Viewers are about to see some changes when the latest season of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit premieres. Mariska Hargitay is back as Olivia Benson this Thursday, September 25, when the long-running show returns over at NBC for its 27th season. It is the first season under new showrunner Michele Fazekas, who previously worked on the show as a writer and co-executive producer, and is now back as the show's first female showrunner in its 26 year history.
Speaking with People at the season two premiere of The Boys' spin-off Gen V, for which she also serves as showrunner and executive producer, Michele said fans can expect "a lot" from the forthcoming episode, revealing: "In some ways, I'm going back to when I was on the show, which was like seasons three through seven. I remember what we were doing then that worked well. It's like, 'Alright, we're gonna bring some of that back.'"
But while Michele is focused on bringing the show back to its roots, it's still doing so by bringing in some newness too. "We have a new producing director. We have new cameras. We changed the sets a little bit. And [we're] really getting back into a twisty kind of case, [where] you don't know what it is," she shared, adding: "And [we're] also giving some challenges to Benson that she hasn't had in a while. In a great way, we're giving her something to push against."
Reflecting on her return to the series over two decades after she first started working on it, and under a historic role, she first noted: "It's crazy, in a way, that after 26 years on the air that [a female showrunner] didn't happen. Although not, I guess, totally surprising," and emphasized: "Listen, I stayed friends with Mariska Hargitay the whole time, and she's so lovely to work with. So that was a big driver in going back to the show."
"I can work with her and she creates such a fun environment on set and everybody's professional and lovely," she maintained.
Mariska's iconic Olivia character, which originated with the start of SVU in 1999, is the longest-running character on a prime time drama series, and the show is the longest-running drama series in TV history. Speaking with People in January 2024 as the series rang in its milestone 25th anniversary, Mariska explained there are two ways she sees the milestone: "I have two diametrically opposed answers. One is I can't believe it’s been 25 years, a quarter of a century!"
She further shared: "And the other is, I can't see it any other way. I can't imagine the show ending, and can't imagine not going on this journey with my cast, my crew. I have so much to look forward to. And I'm still growing. I like that you can be so many things at one time."
Mariska added that she and her character Olivia have been on "a parallel journey" the last 27 years. "There's a thing WWOBD, what would Olivia Benson do? The fans would always talk about it, and one day it hit me. I also have those moments where I've sort of slipped into her. If there's a crisis, I just take over and lead like that. Being strong and fearless. It's sort of this perfect feminist story.