Mariska Hargitay Young: See the Law & Order: SVU Star Then and Now [PHOTOS]

Mariska Hargitay Young: Photos of the SVU Star Through the Years

We’ve seen Mariska Hargitay kick butt on Law & Order: SVU for decades. A young Mariska Hargitay joined SVU in 1999 when she was 35 years old and continues to star in the highly-rated procedural. As the longest-running primetime live-action series, the actress has earned a devoted following of fans who have followed her every step of the way.

Mariska Hargitay was born on January 23, 1964, in Santa Monica, California, into a famous family. Hargitay is the daughter of American actress and Playboy playmate Jayne Mansfield and actor and body builder Mickey Hargitay. Her mother, a 1950s Hollywood icon, appeared in several hits on Broadway and at the box office. Jayne was tragically killed in a car crash in 1967; Mariska (who was only three years old) and her brothers, Zoltan Hargitay and Mickey Hargitay Jr., were in the car at the time but miraculously survived the fatal accident. Hargitay attended UCLA School of Theater Film and Television but left before completing her degree. She later went to Groundlings Theatre and School in Los Angeles.

Hargitay enrolled in pageant competitions and was crowned Miss Beverly Hills USA in 1982. She later competed in Miss California USA and appeared in a few music videos before landing minor roles in TV and films like Ghoulies, Baywatch, Leaving Las Vegas, Tequila and Bonetti, Seinfeld, ER and more. Her first major TV roles came from the 1986 crime series Downtown and the nighttime soap opera Falcon Crest.

Hargitay is currently married to Peter Hermann, a fellow actor who is best known for his roles in Younger, Law & Order: SVU and Blue Bloods. (He also was in the soap opera Guiding Light, where he played Dr. Michael Burke, who infamously was responsible for the cloning of Reva Shayne.) Hargitay met her future husband on the set of Law & Order: SVU in Season 3 when Hermann guest-starred as defense attorney Trevor Langan. They dated for two years before tying the knot in Santa Barbara, California, in 2004. Two years later, Mariska and Peter welcomed their first child, son August Miklos Hermann, on June 28, 2006. They adopted their next two children, daughter Amaya Josephine Hermann and son Andrew Nicolas Hargitay Hermann, in 2011.

Read on to see what Mariska Hargitay looked like when she was young and photos of the actress through the years.

1986: Mariska Hargitay Stars in Downtown

Before tracking down criminals on SVU, Hargitay starred in the CBS crime drama Downtown as Jesse Smith. The show revolved around a LAPD veteran who is assigned with supervising four parolees who help him solve crimes. As one of Hargitay’s breakout TV roles, she appeared alongside Michael Nouri, Robert Englund, Milicent Martin, Blair Underwood and more.

1987: Mariska Hargitay Stars in Falcon Crest

A young and unknown Mariska Hargitay had a small role in the primetime soap opera Falcon Crest, which aired from 1981 to 1990. Hargitay played Carly Fixx in Season 7, Episode 17, “Stormy Weather,” which premiered on February 12, 1988. Carly is the half-sister Dan Fixx (Brett Cullen) didn’t know existed.

1987: Mariska Hargitay and Anthony Crenna Attend a Wedding Together

Hargitay dated actor Anthony Crenna from 1986 to 1988. On May 23, 1987, they attended the wedding of actors Chad McQueen and Stacy Toten at the First United Methodist Church of Los Angeles in Los Angeles, California.
 

1988: Mariska Hargitay Stars in Finish Line

The actress also appeared in the 1989 American sports drama film, Finish Line. A young Mariska Hargitay played a student reporter in the film, which featured real-life father and son duo James and Josh Brolin, as well as Stephen Lang as the track coach.

1992: Mariska Hargitay Stars in Tequila & Bonetti

In 1992, Mariska portrayed Officer Angela Garcia for one season of the short-lived comedy-crime drama, Tequila & Bonetti, on CBS. She starred alongside Jack Scalia (pictured), Charles Rocket and Terry Funk.

1993: Mariska Hargitay Attends the 19th Annual People Choice Awards With Grant Snow

Mariska Hargitay wore a little black dress to the 19th Annual People’s Choice Awards in 1993. Her handsome date for the evening was actor Grant Snow – who’s best known for portraying Jake Hanson in the soap opera Melrose Place and Blake Carrington in the soap opera reboot Dynasty. It’s reported that Hargitay and Snow briefly dated in 1993.

1994: Mariska Hargitay Stars in the Fourth Season of ER

Hargitay joined the cast of ER, the long-running medical drama on NBC, in the show’s fourth season. She appeared in 13 episodes as Cynthia Hooper, a new desk clerk who developed a relationship with Mark Greene (Anthony Edwards).

In an interview with Bravo’s The Actor’s Studio, the actress recalled confronting ER casting director John Levey when she didn’t get the part. When Levey told Mariska that her personality didn’t fit the character’s “type,” she didn’t take no for an answer. “‘Hold on. You’re telling me that I acted it better than anybody and I’m not getting it because I’m not that way in real life?’ And he goes, ‘Yeah.’ And by the time I got home, they had called and offered me the role,” the actress said. 

1995: Mariska Hargitay Stars in Can’t Hurry Love

In 1995, when Hargitay was 31 years old, she was cast in the American sitcom TV series Can’t Hurry Love, which aired on CBS from September 1995 to February 1996. The actress played the free-spirited Didi Edelstein, who was best friends with Annie (Nancy McKeon, pictured), a single, thirty-something woman living in New York. This photo is giving us Friends vibes. 

1997: Mariska Hargitay Attends The Fire & Ice Ball in Los Angeles

Hargitay attended The Fire & Ice Ball in Los Angeles, California, alongside her ER costars, Mario Bello and Alex Kingson. Hosted at Paramount Studios in Hollywood, the ball benefited the Revlon/UCLA Women’s Cancer Research program.

1999: Mariska Hargitay Debuts as Oliva Benson in Law & Order: SVU

The first season of Dick Wolf’s Law & Order: SVU premiered in September 1999 on NBC. Mariska recently recalled what it was like getting the script for SVU and her initial feelings about the role. “I read the script and I just—I knew in my gut that I had to do this role. I had never been so excited about it,” Hargitay told The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in May 2019. “And the thing that was interesting is that my agent called me, and he said, ‘Maris, you know it’s very dark subject matter. I don’t know if it’s your thing. I don’t know if it’s going to be your bag, it’s super dark.’ I read it and just, you know, chills. And I knew I had to do it.”