Mariska Hargitay Says She Started Acting Following ‘Encouraging Words’ from a Nun

Hargitay has starred on ‘Law & Order: Special Victims Unit’ since 1999

Mariska Hargitay is sharing the kind words from a nun that inspired her to get into acting.

Speaking on the Tuesday, June 16 episode of the I Am An Actor podcast, 62-year-old Hargitay spoke about the unlikely path that led her to Hollywood — which all began in school.

While attending Marymount High School in Los Angeles, Hargitay became close with her English teacher, she said.

“I started acting because when I was in high school, my English teacher, who was a nun, suggested that I try out for the school play,” she said. “I did. I fell in love with it. I did a play the following year. And these encouraging words that my nun gave me actually started the trajectory of my entire life.”

“My favorite teacher, who was my English teacher, her name was Sister Margaret,” Hargitay said, adding, “And I loved her. She was just so deep. And she saw all the students. And I just loved her and felt very connected to her.”

Hargitay continued: “And she pulled me aside one day and she said — and I used to get in trouble in class for talking, I was definitely an extrovert. And I think she just saw me, like, doing accents and being crazy — and she pulled me aside one day and she said, ‘Mariska, I think you should try out for the school play.’ And actually that was 11th grade. So I was like, ‘Oh, okay. That’d be fun.’ “

“And I tried out for the school play and it was a comedy, a French farce called Salad Days. It was very, you know, crazy, wacky story. And I had such a blast and this thing sort of came alive in me,” she added. “And then the following year I auditioned for the play and I got the lead in another play.”

Hargitay has starred as Detective Olivia Benson on Law & Order: Special Victim’s Unit since the series began in 1999 — making her the longest-running non-animated primetime drama character in television history.

Hargitay was born to actress and icon Jayne Mansfield and bodybuilder-turned-actor Mickey Hargitay, though in a documentary, she detailed learning in her 30s that her biological father is singer Nelson Sardelli.