Mariska Hargitay on making her Broadway debut in 'Every Brilliant Thing'

After more than 25 years playing Olivia Benson on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, the actress is showing audiences a new side of herself on stage.

Summary

• Mariska Hargitay discusses making her Broadway debut in the interactive solo play Every Brilliant Thing
• Hargitay stars in the show through July 5
• She plays an unnamed narrator who makes a list of small joys to cheer up her depressed mother

Mariska Hargitay was on a plane when she first read Duncan Macmillan and Jonny Donahoe's Every Brilliant Thing, the play that's now marking her Broadway debut after more than 40 years as a professional actor. It resonated with her so much, she immediately went back and read it again.

"I was laughing, I was crying, I was so moved," Hargitay told New York Theatre Guide at her opening night celebration. "I was so heartened and full and inspired and excited and terrified because I'd never done anything like this in my life, but I just knew it was right. I knew in every cell of my body that this was right, very much in a similar way that I knew SVU was right when I read SVU."

Of course, she's referring to Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, on which she's starred as Olivia Benson since 1999 and become synonymous with the show itself. That can be a blessing and a curse for an actor as they seek to branch out, but Hargitay is excited to show "a lot of new sides" of herself to fans: "There's not a lot of Olivia Benson in here at all. You'll have to see the show, you decide."

Succeeding Daniel Radcliffe and preceding Tracee Ellis Ross, Hargitay performs through July 5 as an unnamed narrator who, as a child, makes a list of small joys for her mother as she struggles with depression. She is the show's only cast member, save for a few audience members whom Hargitay selects to play parts big and small each night. They round out the narrator's world as she grows up, and the list evolves with her.

In a way, the emotional, interactive role does seem like a natural segue for Hargitay, known as much for her outreach through her Joyful Heart Foundation as for her acting. But she wants to leave that for audience to decide as they come on the show's journey with her.

"I want them to have a beautiful experience of the theatre," Hargitay said. "I want them to be open to this experience and to enjoy having this incredibly powerful communal experience, and know that there are no accidents and that they came to see it for a reason."

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Photo credit: Mariska Hargitay. (Photo courtesy of production)