Some long-running shows have seen major exits from their leads — actors and characters we would’ve thought had to be there for every episode until the end — but it really is impossible to imagine Law & Order: SVU, entering its 25th season on Thursday, January 18, without Mariska Hargitay, whose Olivia Benson was introduced as a detective and is now captain of the squad. (With Season 25, Benson is the longest-running character on a primetime drama, and SVU is the longest-running drama in television history.) The good news? It doesn’t sound like that will change anytime soon.
“I can’t believe it’s been 25 years, a quarter of a century!” Hargitay told People. “And … I can’t see it any other way. I can’t imagine the show ending, and can’t imagine not going on this journey with my cast, my crew. I have so much to look forward to. And I’m still growing. I like that you can be so many things at one time. It’s learning to give yourself permission to be all of yourself.”
Hargitay recalled starting on the show, back when it premiered in 1999, as “the second detective,” with Christopher Meloni (Detective Elliot Stabler) “the male lead and a little more experienced, and I was trying to catch up,” until he left in 2011. (He now leads Organized Crime, airing after SVU on Thursdays, with the two shows crossing over a few times throughout the season.)
“As I became more comfortable with the character, you saw this powerful woman emerge,” Hargitay shared. “In a way, it was a rebirth, and that was powerful and exciting and beautifully uncomfortable to reckon with one’s own power.”
Fans, as well as survivors of sexual assault, aren’t the only ones who may look to her character at times. She does, as well. “There’s a thing WWOBD, what would Olivia Benson do? The fans would always talk about it, and one day, it hit me,” she explained. “I also have those moments where I’ve sort of slipped into her. If there’s a crisis, I just take over and lead like that. Being strong and fearless. It’s sort of this perfect feminist story.”
And it sounds like Benson may need to keep that in mind when Season 25 begins, considering that, as showrunner David Graziano previewed, it is “‘The Greatest Hits of SVU,’ with folks from Benson’s past [cases] coming back.” Wolf Entertainment Executive VP Rebecca McGill has also revealed, “we’ll spend time with Capt. Olivia Benson, reflecting on her career and her future.”
