Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (SVU) is one of the longest-running shows of all time, having remained on the air since 1999. Today, this NBC crime drama is now on its 22nd season and throughout all its episodes, actress Mariska Hargitay, who portrays Olivia Benson, has remained front and center.
Other actors may have come and gone but Hargitay has been around since the beginning. And since the actress is undoubtedly the main star of the show, fans can’t help but wonder how much she’s making per episode these days.
She Joined The Show Right After A Stint In A Popular Medical Drama
Hargitay was quite the established actress long before she got cast in Law & Order: SVU. In her earlier years, she starred in several tv series and films (she’s still remembered for her appearance in Leaving Las Vegas and her role in Lake Placid). At the same time, fans may not be aware that Hargitay once played a recurring guest role in the hit series ER (she appeared during the show’s fourth season).
Around the time that she was wrapping up her ER guesting, Hargitay was looking to do a comedy next. But then, the script for Law & Order: SVU came to her instead. “I remember getting the pilot script; it was called Sex Crimes at the time,” Hargitay recalled while speaking with The Hollywood Reporter. “My agent said, ‘Listen, this show, it’s very dark. I don’t know if it’s up your alley.’ But then I read it. And I went, ‘Wait, this is what we’re going to talk about every week? I remember feeling so passionately about it, and not scared of it, weirdly.”
Once She Got The Part, Mariska Hargitay Went To Work Quickly
Just like that, Hargitay set about preparing for the role. For starters, she made her way to New York to get a field lesson. “I started going on ride-alongs and met real SVU detectives,” the actress revealed. “I hung out at precincts.”
At the same time, the show’s creator, Dick Wolf, also invited Hargitay to attend an event for the Sexual Assault and Violence Intervention program and it proved to be quite an eye-opener. “I learned that one in four women will be assaulted by their 18th birthday, one in three women in their lifetime, one in six men in their lifetime,” she recalled. “I went, ‘Hold on, what?!’ I just couldn’t download those statistics.”
In The Beginning, She Also Had A Co-Lead
When Law & Order: SVU started, Hargitay’s Olivia had a partner in fellow detective Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni). After 12 seasons together though, Meloni abruptly exited the show. “I was just so sad, because we started this thing and built it together,” Hargitay told People of Meloni’s decision to leave. “I had to do so many mental gymnastics and sort of do a reinvention in my own mind, which of course turned out to be a gift, as any sort of growth is. But I was scared; I was sad.”
When Meloni left, some may have thought that Law & Order: SVU would be no more. “Most people thought the year after would be the last year,” Wolf told AP. But then Hargitay proved that she was capable of carrying a series on her own and fans were more than impressed. “Mariska more than stepped up,” Wolf explained. “She is the spark plug, the leader, the face of the show.”
How Much Is Mariska Hargitay Earning In Law & Order: SVU?
Being the star of an Emmy-winning series (Hargitay herself also won an Emmy for her portrayal of Benson) certainly has its rewards! In the past, Hargitay reportedly $450,000 per episode, which made her the second highest-paid television actress back in 2014. Since then, the actress’ rate had also gone way up.
Reports indicate that Hargitay earns around $540,000 per episode on the show. In fact, Forbes somewhat confirmed this when its 2018 report revealed that the actress earned $13 million while working on the show’s 19th season. Such earnings may also explain how Hargitay managed to achieve an estimated net worth of $100 million in recent years.
Today, Hargitay is not just busy with Law & Order: SVU. She has been working on the new Law & Order spinoff, Law & Order: Organized Crime, too. The show sees Meloni’s return to the Law & Order universe as Stabler leads a new task force that goes after the most powerful crime syndicate in New York.
The series made its debut through a two-part cross-over event with Law & Order: SVU. That allowed for Hargitay and Meloni worked together again a lot after all these years. And if you asked it them, it felt right. “It was Pavlovian: Ring that bell, and you get right into Stabler and Benson,” Meloni explained. Hargitay also added, “There was so much shorthand between us, which all goes back to the trust we have.”
Meanwhile, as far as Wolf is concerned, Law & Order: SVU will remain on the air for as long as possible. Thanks, in a large part, to Hargitay. “If you get the right person in there, it works for years,” he explained.
