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Mariska Hargitay is best known for her role as Detective Olivia Benson in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, the first spin-off from the Law & Order franchise. She has also been considered one of the highest-paid television actresses in the world, making well over $500,000 per episode. Another notable actress on the show is Ainsley Seiger, who plays NYPD detective and gifted hacker Jet Slootmaekers in Law & Order: Organized Crime.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Name | Mariska Hargitay |
| Known for | Portrayal of Olivia Benson on Law & Order: SVU |
| Awards | Hollywood Walk of Fame (2013) |
| Earnings | $400,000–$500,000 per episode of Law & Order: SVU (as of August 2012) |
| Spouse | Peter Hermann (married in 2004) |
| Children | 3 (1 biological, 2 adopted) |
| Languages spoken | 5 (English, French, Hungarian, Spanish, and Italian) |
| Notable works | Law & Order: SVU, Tales from Earthsea, Lake Placid, Leaving Las Vegas |
| Other | Godmother to Sophia, one of co-star Christopher Meloni's children |
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What You'll Learn
Mariska Hargitay as Olivia Benson
Mariska Hargitay is best known for her portrayal of Olivia Benson on Law & Order: SVU. Hargitay has played the character since 1999, making Benson the longest-running character on the longest-running American primetime drama in history.
Hargitay's portrayal of Benson is notable for defying many of television's popular female character tropes. Benson is not in a long-term romantic relationship, balances her job with being a mother to her adoptive son Noah, and works in the field rather than in a subordinate position. She eventually rises to the rank of Captain as the Commanding Officer of the Special Victims Unit.
Hargitay's performance as Benson has earned her a number of accolades, including an Emmy and a Golden Globe. She has also received a number of other honours, including UCLA's TFT Distinguished Alumni Award in 2011 and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2013. As of 2025, Hargitay was named by Forbes as the 11th highest-paid actor of 2024, the second-highest-paid actress after Nicole Kidman, and the highest-paid actor on television.
Hargitay's personal life has intersected with her role as Benson in a number of ways. She is herself a survivor of rape and a certified rape counsellor, and in 2004, she established the Joyful Heart Foundation, an organisation that provides support to survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, elder abuse, and human trafficking. She also trained as a rape crisis advocate to prepare for the role of Benson.
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Ainsley Seiger as Jet Slootmaekers
Ainsley Seiger, born on September 4, 1998, in North Carolina, USA, is an actress known for her role as Jet Slootmaekers in Law & Order: Organized Crime. Seiger's first significant Hollywood role was as a series regular on NBC's Law & Order: Organized Crime, where she plays hacker Jet Slootmaekers. She was cast in February 2021 and had to move to New York for shooting within two days. This role was her first television credit.
Seiger began her acting career on stage with PlayMakers Summer Youth Conservatory and received a Triangle Rising Star award for Best Actress in 2016 for her portrayal of Wednesday Addams. She has also performed as Wendla in a UNC production of Spring Awakening and has appeared in several short films, including American Waste.
In addition to her role in Law & Order: Organized Crime, Seiger has also appeared in the original Law & Order series and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, both in the role of Jet Slootmaekers. She appeared in one episode of the original series in 2022 and three episodes of Special Victims Unit from 2021 to 2023.
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Christopher Meloni as Elliot Stabler
Christopher Peter Meloni, born on April 2, 1961, is an American actor who portrayed NYPD Detective Elliot Stabler on the NBC police procedural drama series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Meloni attended St. Stephen's School in Alexandria, Virginia, and later the University of Colorado-Boulder, where he took acting classes. After college, he moved to New York and continued studying acting, appearing in commercials, short-lived TV series, and bit parts in films. His first notable role was in the 1996 thriller Bound, where he played the hot-headed son of a Mafia don.
Meloni's portrayal of Detective Elliot Stabler in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit made him a household name. He played the character from 1999 to 2011 and again from 2021 to the present, appearing in the show's first 12 seasons and then reprising his role in its spin-off, Organized Crime. Stabler is a lead character and an NYPD detective with Manhattan's Special Victims Unit, investigating sex crimes. He joined the NYPD in 1986 and was promoted to detective in 1989, later transferring to the SVU in 1992.
In addition to his work on Law & Order, Meloni has had a successful career in both television and film. He played the bisexual criminal Chris Keller on the HBO series Oz from 1998 to 2003, appearing simultaneously on Oz and Law & Order: SVU until Oz was cancelled. Meloni was also nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for his role as Elliot Stabler in 2006 in the category of Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series.
In 2011, Meloni announced his departure from Law & Order: SVU due to failed contract negotiations. His character was written out of the show, with Stabler retiring off-screen. However, in 2020, it was announced that Meloni would reprise his role in a new SVU spinoff, Law & Order: Organized Crime, where Stabler comes out of retirement to lead an NYPD organised crime task force. This spin-off centred on an organised crime task force and allowed Meloni to explore a new aspect of his character.
Meloni has also appeared in various films, including 12 Monkeys (1995), Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), Runaway Bride (1999), and Man of Steel (2013). He has been recognised for his support of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender issues, receiving the Human Rights Campaign's Equality Award in 2006. Additionally, he was included in People magazine's Sexiest Men Alive list in 2006.
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Dylan McDermott as Richard Wheatley
Dylan McDermott, born Mark Anthony McDermott, is an American actor who portrayed the character of Richard Wheatley in Law & Order: Organized Crime. Wheatley is a narcotics crime lord. McDermott has also played this character in a guest appearance on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, in the episode "People Vs Richard Wheatley".
McDermott was born on 26 October 1961 in Waterbury, Connecticut, to 15-year-old Diane and 17-year-old Richard McDermott. His parents divorced by 1967, and his mother passed away from a gunshot wound that same year. McDermott and his younger sister, Robin, were raised by their maternal grandmother, Avis Marino. As a teenager, McDermott worked in his father's bar in Greenwich Village, New York, and began acting after graduating from Fordham University in 1983.
McDermott's first major acting role came in the film In the Line of Fire, which led to his breakthrough role as lawyer Bobby Donnell in the legal drama series The Practice. This role earned him a Golden Globe Award and a Primetime Emmy Award nomination. McDermott has also appeared in four seasons of the FX horror anthology series American Horror Story, portraying Ben Harmon, Johnny Morgan, and Bruce.
In addition to his television work, McDermott has starred in several films, including Steel Magnolias (1989), Miracle on 34th Street (1994), and The Clovehitch Killer (2018). He has also been recognised for his attractiveness, making People's list of the "50 Most Beautiful People in the World" in 1998 and 2000.
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Jerry Orbach
Orbach began his career in musicals, creating a handful of important roles for the Broadway musical theater. He won a Tony Award in 1969 for his portrayal of Chuck Baxter in "Promises, Promises," and introduced the song I'll Never Fall in Love Again with Jill O'Hara. He also appeared in the Neil Simon revue "The Trouble with People... and Other Things" in 1974 and portrayed Billy Flynn in "Chicago" in 1975. Orbach's last major stage musical role was in 1980 when he played producer Julian Marsh in the Broadway adaptation of "42nd Street."
In addition to his stage work, Orbach appeared in several films, including Dirty Dancing (1987) and Beauty and the Beast (1991). He also provided voice work for Aladdin and the King of Thieves (1996), Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas (1997), and Belle's Magical World (1998).
Orbach was best known on television for his portrayal of hard-bitten detective Lennie Briscoe in the long-running series "Law & Order." He was named a "Living Landmark" by the New York Landmarks Conservancy in 2002, along with his "Law & Order" co-star Sam Waterston. After Orbach's death in 2004, he was posthumously awarded a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series for his work on "Law & Order." A portion of New York City's 53rd Street near Eighth Avenue was renamed "Jerry Orbach Way" in his honor in 2007.
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Frequently asked questions
Mariska Hargitay, who plays Detective Olivia Benson on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, is considered one of the hottest actresses on the show. In 2013, she was ranked by Forbes as the second-highest-paid television actress, and in 2025, she was named the 11th highest-paid actor of 2024 and the second highest-paid actress.
Samantha Mathis and Reiko Aylesworth were also being considered for the role during the final auditions in 1999.
Yes, Ainsley Seiger, who plays NYPD detective and gifted hacker Jet Slootmaekers on Law & Order: Organized Crime, has been dubbed the show's "secret weapon."
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