Post by rambabe on Jan 17, 2010 13:20:35 GMT -5
Mariska is on the cover and featured in the Feb. 2010 issue of MORE Mag. on sale Jan. 26th.
www.more.com/2049/11037-mariska-hargitay--the-sexiest-cop
The Sexiest Cop Alive
Interview by Meryl Gordon
“The only reason I have the career I have is that I didn’t quit."
Mariska Hargitay is sitting pretty as one of prime time's best-loved (and highest-paid) actresses. In the February 2010 issue of MORE magazine, on newsstands January 26, the Emmy-winning star of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit opens up to Meryl Gordon about her tumultuous year, what The Jay Leno Show did to her series' ratings, how even she worries about money and why she couldn't care less about Hollywood's standards of beauty.
Even though Forbes recently estimated her annual earnings at $8.5 million, Hargitay says, "I constantly worry about money. I make a lot now, but I don’t feel that way, because I was poor and had no money for a lot longer than I’ve had it. As an actor, if this show ends next year, then what? As an aging woman, then what? I’m saving money to live on, for the future. There are not that many roles for women, and I’ve been blessed with one of the great ones.”
She has also suffered for her art. While performing a stunt in October 2008, Hargitay landed awkwardly and didn't realize until months later that she had suffered a collapsed lung. "I thought it was a pulled rib. I'm pretty tough," she says. "When I couldn't breathe anymore, I got an X-ray, and they couldn't believe I was walking." The result: three surgeries and a long recovery. "There are scenes where I have to run," she says, "and I'll only take a few steps. Everyone is super-careful of me."
Hargitay was frustrated when NBC moved SVU (and its other 10 p.m. programs) earlier to make room for The Jay Leno Show this season. “It ruined our numbers," she says bluntly. "The first four episodes, we were considerably down because nobody knew when the show was on. Finally, we’re starting to find our audience again.” Given Leno’s disappointing ratings, she hopes "we go back to where we belong. It was doing so well. Why mess with it?"
The star also speaks frankly about her years of struggle in Hollywood, when she was constantly being told "they're going in another direction" and "they wanted a blonde." "The second half of my twenties, I don't think I got a job," she says. "It was so rough that I wanted to quit." Her father, Hungarian-born bodybuilder Mickey Hargitay, would say, "No, we don't quit in this family."
It was also daunting for her to come up against the screen image of her late mother, bombshell actress Jayne Mansfield. "I can never compete, so I don't try," says Hargitay, who was three when Mansfield died in a car crash; Hargitay and her brothers were in the backseat and escaped without serious injury. "I think I’m a very attractive person, but I don’t put myself in the realm of the beauty. That’s not where I get my esteem. I’m a size 8, and I feel proud of that, because it’s healthy. I’ve never felt compelled to be a skinny actress.”
For much more from Hargitay—on how she prevailed over all the California blondes and snagged her career-making role on SVU; on her Joyful Heart Foundation, which grew out of her series' focus on sexual abuse and domestic violence; and on the husband who wooed her by taking her to church—get the February issue of MORE, on sale January 26.
www.more.com/2049/11037-mariska-hargitay--the-sexiest-cop
The Sexiest Cop Alive
Interview by Meryl Gordon
“The only reason I have the career I have is that I didn’t quit."
Mariska Hargitay is sitting pretty as one of prime time's best-loved (and highest-paid) actresses. In the February 2010 issue of MORE magazine, on newsstands January 26, the Emmy-winning star of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit opens up to Meryl Gordon about her tumultuous year, what The Jay Leno Show did to her series' ratings, how even she worries about money and why she couldn't care less about Hollywood's standards of beauty.
Even though Forbes recently estimated her annual earnings at $8.5 million, Hargitay says, "I constantly worry about money. I make a lot now, but I don’t feel that way, because I was poor and had no money for a lot longer than I’ve had it. As an actor, if this show ends next year, then what? As an aging woman, then what? I’m saving money to live on, for the future. There are not that many roles for women, and I’ve been blessed with one of the great ones.”
She has also suffered for her art. While performing a stunt in October 2008, Hargitay landed awkwardly and didn't realize until months later that she had suffered a collapsed lung. "I thought it was a pulled rib. I'm pretty tough," she says. "When I couldn't breathe anymore, I got an X-ray, and they couldn't believe I was walking." The result: three surgeries and a long recovery. "There are scenes where I have to run," she says, "and I'll only take a few steps. Everyone is super-careful of me."
Hargitay was frustrated when NBC moved SVU (and its other 10 p.m. programs) earlier to make room for The Jay Leno Show this season. “It ruined our numbers," she says bluntly. "The first four episodes, we were considerably down because nobody knew when the show was on. Finally, we’re starting to find our audience again.” Given Leno’s disappointing ratings, she hopes "we go back to where we belong. It was doing so well. Why mess with it?"
The star also speaks frankly about her years of struggle in Hollywood, when she was constantly being told "they're going in another direction" and "they wanted a blonde." "The second half of my twenties, I don't think I got a job," she says. "It was so rough that I wanted to quit." Her father, Hungarian-born bodybuilder Mickey Hargitay, would say, "No, we don't quit in this family."
It was also daunting for her to come up against the screen image of her late mother, bombshell actress Jayne Mansfield. "I can never compete, so I don't try," says Hargitay, who was three when Mansfield died in a car crash; Hargitay and her brothers were in the backseat and escaped without serious injury. "I think I’m a very attractive person, but I don’t put myself in the realm of the beauty. That’s not where I get my esteem. I’m a size 8, and I feel proud of that, because it’s healthy. I’ve never felt compelled to be a skinny actress.”
For much more from Hargitay—on how she prevailed over all the California blondes and snagged her career-making role on SVU; on her Joyful Heart Foundation, which grew out of her series' focus on sexual abuse and domestic violence; and on the husband who wooed her by taking her to church—get the February issue of MORE, on sale January 26.