Taylor Swift famously named her cat Olivia Benson after Mariska Hargitay’s “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” character and on Tuesday, Mariska stopped by Access Hollywood Live to dish on “SVU’s” upcoming season and Tay’s feline friend.
“I heard about it on Twitter and I think everybody that I’ve ever met emailed me and let me know that Taylor Swift named her cat after my character,” the actress told Billy Bush and Kit Hoover. “This is big news, people! This is not a joke!”
Mariska responded to Taylor’s cat homage by posting a picture of herself wearing an “Olivia Benson” engraved cat collar on Instagram, and she said she’s sending the gift to the “Shake It Off” singer.
“If you name your cat after me, you’re gonna get a response, damnit!” Mariska said with a laugh. “I got her a Tiffany collar. She’s getting it in the mail. It’s Tiffany – I spared no expense on this!
“Maybe I shouldn’t give it to her, because it does look good on me. Am I right?” she joked.
As for the real (small screen) Olivia, Mariska said “SVU’s” upcoming sixteenth season is set to be fantastic and will include all sorts of new drama for her character, who took in a foster baby, Noah, at the end of a harrowing Season 15.
“We need to find a baby daddy for that baby! It’s been very exciting because this season is turning in such a different direction. After last year, it was dark and [like] where do we go from there? So I feel like God dropped a little bundle of joy in my lap,” she said. “I think this year she’s going to be trying to balance motherhood with being acting commander of a squad and constantly under scrutiny and being threatened by a sex-trafficking gang. She has quite a bit to manage.
“Olivia, she does it all!” she added.
The actress said her character’s dangerous line of work is hard to reconcile with Olivia’s new role of single mother.
“As someone who puts themselves in jeopardy every day and puts other people first, how do you do your job and be in charge of this child?” she said. “It’s been interesting and I think it’s gonna be very dramatic and conflicting, and there’s lots of new notes to play, and for that I am very excited.”
And of course, we had to ask – does Mariska stay in touch with former co-star Chris Meloni (who played Olivia’s partner, Det. Elliot Stabler on the show)?
“I do! We all love Meloni – who doesn’t love Meloni? He is hysterical,” she said. “And I have to say, everyone talks about [our] chemistry and where that comes from. He is one of the funniest guys, and that’s probably one of the first things that we bonded over. He’s hilarious and we have a very similar sense of humor and appreciate the same things. I miss him and enjoy him and keep in touch with him.”
So if they’re staying in touch, is there a chance we may see Stabler returning to the squadroom in the future?
“I’ve been trying! Maybe he could be Noah’s baby daddy!” she laughed. “Let me call the writers.”
“Law & Order: SVU” returns with its Season 16 premiere on Wednesday at 9 PM on NBC.
— Erin O’Sullivan
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