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LOS ANGELES, Sept. 13 (UPI) -- After 16 seasons, actress Mariska Hargitay says she's even more in love with her character on Law & Order: SVU than ever. The actress has played the character of Olivia Benson since the show's inception and yet she's still in love with the role.
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Hargitay says that's at least partly due to the introduction of her character's foster son, Pablo Schreiber, played by William Lewis."I love her more now than ever...I love her because I am challenged by her," Hargitay told reporters on set. "I never know what's going to happen. She surprises me. [Showrunner Warren Leight] surprises me. This character has evolved, which is the most exciting part of it. I feel in many ways she's a new character because she's gone through so much that has truly transformed her."
"This dark thing that happened changed her, and now she's been given this gift of light, love and possibility. It's something that fills her so deeply and yet scares her beyond fear," she said. "They say when you're a parent, your heart goes from inside to outside. She's just trying to figure it out and I've got all these new notes to play. The show has a different tone in a way and it just feels new. After last year, which in many ways I felt like we kind of peaked and now I feel like we haven't."
Leight, who came on board the series in Season 13, said Hargitay's character has evolved.
"Sometimes the rule in TV is people aren't supposed to change," he said. "The Beverly Hillbillies are The Beverly Hillbillies. The sheriff is the sheriff," he said. "When I came in they were like, 'Don't touch the formula.' I don't think that's interesting for an actor. And since what you are at one age is different from what you are at the next age, if you don't change you're actually stuck. And stuck is not interesting."
The 16th season of Law & Order: SVU premieres Sept. 24 on NBC.
