“Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” star Mariska Hargitay is no stranger to injuries. The performer notably injured her ankle ahead of the procedure’s 23rd season in 2021, the medical setback resulting from an unfortunate accident in Hargitay’s personal life. That said, the actor — who plays Olivia Benson on “Law & Order: SVU” and other series in the expanded franchise — was also injured on the set of the long-running NBC crime series, as she was left with a collapsed lung following a botched stunt in the fall of 2008.
“I was doing a stunt chasing a bad guy. I always insisted on doing stunts my way, even though I don’t really care about that anymore. I jumped and landed on pads, but on the second take something happened – I just landed wrong,” Hargitay recalled in an interview with Redbook. “I got up and felt something was wrong inside. At first, I thought I had lost my breath. I was angry with myself. Later, I thought maybe I had a pulled muscle, but I didn’t focus on the injury and kept expecting it to get better.”
Hargitay added that she ended up having surgery months later and returned to work in March 2009, only for her lung to collapse again — a setback that statistically only happens to one in 1,000 people, according to Hargitay. From that point on, she decided to change her approach to action sequences.
Mariska Hargitay’s Law & Order Injury Led Her to Call on Stunt People
Mariska Hargitay’s on-set injury was a wake-up call for the “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” star. In the aforementioned interview with Redbook, the Olivia Benson actor noted that she had recently had a child at the time and that becoming a parent made her realize how fragile and limited life can be. Since then, Hargitay has let his stunt doubles handle the more intense chase sequences.
That said, the negative experience wasn’t all bad for Hargitay. During her conversation with Redbook, she also noted that she learned lessons from her injury, which allowed her to have a positive long-term outlook. “I think you learn to feel grateful when you’re exposed at such a young age to the fact that bad things can happen,” she said. “I look at everything life has allowed me to do and I feel like the luckiest person in the world.”
