<p id=”par-1_64″>Olivia Benson to the rescue! Mariska Hargitay isn’t a real-life cop, but that didn’t stop her from stepping into protector mode when a little girl needed help. The <a href=”https://cheatsheet.com/tag/law-and-order-svu”><em>Law & Order: SVU</em></a><em> </em>star was filming an episode of the <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/law-order-svu-surprising-facts.html/”>popular NBC drama</a> in a New York City park when a child who’d been separated from her mother mistook her for an actual police officer. </p>
<p id=”par-2_31″>Hargitay apparently didn’t miss a beat when the girl approached her, according to reports. She swiftly paused filming to help the child find her mom, with whom she was soon reunited. </p>
<figure class=”wp-block-image size-full” id=”emb-1″><img decoding=”async” fetchpriority=”high” width=”1200″ height=”965″ src=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mariska-Hargitay-and-Child.jpg?strip=all&quality=89″ alt=”Mariska Hargitay crouches down while talking to a little girl” class=”wp-image-3653250″ srcset=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mariska-Hargitay-and-Child.jpg 1200w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mariska-Hargitay-and-Child.jpg?w=622&h=500 622w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mariska-Hargitay-and-Child.jpg?w=1024&h=823 1024w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mariska-Hargitay-and-Child.jpg?w=768&h=618 768w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mariska-Hargitay-and-Child.jpg?w=435&h=350 435w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mariska-Hargitay-and-Child.jpg?w=210&h=169 210w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mariska-Hargitay-and-Child.jpg?w=200&h=161 200w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mariska-Hargitay-and-Child.jpg?w=630&h=507 630w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mariska-Hargitay-and-Child.jpg?w=75&h=60 75w” sizes=”(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px”><figcaption class=”wp-element-caption”>Mariska Hargitay is seen taking a break from filming ‘Law and Order: SVU’ help a child at the Fort Tryon Playground on April 10, 2024 in New York City | Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images </figcaption></figure>
<p id=”par-3_27″>Hargitay, 60, was filming a <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/mariska-hargitay-looks-chic-gray-coat-filming-law-order-svu-nyc.html/”>scene for <em>Law & Order: SVU </em>Season 25</a> in Manhattan’s Fort Tryon Playground on April 10 when she encountered the lost child. </p>
<figure class=”wp-block-image size-full” id=”emb-2″><img decoding=”async” width=”1200″ height=”1647″ src=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mariska-Hargitay.jpg?strip=all&quality=89″ alt=”Mariska Hargitay crouches down while talking to a little girl” class=”wp-image-3653253″ srcset=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mariska-Hargitay.jpg 1200w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mariska-Hargitay.jpg?w=364&h=500 364w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mariska-Hargitay.jpg?w=746&h=1024 746w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mariska-Hargitay.jpg?w=768&h=1054 768w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mariska-Hargitay.jpg?w=1119&h=1536 1119w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mariska-Hargitay.jpg?w=255&h=350 255w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mariska-Hargitay.jpg?w=123&h=169 123w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mariska-Hargitay.jpg?w=146&h=200 146w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mariska-Hargitay.jpg?w=369&h=507 369w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mariska-Hargitay.jpg?w=44&h=60 44w” sizes=”(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px”><figcaption class=”wp-element-caption”>Mariska Hargitay helps a child | Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images</figcaption></figure>
<p id=”par-4_31″>The actor, who has spent a quarter of a century playing an NYPD detective, talked to the girl, who had seen Hargitay’s badge and assumed she was a real police officer. </p>
<figure class=”wp-block-image size-full” id=”emb-3″><img decoding=”async” width=”1200″ height=”1530″ src=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/MariskaHargitay.jpg?strip=all&quality=89″ alt=”Mariska Hargitay and a woman with green hair talk to a little girl with her back to the camera” class=”wp-image-3653254″ srcset=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/MariskaHargitay.jpg 1200w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/MariskaHargitay.jpg?w=392&h=500 392w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/MariskaHargitay.jpg?w=803&h=1024 803w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/MariskaHargitay.jpg?w=768&h=979 768w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/MariskaHargitay.jpg?w=275&h=350 275w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/MariskaHargitay.jpg?w=133&h=169 133w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/MariskaHargitay.jpg?w=157&h=200 157w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/MariskaHargitay.jpg?w=398&h=507 398w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/MariskaHargitay.jpg?w=47&h=60 47w” sizes=”(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px”><figcaption class=”wp-element-caption”>Mariska Hargitay with a woman and a child | Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images</figcaption></figure>
<p id=”par-5_29″>Filming on the episode was paused while Hargitay – who shares three children with her <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/peter-hermann-shared-thought-mariska-hargitays-relationship-co-star-chris-meloni.html/”>husband Peter Hermann</a> – helped the girl find her mom, a witness told <a href=”https://people.com/mariska-hargitay-mistaken-for-real-life-police-officer-by-young-girl-on-svu-set-8634829″ target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>People</a>.</p>
<figure class=”wp-block-image size-full” id=”emb-4″><img decoding=”async” loading=”lazy” width=”1200″ height=”1560″ src=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mariska-Hargitay-2024.jpg?strip=all&quality=89″ alt=”Mariska Hargitay and a woman with green hair talk to a little girl with her back to the camera” class=”wp-image-3653249″ srcset=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mariska-Hargitay-2024.jpg 1200w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mariska-Hargitay-2024.jpg?w=385&h=500 385w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mariska-Hargitay-2024.jpg?w=788&h=1024 788w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mariska-Hargitay-2024.jpg?w=768&h=998 768w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mariska-Hargitay-2024.jpg?w=1182&h=1536 1182w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mariska-Hargitay-2024.jpg?w=269&h=350 269w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mariska-Hargitay-2024.jpg?w=130&h=169 130w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mariska-Hargitay-2024.jpg?w=154&h=200 154w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mariska-Hargitay-2024.jpg?w=390&h=507 390w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mariska-Hargitay-2024.jpg?w=46&h=60 46w” sizes=”(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px”><figcaption class=”wp-element-caption”>Mariska Hargitay with a woman and a child | Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images </figcaption></figure>
<p id=”par-6_11″>After about 20 minutes, the girl was reunited with her mother. </p>
<p id=”par-7_25″>While Hargitay hasn’t commented on the incident, she’s spoken in the past about how closely entwined her real self is with her famous character. </p>
<p id=”par-8_30″>“I’ve been doing this for so long, and the character is me — it’s part of me. I couldn’t play it if it wasn’t,” she told <a href=”https://www.thecut.com/2023/03/mariska-hargitay-olivia-benson-stuart-weitzman.html” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>The Cut</a> in 2023. </p>
<figure class=”wp-block-image size-full” id=”emb-5″><img decoding=”async” loading=”lazy” width=”1200″ height=”800″ src=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mariska-Hargitay-SVU.jpg?strip=all&quality=89″ alt=”Mariska Hargitay sitting in a car and pointing out the window” class=”wp-image-3653252″ srcset=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mariska-Hargitay-SVU.jpg 1200w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mariska-Hargitay-SVU.jpg?w=640&h=427 640w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mariska-Hargitay-SVU.jpg?w=1024&h=683 1024w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mariska-Hargitay-SVU.jpg?w=150&h=100 150w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mariska-Hargitay-SVU.jpg?w=768&h=512 768w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mariska-Hargitay-SVU.jpg?w=525&h=350 525w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mariska-Hargitay-SVU.jpg?w=254&h=169 254w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mariska-Hargitay-SVU.jpg?w=200&h=133 200w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mariska-Hargitay-SVU.jpg?w=761&h=507 761w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mariska-Hargitay-SVU.jpg?w=90&h=60 90w” sizes=”(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px”><figcaption class=”wp-element-caption”>Mariska Hargitay on the set of ‘Law and Order: SVU’ on April 10 | Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images</figcaption></figure>
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<p id=”par-9_45″>On <em>SVU, </em>Hargitay’s Benson is committed to doing whatever it takes to protect victims of sexual assault, child abuse, and other devastating crimes. She’s said that she’s made it a point to really understand those issues in order to bring Benson to life on screen. </p>
<p id=”par-10_79″>“I did so much work at the beginning when I learned about these issues — law enforcement, sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, trauma — that I’ve spent these last 24 years studying that. That studying continues, but I’ve also spent these last 24 years excavating myself and trying to understand my own inner landscape and which parts I give to that character and which parts that character unlocked in me,” she said in her interview with The Cut. </p>
<p id=”par-11_48″>Many viewers connected with Benson and the stories told on <em>SVU </em>and reached out to Hargitay personally about their own experiences with sexual violence. In response, Hargitay started The Joyful Heart Foundation in 2004, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering survivors of sexual assault, child abuse, and domestic violence.<br></p>
<p id=”par-12_39″>Hargitay said that her husband and kids keep her grounded when dealing with the difficult stories on <em>SVU. </em>And because she lost her own mother, <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/mariska-hargitay-didnt-grieve-mothers-passing-mid-20s.html/”>screen icon Jayne Mansfield</a>, at an early age, family is especially important to her. </p>
<p id=”par-13_55″>“I’m madly in love with my husband,” she said. “He’s my home. I come home and we laugh. My children are my angels. All I ever wanted was to be a mom and to have this family, because mine was broken apart at a very early age, so these things are so sacred to me.”</p>
<p id=”par-14_16″><em>For more on the entertainment world and exclusive interviews, subscribe to </em><a href=”https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWmTM34h0-P7FcCwuA6h6sw/videos” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”><em>Showbiz Cheat Sheet’s YouTube channel</em></a><em>.</em></p>
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