Mariska Hargitay Mistaken for Real Cop in Her ‘Law & Order: SVU’ Gear by Child Looking for Her Mom

Mariska Hargitay may only play a cop on TV, but she was still able to help a young girl find her mom during a day out filming Law and Order: Special Victims Unit. A new report says that a girl approached the actress, 60, when she was filming the final episode of season 25 after losing her mom. An eyewitness said that she thought that Mariska was a police officer, because of the badge that she wore as part of her costume.

The onlooker recalled that the SVU crew were filming at the Anne Loftus Playground in Fort Tryon Park, where the girl had been separated from her mom, according to People. They said the girl went up to Mariska, thinking her to be an on-duty cop. The girl didn’t notice the film crew or Ice T, who Mariska was filming with. “The actress obliged, halting production for 20 minutes to help the child locate her mother and to console them both,” the outlet notes.

SVU marked its 25th season when the new season premiered earlier this year. When speaking about the future of the series and her character Olivia Benson, Mariska admitted that she was excited for the “new places” it would go in an exclusive interview with Hollywood Life in January. “We keep going to new places. We keep saying, ‘What haven’t we done?’ And that’s what’s so exciting is that we’re finding these new places and going into uncomfortable zones, but I think that the biggest place to go is inward. And so, that’s where Olivia is going. I think she’s ready to open up a little bit,” she said.

Back when season 25 of SVU premiered, Mariska got to reunite with her longtime co-star Christopher Meloni and the two of them posed together for a sweet moment on the red carpet premiere of the show. In the lead-up to the season premiere, Mariska opened up about her many memories in the past 25 seasons making the show, recalling the highs and lows in interviews.