EXCLUSIVE: Mariska Hargitay recalls why she ‘panicked’ at ‘SVU’ audition: What she said to Dick Wolf

Mariska Hargitay has been the embodiment of one of her favorite mottos, “I decide,” since the creation of Olivia Benson in the late ‘90s.

In an upcoming Sunday Sitdown with Sunday TODAY host Willie Geist, the actor opens up about her audition for her Emmy Award-winning role in “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.” 

Before Hargitay officially landed the job, she had a moment of anxiety. She recalled reading for the part for the first time with “Law & Order” creator Dick Wolf after wrapping up her recurring role on “ER.”

“It was very funny,” she explained to Willie. “I walked in there and because after ‘ER’ I said, ‘What am I — what am I going to do? This is the greatest show ever. There’s no other show. Oh, except for “Law & Order,”’ I said to myself. And I was making jokes, ‘I need to get on that “Law & Order.”’”

Hargitay said Wolf gave her “a couple notes” after she read for him.

“I remember going, ‘That was good. That’s good,’” she explained. “And he was like, ‘Oh really? Is that — is it good? Is that a good note?’”

Hargitay said she and Wolf “kind of hit it off,” but her confidence was rattled when she returned to meet with him and noticed a “stunning girl in the waiting room.”

“I panicked,” Hargitay said. “And I walked in, I go, ‘Listen, I don’t know what you’re doing, but you’re a little confused: This is my role. This is my part. I am Olivia Benson.’ And (Wolf) was sort of laughing, I could tell, and I was like, ‘No, no, you don’t understand.’”

While Hargitay has always been one with Olivia Benson, she knew she needed a partner. Enter Christopher Meloni, aka Detective Elliot Stabler.

“You and Chris get in a room together and Dick Wolf says, ‘That’s it,’” Willie said to Hargitay.

“Yeah. That is what happened,” Hargitay answered.

“It was a sort of once-in-a-lifetime experience,” she said.

According to Hargitay, three actors and three actresses paired up during another callback.

“In the room, when he walked in, I sort of sized him up and I said, ‘That’s the guy,’” she recalled about Meloni. “‘That’s the guy. That is the guy. That is the guy.’ It was so obvious to me that that was the guy. And apparently, he felt the same way.”

Meloni got the role of Detective Elliot Stabler, and was by her side for the first 12 seasons of “SVU.” He’s reprised his character since 2021 on another Wolf spinoff, “Law & Order: Organized Crime,” as well as in “SVU” guest appearances and in crossover episodes between the two shows.

To see more of Hargitay’s conversation with Willie, tune in Jan. 12 to Sunday TODAY on NBC or listen to the full interview on the “Sunday Sitdown with Willie Geist” podcast, which will also be available on the same day as the episode.