Before Mariska Hargitay She ended up as “America’s most beloved sex cop,” as she aptly described herself in her Good time with Amy Poehler In her appearance on the podcast, the veteran television actress thought she would be a comedian and took the test to Friends “many times.”
Speaking about his affinity for comedy with the Parks and Recreation alumna, Hargitay said “all I wanted to be was you,” reflecting on having emerged through The Groundlings, the famous Saturday night live Pipeline Improv School and Sketch Comedy Group.
“I did many things [comedy auditions]”Hargitay told Poehler about appearing in comedic roles early in her career. “I did itSeinfeldand I did itsingle guyand I did the testFriendsso many times.”
When asked what role she auditioned for, Hargitay said, “I think it’s Monica, long ago, again. But I always thought I’d end up in a comedy or doing comedy, that’s what I thought.”
However, a chance encounter with a psychic, who had been highly recommended by his friends, revealed a different destiny.
At that moment, the my mom jayne The documentary filmmaker had just finished her time as Cynthia Hooper in HE and he was a “struggling actor.” Through his development deal at DreamWorks, he was then working on a comedy-drama along the lines of Ally McBeal. But during a routine trip to New York City, he visited a psychic on Long Island at the urging of his friends, who “started telling me all these amazing things.”
“He said to me, Amy, ‘Do you see that face you’re making right now? Do you see that face?’ …I said, ‘Yes.’ He says, ‘You’re going to be famous for that face.’ “You will move to New York and be famous for that face,” he recalled. “And I said, ‘Uh, no, I live in Los Angeles and I’m going to be a comedian because I’m funny and pretty, and that’s a deadly combination.’ And he looks at me, and this is my favorite moment of my life, and he goes like this: ‘I don’t give a damn what you say.’”
She concluded: “Six months later, I swear to God, I gotSVU.”
Hargitay has played the no-nonsense and fiercely protective NYPD officer turned Captain Olivia Benson in Law & Order: SVU since 1999. The NBC mainstay created by Dick Wolf is currently airing its 27th season.
Watch the full episode below: