How Mariska Hargitay Feels About Retirement as ‘Law & Order: SVU’ Enters Season 26

There doesn't seem to be an end in sight for Law & Order: SVU as it prepares for its 26th season, but is retirement in the future for Mariska Hargitay? The actress has been the face of SVU and, more or less, the face of the franchise since the series premiered in 1999 and Olivia Benson made her debut. She is still going strong and reportedly has no plans to step away.

"She refuses to retire and is prepared to take this show as far as she can go," an insider told Closer. "She doesn't know what she'd do without SVU. She is Olivia Benson, and Olivia Benson is her." Over the last 25 years, Hargitay has also grown close with the show's crew, as the insider shared, "She feels a responsibility to them. They'd be out of a job without her."

As of 2019, SVU is the longest-running primetime live-action series in the country, and that isn't stopping any time soon. While one would think an actor like Hargitay would get tired of playing the same character for nearly three decades and almost exclusively only playing that character, that is not the case for her. It's clear that SVU still means a lot to her after all these years, and Olivia Benson is very much apart of her. Earlier this year, Hargitay was even mistaken for a real cop by a little girl who got separated from her mom while filming. Both her cop and mom instincts kicked in and Hargitay briefly paused production to help the little girl, and successful reunited the mother and daughter.

Law & Order: SVU crossed 500 episodes during Season 23 in 2021, and while it would be pretty far-fetched for the show to cross 1,000 episodes all on its own, that doesn't mean that it still can't hit some more milestones along the way. It's likely as long as Mariska Hargitay is on board, NBC will continue to renew SVU. However, there is only so much that the writers can do and the direction the show can be taken in.

For now, fans don't have to worry about saying goodbye to Captain Olivia Benson anytime soon. Hargitay has shown no interest in stepping down from SVU, and it sounds like that is staying true as the series heads into its 26th season, which premieres on Thursday, Oct. 3 at 9 p.m. ET on NBC's 2024 fall schedule.