After battling all manner of adversity – losing her mother at 3 years old, struggling with mountains of debt as a young woman – Mariska Hargitay felt blessed to find success on NBC's Law & Order: SVU. Which is why she's peeved that the show had to suffer to make room for Jay Leno's low-rated prime-time program.
Being moved to 9:00 pm "ruined our numbers," the actress tells More magazine in its February issue. "Nobody knew when the show was on. Finally, we're starting to find our audience again."
She adds: "I hope we go back to where we belong. It was doing so well. Why mess with it?"
Hargitay, who turns 46 on Saturday, also touches on her personal life, from her family (she married actor Peter Hermann in 2004, and they have a 3-year-old son, August) to her self-image and financial worries.
She has a scar on her forehead from the 1967 car accident that took the life of her mother, '50s bombshell Jayne Mansfield. "She's definitely always with me," Hargitay says. "I love it when people say, 'She had such a great laugh, and so do you.' When I find similarities, it gives me so much peace."
After months of reportedly tense contract negotiations, Emmy winner Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni – stars of Law & Order: SVU – have agreed to return to the popular NBC crime drama for another season.
The agreement means that starting in the fall, SVU will begin its 11th season with Hargitay and Meloni as stars. While terms of the deal have not been disclosed, both stars were reportedly earning $385,000 per episode before a new deal was struck.
Law & Order: SVU stars Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni have reportedly jeopardised their roles in the hit TV show by demanding more money from network bosses.
The actors are reportedly demanding a share of the programme's profits from the NBC network, in addition to the $350,000 they earn per episode - a rare deal similar to ones TV bosses cut with Law & Order: Criminal Intent stars Vincent D'Onofrio and Chris Noth.
And according to Entertainment Weekly, NBC bosses are threatening to dump the pair when their contracts expire in May if an agreement is not reached in time.
Series creator Dick Wolf tells the New York Post, "It is my fondest hope that both Chris and Mariska will be back next season."
After battling all manner of adversity – losing her mother at 3 years old, struggling with mountains of debt as a young woman – Mariska Hargitay felt blessed to find success on NBC's Law & Order: SVU. Which is why she's peeved that the show had to suffer to make room for Jay Leno's low-rated prime-time program.
