Mariska Hargitay says a psychic steered her from comedy to SVU

Mariska Hargitay said she planned to be a comedian and auditioned repeatedly for sitcoms, including for the role of Monica Geller on Friends, before a meeting with a psychic and a brief career pivot led to her casting as Olivia Benson on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in 1999. Hargitay recounted the episode on Amy Poehler's Good Hang podcast, saying the psychic told her she would be famous for a particular expression and that she would move to New York. Six months later she landed the part that has defined her career for more than 25 years.

Hargitay traced her early ambitions to improv and comedy. She performed with the Groundlings and booked comic television appearances on shows such as Seinfeld and The Single Guy. She also had a starring role on the 1995 sitcom Cant Hurry Love and appeared in episodes of Ellen and Key West. "I always thought I would end up being on a sitcom or doing comedy," she told Poehler. Even when offered dramatic parts, Hargitay said she wanted drama to retain a comic element, developing at one point a dramedy concept for DreamWorks in the mold of Ally McBeal.

Her recurring role on ER from 1997 to 1998 proved pivotal. Hargitay described watching the...