Mariska Hargitay Says She's 'A Victim of Secondary Trauma' Because of 'Law & Order: SVU' Plot Lines
Mariska Hargitay opened up about how the intensity of 'Law & Order: SVU' impacted her personal life.
Mariska Hargitay, who has portrayed Olivia Benson on 'Law & Order: SVU' since 1999, discussed the negative impact from the long-running series with Selena Gomez.
"When I started the show, I wasn't aware of how deeply it would go into me," she confessed to Gomez for 'Interview Magazine.'
Married to 'Blue Bloods' star Peter Hermann, Hargitay shared how the experiences of portraying Benson have crept into her everyday life and sharpened her focus on crime — even outside of her work.
"My husband Peter is always like, anytime I go anywhere, my first question is, 'What's the crime rate here?' So it's on the brain," she explained, illustrating how the lines between her character and reality have blurred.
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One of the more challenging aspects of playing a character like Benson is dealing with secondary trauma. The raw and often real nature of the cases portrayed on the show has impacted Hargitay over the years.
"There's been times when I didn't know how to protect myself, and I think I was definitely a victim of secondary trauma from being inundated with these stories and knowing that they were true. Those were the parts that I didn't know how to metabolize, just because of the sheer volume of it," she revealed.
In an effort to cope with these emotional demands and make a positive difference, the 60-year-old founded the Joyful Heart Foundation in 2004. The organization focuses on helping survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence, and child abuse, while also supporting efforts to solve sex crimes.
Reflecting on her motivation, she stated, "I would feel like, well, at least I'm doing something about it."
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Now that the California native "grew and evolved, both as Mariska and as Olivia Benson," she's ready to take back her power.
"I'm in this very unique place of being a total badass, I know my worth, I know my power, I know what I have to offer, and I'm totally comfortable with my vulnerability, with all the ways I still feel like a little girl," the actress said. "That's a really peaceful place to be."
