Mariska Hargitay is hard at work on Season 23 of Law & Order: SVU and, after what she went through this earlier this year, fans are likely glad to see it. It’s hard to forget that the actress spent her summer injured and on crutches thanks to two separate incidents. And now that she’s finally recovered, Hargitay has explained what the leg injury taught her.
It was a tough few months for the SVU lead, to say the least, as the accidents left her with a broken knee, a torn ligament and a fractured ankle. Ultimately, she pulled through and dealt with her injuries like a champ. In a recent interview with Glamour, she revealed just what the ordeal taught her about working through pain:
It was really rough, four months of hell. And I kept saying, as I do about everything, ‘What does this mean? Why is this happening, and what is my responsibility in it?’ And that was the lesson about learning to not push through and to listen to our body. And that’s been a really profound lesson for me—listening to our gut—because that’s our superpower.
Although Mariska Hargitay broke her ankle during the show's hiatus, she still wasn’t fully healed up by the time SVU jumped back into production for Season 23. Dealing with an injury isn't easy for anyone, but there's obviously an added weight when you just happen to be the star of one of TV's longest running shows. At the very least, though, it's good to know that she took something from it and is now aiming to listen to her body more often.
Her physical condition was ultimately written into the show, and the Season 23 premiere explained just how Olivia Benson broke her own ankle. It was ultimately revealed that the injury occurred after someone tried to run her off the road. Though this may have seemed like a tedious plot point to add, it actually made sense given where the season opener began.
By September, the actress had updated her fans by revealing that her walking boot had been removed and that she was up and about with no assistance whatsoever. She was in a very pleasant mood, as she walked around the set of SVU. She continued to keep her followers up to date after that and even managed to slide in a few jokes along the way.
It's great to see that she's recovered and is back to doing what she does best, to the best of her abilities. Hopefully, she's also learned to be careful when she’s walking in the rain, or just in general. You can catch Mariska Hargitay as Olivia Benson in Season 23 of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit every Thursday at 9 p.m. EST on NBC!
