Olivia Benson
On the hit tv show Law and Order: SVU actress Mariska Hargitay plays Detective Olivia Benson. Her partner n co-star is Chris Meloni who plays Detective Elliot Stabler. Olivia is a strong tough, empathic woman who gets emotionally involved in cases. She feels that her job does not end when the "perp" is put in jail. Her empathy and compassion for her job comes from her personal life. Olivia is a product of her mother's rape. Serena Benson is an alcoholic and dies falling down a flight of subway stairs after she had been drinking for some time. In addition to English, Olivia can also speak Spanish and French. Her relationship with Detective Stabler is "very complicated". There is often sexual tension between the two. However, in the show Elliot Stabler is married and has children. During an interview at the Emmy Awards 2010, Mariska and Chris were asked if they thought there characters would ever get together. The answer was no but do they want them to? "Oh yea". The executive producer always teases and says it might just happen in the future so keep watching! Hargitay believes her character is a role model for young women- "I get letters saying, 'I want to do the right thing like Olivia. I want to be strong like Olivia. My friend did this, but I didn't do it because of Olivia.' For me, when a television show has that kind of positive effect on young people, it is great. I think it is a good thing that we are shedding light on darkness. I think it is a good thing to make young girls aware." Currently on SVU, actor Chris Meloni has departed from the show as well as D.B Wong. Rejoining the cast are former ADA's Stephanie March and Diane Neal. In a four episode sequence, Harry Connick Jr. has signed on to play Detective Benson's love interest. Also in the squad room are two new detectives who join the SVU team- Kelly Giddish and Danny Pino. Mariska has stated already that she isn't ready to leave the show just yet because she is "having too much fun".