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Mariska Hargitay is an American actress born on January 23, 1964. She is best known for her role as Detective Olivia Benson on the long-running television series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Hargitay's performance has earned her critical acclaim and several awards, including an Emmy Award. In addition to her acting career, she is an advocate for survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence, founding the Joyful Heart Foundation.
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"When you see a girl like me bustin' perps, there ain't no time to be pretty."

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"I'm living every ten-year-old boy's fantasy. The other day, Chris and I had this big scene where we had to pull out our guns, and I was thinking, 'Here we are in New York City - a place where every actor wants to be - and we are literally playing cops and robbers. How great is that?'"

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"As an actress, there were so many months, years even, when I didn't get work, when I wanted to quit."

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"When I was in my early 20s, I had my hair permed. Bad idea! It turned into total frizz. My advice to women is, if you have nice hair already, don't get a perm, leave your hair alone!"

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"It's a life's journey of finding ourselves, finding our power, and living for yourself, not for everyone else."

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"When my body is strong, I feel stronger inside. I feel more capable of handling emotional situations. Usually I'm more of a inside-out person, but this was a great case of me from the outside in."

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"If I eat clean, I look 10 years younger."

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"I think people were expecting me to be that kind of glamorous sexpot. So they were always, Wow you're not what I expected."

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"I have so much love that I didn't even know about."

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"Yes. I did more research than I ever wanted to and saw some things I wish I didn't. I went on ride-alongs, spent time with Homicide, Cold Case, and SVU detectives, hung out in subways learning how to spot pervs and pick-pockets, viewed an autopsy, went to a police firing range, and witnessed court cases and I read, read, read."

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"You know how you wake up in the morning and sometimes you look gorgeous and other times you look like you got hit by a mack truck? I realized that my mack truck is food. If I have no sugar, yeast or wine, I have no undereye bags and my skin is perfect."

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"Chocolate is the first luxury. It has so many things wrapped up in it: Deliciusness in the moment, childhood memories, and that grin-inducing feeling of getting a reward for being good."

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"When I read the script sometimes, it's like 'Christ! Enough!' I can't sleep at night sometimes. There's the occasional script that just hammers you, that you can't shower off."

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"You make sacrifices to become a mother, but you really find yourself and your soul."

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"I am proud to be a role model for my viewers. I am finding out that helping victims is as or more rewarding the all the awards I wins."

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"I want to be a fun mom. Not a gasping for air mom."

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