Post by NikkiGreen on Feb 20, 2007 11:13:13 GMT -5
From zap2it, February 20, 2007:
"SVU" Still Special for Hargitay
by Rick Porter
Eight years into her time on "Law & Order: SVU," and eight months into motherhood, Mariska Hargitay could probably be forgiven if her motivation had ebbed a little bit.
Hargitay herself thought that might be the case as she came off maternity leave earlier this season (her son, August, was born in late June). Much to her surprise and delight, however, that hasn't been the case.
"After having the baby I was off for six months, and in eight years I've never been off for so long. So you think you'd get rusty," she says. "And then I had my child [with husband Peter Hermann] and thought, 'I'll never be able to leave his side again -- I gotta get off the show. But as soon as I went back to 'SVU,' it was truly like -- after an hour and a half, it was like I never left. ...
"I thought, How could this happen? How, in the eighth year, could I be completely revitalized, re-energized, re-inspired to approach this in a new way. And it was obviously a gift to have my son be able to come to work with me every day. I don't feel like I'm pulled. ... I feel like I'm so lucky because I'm living my dream. I didn't have to choose one."
Her boss on "SVU," executive producer Neal Baer, is pretty happy too. Both Hargitay, who won an Emmy for her role, and co-star Chris Meloni recently signed contract extensions that make them two of the highest-paid actors in television and, just as important to Baer, keeps them with the series for two more years.
"Because our cases are so focused through them, we understand the cases though their consciousness," Baer says. "I've said in the past that no one knows if we'll be here tomorrow, because we're all replaceable. But aside from that, it's really important to have Chris and Mariska on the show because that's really what the show it. We're so thrilled to be able to continue [with them], because it would have been a very different show. I don't know if it would have been as popular or not, but I know it wouldn't be the show everyone loves and that I love to do."
To a pretty significant extent, viewers know what they're getting from an episode of "SVU": an often disturbing crime, dogged investigation by the Special Victims Unit detectives, and a resolution inside the hour. Increasingly in the past couple of seasons, though, Baer and the show's writers have used the cases to get inside the heads of Olivia Benson (Hargitay) and Elliot Stabler (Meloni) and explore the toll their work takes on them.
"I think the last episode of sweeps in February" -- "Philadelphia," airing Tuesday, Feb. 27 -- and the first one in May will really illustrate a maturation in their relationship," Baer says. "In the past Benson has always had to stick up for Stabler, and you'll see some real problems Benson is having where he now has to stick up for her, which we've never seen before. ... You'll see Mariska as you've never seen her before in the first episode of May sweeps. It's just stunning and frightening -- your jaw will drop."
Scenes like that, and the fact that she believes there's more to tell about her character -- "I'm so not done with Olivia Benson," she says -- have Hargitay still excited to be at work on "SVU."
"I think Olivia has had to shut down a lot of her own feelings. She doesn't have family, she doesn't have a man, she doesn't have kids," Hargitay observes. "I think there's three-fourths of the pie that she's been in denial about, and I think she's ready to look inward instead of looking outward. She always takes care of everyone else, but she isn't taking care of herself. I think we're going to see inside her this year, what she wants."
"SVU" Still Special for Hargitay
by Rick Porter
Eight years into her time on "Law & Order: SVU," and eight months into motherhood, Mariska Hargitay could probably be forgiven if her motivation had ebbed a little bit.
Hargitay herself thought that might be the case as she came off maternity leave earlier this season (her son, August, was born in late June). Much to her surprise and delight, however, that hasn't been the case.
"After having the baby I was off for six months, and in eight years I've never been off for so long. So you think you'd get rusty," she says. "And then I had my child [with husband Peter Hermann] and thought, 'I'll never be able to leave his side again -- I gotta get off the show. But as soon as I went back to 'SVU,' it was truly like -- after an hour and a half, it was like I never left. ...
"I thought, How could this happen? How, in the eighth year, could I be completely revitalized, re-energized, re-inspired to approach this in a new way. And it was obviously a gift to have my son be able to come to work with me every day. I don't feel like I'm pulled. ... I feel like I'm so lucky because I'm living my dream. I didn't have to choose one."
Her boss on "SVU," executive producer Neal Baer, is pretty happy too. Both Hargitay, who won an Emmy for her role, and co-star Chris Meloni recently signed contract extensions that make them two of the highest-paid actors in television and, just as important to Baer, keeps them with the series for two more years.
"Because our cases are so focused through them, we understand the cases though their consciousness," Baer says. "I've said in the past that no one knows if we'll be here tomorrow, because we're all replaceable. But aside from that, it's really important to have Chris and Mariska on the show because that's really what the show it. We're so thrilled to be able to continue [with them], because it would have been a very different show. I don't know if it would have been as popular or not, but I know it wouldn't be the show everyone loves and that I love to do."
To a pretty significant extent, viewers know what they're getting from an episode of "SVU": an often disturbing crime, dogged investigation by the Special Victims Unit detectives, and a resolution inside the hour. Increasingly in the past couple of seasons, though, Baer and the show's writers have used the cases to get inside the heads of Olivia Benson (Hargitay) and Elliot Stabler (Meloni) and explore the toll their work takes on them.
"I think the last episode of sweeps in February" -- "Philadelphia," airing Tuesday, Feb. 27 -- and the first one in May will really illustrate a maturation in their relationship," Baer says. "In the past Benson has always had to stick up for Stabler, and you'll see some real problems Benson is having where he now has to stick up for her, which we've never seen before. ... You'll see Mariska as you've never seen her before in the first episode of May sweeps. It's just stunning and frightening -- your jaw will drop."
Scenes like that, and the fact that she believes there's more to tell about her character -- "I'm so not done with Olivia Benson," she says -- have Hargitay still excited to be at work on "SVU."
"I think Olivia has had to shut down a lot of her own feelings. She doesn't have family, she doesn't have a man, she doesn't have kids," Hargitay observes. "I think there's three-fourths of the pie that she's been in denial about, and I think she's ready to look inward instead of looking outward. She always takes care of everyone else, but she isn't taking care of herself. I think we're going to see inside her this year, what she wants."
