Mariska Hargitay Talks Past Assault, Taylor Swift and ‘SVU’ on ‘Call Her Daddy’: Revelations

Mariska Hargitay is known for playing Olivia Benson on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit — but there’s more to her than meets the eye.

The actress sat down with Alex Cooper on the Wednesday, June 25, episode of “Call Her Daddy,” and no stone was left unturned. Hargitay spoke candidly about her late mother, Jayne Mansfield, her past sexual assault (which was initially revealed last year) and all things Benson.

For the SVU fans out there, Hargitay said she relates to her character’s “compassion” and “empathy” the most.

“[We both] feel the fear and do it anyway,” she added. “She’s not as funny as I am and she doesn’t have this much joy and balance, but she’s awesome so we give her a pass on all her flaws.”

Keep scrolling for the biggest revelations from Hargitay’s “Call Her Daddy” episode:

What She Remembers About Jayne Mansfield

“I have a couple of memories that — I don’t know if they’re memories or they’re photographs or they’re something that I wish happened or a fragment of a memory,” Hargitay explained. “It’s been a life of longing for her and trying to reconstruct connection.”

Hargitay was only 3 years old when Mansfield died in a June 1967 car accident. She dove deeper into Mansfield’s story for the documentary My Mom Jayne, set to be released on Friday, June 27.

“I say in the movie, losing my mother felt like having a hole in your heart,” she said. “So it’s been a life of navigating that and trying to figure [it] out.”

The Biological Dad Reveal

Last month, Hargitay revealed in a Vanity Fair article that Italian comedian and singer Nelson Sardelli is her biological father. During Wednesday’s podcast episode, Hargitay recalled a Mansfield superfan showing her a photo of Sardelli, after which she felt a “jolt” and knew the truth. Hargitay also explained why she only confronted dad Mickey Hargitay about it once.

“He was like, ‘What are you talking about? Are you crazy? That’s so not true,’” she said. “I pretended that I believed him, and we never spoke of it again.”

She Was Arrested

Hargitay appeared in Ronnie Milsap’s music video for “She Loves My Car” in 1984 and got thrown “in the slammer” (her words, not ours) over $3,000 in unpaid parking tickets.

“Let’s just say, I’ve always been known to have a bit of a lead foot and stop signs, I always saw them as optional,” she said. “I’ve changed my way[s] since then, but I wouldn’t not stop. It was just about rolling through the red light. I’m not proud of it.”

Hargitay got pulled over after blowing through a stop sign and was subsequently arrested.

“I made friends with everyone [in jail] and then they all gave me phone numbers when I got out,” she said, noting that a friend eventually came to pay her bail.

Working With Taylor Swift

Hargitay reflected on the 2014 “Bad Blood” music video — and being part of Swift’s iconic squad.

“It was so fun. It’s the best music video,” she said. “That was the most fun, being in the squad with all the cool girls and supermodels. It was the most fun ever.”

Hargitay remembered “boss lady” Swift being “warm and smart and kind” when they worked together.

“I learned so much from her,” she added. “That’s what I love about her is [that] she’s so young, but she shows us in such beautiful ways how to be fearless.”

The Long Island Psychic Who Predicted Her Fame

A friend took Hargitay to a psychic on Long Island when she was struggling in her acting career. The psychic took note of the skepticism on her face and predicted her success.

“He says, ‘You see that face? … You’re going to be famous for that face, that serious face,’” she recalled. “Swear to God, six months later, I got SVU. I swear this is true, on my children this happened.”

Sharing Her Sexual Assault Publicly

In January 2024, Hargitay went public with her experience as a victim of sexual assault, revealing she was raped by a friend in her 30s. Initially, she was “in denial” about the assault.

“I couldn’t process that I couldn’t get out of it,” she said. “I have gotten out of so many things through my intellect, through comedy, through just outsmarting. … I couldn’t understand that I couldn’t. That just lived in me and so I blamed myself and then it got to the point where it just became so clear what happened.”

She recalled telling husband Peter Hermann what happened and him confirming she was sexually assaulted.

“That’s why I understand about denial and dissociating and I have so much room for that,” she added. “Now, I look at it and I say I’m grateful for that part of myself that kept me safe, for that part of myself that said you’re not ready to deal with it.”

Are Benson and Stabler Endgame?

Hargitay had nothing but amazing things to say about her longtime SVU costar Christopher Meloni.

“We are just connected. We are so close, it’s like we’ve been through the battle together,” she gushed. “We know each other so well. We love each other so much. We respect each other so much.”

She recalled being “devastated” when he left SVU in 2011 over a contract dispute but acknowledged that it allowed her to work with other amazing costars. Cooper also asked about Hargitay and Meloni’s characters eventually becoming romantically involved on the show.

“Maybe [in] the last episode. I think that’s when they should be together,” Hargitay said. “If it’s right, we’ll see when we get there. We are soulmates, in a way.”

‘SVU’ Episode She Loves

Even though she has more than 25 years on SVU under her belt, Hargitay easily identified the episode she’s most proud of: Season 24, episode 15, titled “King of the Moon.” Hargitay directed the episode, which guest stars Bradley Whitford as a man with dementia who is accused of killing his wife.