How Mariska Hargitay Channels 'Law & Order's Olivia Benson in a ‘Crisis’

LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT -- "Fast Times @TheWheelHouse" Episode 23005 -- Pictured: Mariska Hargitay as Captain Olivia Benson -- (Photo by: Virginia Sherwood/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)

As the actress behind the longest-running character on a prime-time drama series, Mariska Hargitay and Olivia Benson have become so synonymous with one another that even she sees where the lines between them can blur, often tapping into her in moments of need.

As proven by Ryan Gosling and his delightful press tour for Barbie, it can be hard to separate the actor from the character, but when you've been playing the same role for as long as the Law & Order: SVU star, who celebrates 25 years as the beloved character this season, it's more of a "parallel journey" that the two are on together.

When she initially joined the series at its inception, Christopher Meloni's Elliot Stabler was the "male lead and a little more experienced," she recalled in a new interview with People, adding, "...and I was trying to catch up.”

And catch up she did. The two women both rose to the occasion, with Hargitay becoming the lead when Meloni left the show in 2011 and Benson eventually climbing the ladder from detective to squad captain. “As I became more comfortable with the character, you saw this powerful woman emerge,” she told the publication, likening their "powerful and exciting and beautifully uncomfortable" growth to "rebirth."

“There’s a thing WWOBD, what would Olivia Benson do? The fans would always talk about it, and one day it hit me," she continued, revealing that she, too, relies on the advice of her character. "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," she added, referencing Benson's strength and fearlessness. "It’s sort of this perfect feminist story.”

Today, she leads "with [her] heart," connecting with others and letting her vulnerability shine. “That’s my superpower. I’m somebody who understands you can be vulnerable and a bad--s at the same time,” she concluded.

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