU </em>covered meant a lot to fans over the years, which inspired her to develop the Joyful Heart foundation. It seems the show resonated with Martinez in a very similar way.</p>

<p id=”par-11_91″>“It’s the longest-running show,” Martinez said. “It’s a show that has become such a cultural icon, but also a social platform for women’s stories and <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/svu-star-mariska-hargitay-helped-solve-real-life-crimes.html/”>stories pertaining to sexual assault</a>. And these are stories that typically…I have friends who’ve experienced this as well, and they don’t get the attention they deserve, nor the help they deserve. And with a show like this, I feel like it’s investing in the social progress and in women’s stories so that we can move the needle forward. And that was really, really important to me.”</p>