Reunion Online

TV's favorite cop on managing tricky marriage moments, ignoring her son's bedtime — and staying safe and sane when life is moving a little too fast.

Law & Order star Mariska Hargitay had a sort of revelation while visiting Hawaii, and since then has been dedicated to helping abuse victims.

Hargitay is one cliché worth talking about. In the midst of 12- to 15-hour days of physically grueling shoots for Law & Order: SVU, Mariska finds time to be a hands-on parent to her four-year-old son, August; push the envelope to grow the Joyful Heart Foundation, her charity for survivors of sexual and domestic abuse—and chat with a reporter to explain how she has time to do it all.

Interview with Mariska Hargitay for More Magazine

Caring for and collecting evidence from survivors of sexual assault takes a special mix of compassion and technical expertise.

It wasn't a personal experience or family history that made Mariska Hargitay aware of victims of sexual assault. It was fan mail. The letters to the actress playing Detective Olivia Benson of "Law and Order: SVU" were not typical fan mail.

Mariska Hargitay on recovering from her on-set accident and her work with the Joyful Heart Foundation.

Though Mariska Hargitay didn't become a wife, mother, mega-successful actress, or major philanthropist until she hit her 40s, the Law & Order: SVU star wouldn't have had it any other way.