Mariska Hargitay

Acting

Mariska Hargitay

Born 1964-01-23 · Los Angeles, California, USA

Mariska Hargitay (born January 23, 1964) is an American actress, producer, director and activist, best known for her role as New York City sex crimes Detective Olivia Benson on on the NBC television drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, a role that has earned her multiple awards and nominations, including an Emmy and Golden Globe. The daughter of actress Jayne Mansfield and actor/bodybuilder Mickey Hargitay, Hargitay is a former beauty queen who made her film debut in the 1985 horror-comedy film Ghoulies, and her major television debut in the 1986 adventure drama series, Downtown. She appeared in numerous roles in film and television shows throughout the late 1980s and 1990s before being cast as Olivia Benson, a role that led to her founding the Joyful Heart Foundation, which provides support to women who have been sexually abused.

Acting credits

Leaving Las Vegas poster
7.2

Ben Sanderson, an alcoholic Hollywood screenwriter who lost everything because of his drinking, arrives in Las Vegas to drink himself to death. There, he meets and forms an uneasy friendship and non-interference pact with prostitute Sera.

Leaving Las Vegas

1995

Lake Placid poster
5.9

When a man is eaten alive by an unknown creature, the local Game Warden teams up with a paleontologist from New York to find the beast. Add to the mix an eccentric philanthropist with a penchant for "Crocs", and here we go! This quiet, remote lake is suddenly the focus of an intense search for a crocodile with a taste for live animals...and people!

Lake Placid

1999

The Love Guru poster
4.1

Born in America and raised in an Indian ashram, Pitka returns to his native land to seek his fortune as a spiritualist and self-help expert. His skills are put to the test when he must get a brokenhearted hockey player's marriage back on track in time for the man to help his team win the Stanley Cup.

The Love Guru

2008

My Mom Jayne poster
8.0

Through deeply personal interviews with her siblings and an examination of the photographs, letters, and belongings left behind, Mariska assembles a new portrait of her mother Jayne Mansfield, an extraordinary and complex woman.

My Mom Jayne

2025

Taylor Swift: The 1989 World Tour - Live poster
8.4

Filmed in front of 76,000 fans at the ANZ Stadium in Sydney, Australia, "The 1989 World Tour Live" captures Taylor Swift's entire performance while also mixing in behind-the-scene, rehearsal, and special guest footage from her 1989 Tour.

Taylor Swift: The 1989 World Tour - Live

2015

Perfume poster
4.8

A week in the lives of a group of models, photographers, agents, reporters, publicists and other characters during a wild modeling show in New York City.

Perfume

2001

The Perfect Weapon poster
6.4

Jeff, a young delinquent, is enrolled by his father in a kenpo school, in the hopes of teaching the boy some self-discipline. Years later, Jeff's mentor, Kim, is being threatened by one of the Korean mafia families. Jeff tries to help his old friend, but is too late to prevent Kim's death at the hands of an unknown hitman. Vowing revenge, Jeff takes on all of the families, using his martial arts skills to find the man who killed his friend.

The Perfect Weapon

1991

Ghoulies poster
4.9

A young man and his girlfriend move into the man's old mansion home, where he becomes possessed by a need to control ancient demons.

Ghoulies

1985

Blind Side poster
5.4

A couple visits Mexico to scout a new location for their furniture manufacturing business, and hit a cop with their car on the way back stateside. Realizing that if they report it they could land in a Mexican jail (guilty until proven innocent), they clean up the car and return home. A few days later, an insistent man shows up wanting a job -- and insinuating that he saw something in Mexico that he would not want to report -- the couple must make a decision about how far they will allow themselves to be blackmailed.

Blind Side

1993

Bank Robber poster
4.4

After robbing a bank, the robber hides out from the police in a seedy hotel where he is forced to bribe various tennants for protection as well as their silence which becomes more difficult as greed takes over and the people demand more exuberant bribes from the bank robber to shelter and hide him.

Bank Robber

1993

Mr. Universe poster
8.0

Two Hungarian documentary makers, having heard nothing about their countryman Mickey Hargitay for almost 15 years, embark on a quest for the former body-builder/B-movie star. They cross America and find Mickey, living quietly in Southern California, running his businesses and raising his children, who have names like Mariska (ring a bell?) and Zoltan, speak Hungarian, and look like Jane Mansfield (of course).

Mr. Universe

1988

Winona Ryder: The Ghosts She Called poster
7.5

A portrait of the actress Winona Ryder, the great muse of nineties cinema, who, although she has had an atypical and somewhat erratic career, has always offered performances as sensitive as they are honest.

Winona Ryder: The Ghosts She Called

2022

Night Sins poster
5.6

A female FBI investigator takes over jurisdiction in Dear Lake, a small northern town just as a young boy is abducted. Her investigation leads to a bigger series of abductions and murders dating back over 20 years. Her investigation also brings her into a mutual attraction with the small-town police chief who shares her investigation.

Night Sins

1997

30 Rock: A One-Time Special poster
6.3

In a one-time special event featuring all the beloved characters from the original series, Liz Lemon and Jack Donaghy reunite the TGS team to help Kenneth Parcell with an advertiser presentation.

30 Rock: A One-Time Special

2020

The Paley Center Salutes Law & Order: SVU poster
9.7

Go back to the beginning of television's longest-running primetime drama with behind-the-scenes footage, memorable scenes and exclusive interviews with the actors, creators and crew members.

The Paley Center Salutes Law & Order: SVU

2020

Jayne Mansfield: The Tragedy of a Blonde poster
6.4

On June 29, 1967, Jayne Mansfield tragically died at the age of 34. Her stunning blue Buick Electra collided with and was crushed under a semi-trailer truck. With her voluptuous figure and baby-doll face, Hollywood's most photographed actress did everything to become a star, accepting every compromise, going from icon to object. While portraying the actress, this film offers a glimpse into the Hollywood dream factory through the lens of a casting call. Like Jayne herself, who went through countless auditions...

Jayne Mansfield: The Tragedy of a Blonde

2015

Strawberry Road poster
9.5

Hisa Ishii and his brother Akira emigrate from Japan to the United States. They settle in rural California and start a strawberry farm, slowly integrating themselves into the life of the community, which includes Japanese-Americans of both lengthy and brief residence.

Strawberry Road

1991

F--k poster
5.8

Some people will do anything to find the location.

F--k

2010

The Gambler: Playing for Keeps poster
6.4

Brady Hawkes has to run to his son's rescue once again in this continuation of the Gambler stories. Jeremiah is now a young man who has become involved with Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Brady pursues the gang in order to get Jeremiah out of the gang before he gets in too much trouble with the law.

The Gambler: Playing for Keeps

1994

Come the Morning poster
5.0

In search of her estranged husband, a mother brings her 3 children to Los Angeles in the hope of finding him. With no prospects they wander the streets; becoming beggars before long. Things start to turn around for them when the mother meets a Christian missionary.

Come the Morning

1993

Finish Line poster
5.8

In order to get better results, a young athlete starts using steroids and begins his downfall.

Finish Line

1989

Jocks poster
4.3

When an odd-ball tennis team of a Los Angeles college sets out on a road trip to a regional college tennis tournament in fun-filled Las Vegas, all the stops are out and literally "anything goes" both on and off the court.

Jocks

1986

BLKBX: wht r u hding? poster
NR

Grace Gaustad presents the short documentary film 'BLKBX: wht r u hding?' — a powerful musical anthology.

BLKBX: wht r u hding?

2021

I Am Evidence poster
6.4

The modern criminal justice system is hindered by the fact that countless rape kits remain untested in police evidence storage facilities across the United States. Only eight states currently have laws requiring mandatory testing of rape kits.

I Am Evidence

2017

Behind the camera