"Law & Order: SVU" star Mariska Hargitay has had a milestone month in January, celebrating her 60th birthday and the history-making 25th season of her hit series, but things could have been very different.
In a new interview with People, Hargitay revealed she "wasn’t interested" in acting until her junior year, when her favorite teacher, Sister Margaret, told her, "I think you should try out for a play."
"She saw me," Hargitay added. "She always saw me, my soul."
Hargitay attended Marymount High School in Los Angeles, admitting she "used to get in trouble for talking." But Sister Margaret was "the first person who called me an extrovert.
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"I was also an athlete, so I think she was looking for how to channel that energy. She knew I had this little engine. And then she told me to try out for the play, and I got the lead and I loved it so much."
The actress reunited with Sister Margaret last year at The Colleagues annual luncheon, sharing the moment on Instagram.
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"And then there was the most exquisite surprise of the afternoon: my favorite teacher and one of my most important mentors, Sister Margaret from Marymount High School! Too good to be true!" she wrote in the caption for the post.
The Joyful Heart founder told People, "She loved to laugh, and she was such a whole person because she loved God. And she was this authority figure, but she was so human and so accessible that made me feel so safe with her.
"She wasn't an intimidating nun that you were scared of. She was part of the squad. She was part of the team, and I just always felt that she really saw me and took an interest and understood me and was so loving about everything. Inclusive, kind, nurturing."
Sister Margaret’s mentorship helped the actress follow in her famous family’s footsteps.
Hargitay is the daughter of Jayne Mansfield, a sex symbol in the 1950s and '60s who starred in films like "A Guide for the Married Man" and "Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?"
Mansfield had one daughter from her first marriage to Paul Mansfield. She later met and married actor and bodybuilder Mickey Hargitay in 1958 and had three children with him, including Mariska. Mansfield and Mickey divorced in 1964, and she married her third husband the same year. They had one child and later divorced in 1966.
In 1967, Mansfield died in a car accident at the age of 34 when Hargitay was just 3 years old. Hargitay was in the car with her mother and two of her siblings at the time of the accident; all three children survived.
Hargitay was raised by her father, who stressed the importance of hard work with his daughter.
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"My dad gave me so much advice and shored me up so young," she told the Parade in 2019. "He achieved so many unattainable goals and did it by beating to his own drum. He used to say that to me. Like, ‘What does it matter what people think?’ He was so clear in what it took to succeed."
Over time, Hargitay spoke about how she handled losing her mother at a young age and how it shaped her.
"I think I learned about crisis very young, and I learned very young that s--- happens, and there’s no guarantees, and we keep going," she told Glamour in 2021 as part of its Women of the Year issue.
"And then we transform it. That’s been kind of my superpower and the gift of having trauma early in life. I’ve spent the last 50 — how old am I? — 57, so 54 years sort of trying to figure out what happened and why, and what am I supposed to do with it?
"I clearly was in that frozen place for a lot of my childhood — of trying to survive, actually trying to survive. My life has been a process of unpeeling the layers and trust and trusting again."
Hargitay felt her bond with her mother deepen when she had children of her own.
"I understand her in a new way that gives me peace," she told Good Housekeeping in 2010. "Being a mom has been healing. Now I understand the love she had in her, and it makes me feel closer to her."
She and actor Peter Hermann have three children together — August, Amaya and Andrew.
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The couple first met on the set of "Law & Order: SVU" in 2001, when Hermann guest starred as a defense lawyer.
Three years later, they were married and have been together ever since.
"I'm at a point in my life where it just keeps getting better with him. And marriage is not always like this, or any relationship that is deep in matters. But I have learned so much," Hargitay told "Today" recently.
"Peter always says this beautiful quote about ... breaking through marriage into marriage. And that is what I think we've lived because, at this time in my life, I feel very different than I have for the last maybe 15 or 18 — and I feel (assured) up in our love."
Hargitay often shares tributes to her husband on Instagram. In August, on their 19th anniversary, she shared a photo from their wedding with the caption, "19 years. Best dance of my life. Only dance of my life."
Another long-lasting relationship in Hargitay’s life is with her character Olivia Benson on "Law & Order: SVU."
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The spinoff debuted in 1999 and is celebrating its 25th season on air, becoming the longest-running primetime drama in television history.
"It's so beautiful to have the privilege to actually watch the evolution," Hargitay told "Today" earlier this month. "Olivia Benson is sort of a perfect, feminist story. We actually see this woman grow into her power.
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"It's hard to process. Everyone is saying '25 years,' and I am so grateful for this time in my life and to be present for all of it."
Hargitay has earned an Emmy and Golden Globe for her work on the show but sees the show’s impact beyond awards and entertainment.
"I think we’re telling people stories that haven’t been told, that deserve to be told, that we’re approaching with the attention to detail that should have been part of our culture for a long time. And now, this show has changed that. So, it’s incredibly powerful and shifting the narrative on how survivors are treated," she told The Hollywood Reporter during an anniversary event for the show this month.
The outlet noted she became visibly emotional, saying, "It’s an important show."
The star recently revealed her own story of sexual assault in an essay for People, sharing that a man she thought was a friend raped her while she was in her 30s.
Hargitay admitted she struggled with processing the trauma for years but wanted to open up about her experience to "name it," as she told "Today."
In her essay, she wrote, "This is a painful part of my story. The experience was horrible. But it doesn’t come close to defining me, in the same way that no other single part of my story defines me. No single part of anyone’s story defines them."
Hargitay celebrated her 60th birthday Jan. 23.
"I am so excited about it, and I don’t think I’ve ever been more excited about a birthday," she told "Today" ahead of the big day.
"What it is is … owning all of ourselves," she added. "And having the space to love and appreciate all of these things that we may have exorcised or judged. But the idea is owning it and having compassion. It’s almost like a maternal feeling that we have with all our different parts and pieces. And I think that’s what’s so exciting now."
In a separate interview during "Hoda and Jenna," she added, "I have never felt more peace. I think peace is something I’ve been after for a long time."
