"Detective Olivia Benson" is a great actress. I've loved watching her character develop from the start of the show until now. It's a credit to the writers, of course, but also to Ms. Hargitay's incredible acting abilities. She covers every nuance with amazing grace, beauty, talent, and stamina. I've also read about her in various women's magazines, especially after she had her baby, and she seems like a really cool person in real life as well. (Too often people mistake a person's role for who they are in real life when, in actuality, they may be nothing alike.) Ms. Hargitay says being a mom is her favorite role. Well, if she's as great a mother as she is an actress. then her child is one lucky kid.

Mariska Hargitay is an amzing actress, and a phenomenal person. She strives to not just be remembered for her acting, but for the good she does on and off the screen. For the one person who said she was over rated, you are dead wrong. She does everything NOT to be over rated. Comparing her to Paris Hilton is like comparing a rock to a computer. Complete and total oppisites. She participates in charities and tries her best to help people. She also does amazing acting, and her character, Olivia Benson, is very believable and almost as awesome as Mariska. No matter what idiots say, we will always be her fans.

Mariska Hargitay is such a wonderful actress. The main reason I watch Law and Order SVU is because she is in it. Her acting is top of the notch stuff. When she cries I want to cry as well. Her crying actual seems real and not fake like a lot of other actresses. I think she is very beautiful. I have seen articles about her in magazine and she sounds like a really great person. I'm surprised that she isn't in more movies because she is so great at what she does. She is such a role motel for young girls and so is her character Olivia. I have watched SVU for years now and I was pretty young when I started to watch it. I look up to her now and realize that woman in the media should be more like her.

1/2 of the benson/stabler duo. honestly, where the heck would svu be without them? svu = my favourite. i used to sneak downstairs to watch this too [as well as ER] as a kid, and hide behind the sofa. i honestly grew up with l&o - its been around as long as i have, and this spin off is the best. maybe even better than the original? i think she puts so much into bensons character, no one else could possibly pull it off. she's wonderful, and extremely talented. i hope the reports of her ailing health are untrue - or, at least, not as bad as they're made out to be. idk if l&o: svu could survive without her.