Seeking
justice
is
no
small
task—just
ask


Mariska
Hargitay.

The


Law
&
Order:
Special
Victims
Unit
star
admitted
that
the
heavy
subject
matter
of
the
show,
which
premieres
its
26th season
Oct.
3,
can
be
hard
to
shake
off.

“That’s
been
a
process,”
Hargitay
told


Selena
Gomez
in
a
new
sit-down
for


Interview
magazine
published
Sept.
23.
“When
I
started
the
show,
I
wasn’t
aware
of
how
deeply
it
would
go
into
me.
My
husband
Peter
is
always
like,
anytime
I
go
anywhere,
my
first
question
is,
What’s
the
crime
rate
here?’
So
it’s
on
the
brain.”

The
Emmy
winner—whose
portrayal
of
Olivia
Benson
is
the
longest-running
live-action
character
in
primetime
TV
history—confessed
that
the
show’s
focus
on
crimes
such
as
sexual
assault,
child
abuse
and
domestic
violence
does
take
a
toll.

“There’s
been
times
when
I
didn’t
know
how
to
protect
myself,
and
I
think
I
was
definitely
a
victim
of
secondary
trauma
from
being
inundated
with
these
stories
and
knowing
that
they
were
true,”
Hargitay
explained.
“Those
were
the
parts
that
I
didn’t
know
how
to
metabolize,
just
because
of
the
sheer
volume
of
it.”