Explore Quotes by Mariska Hargitay

I think people were expecting me to be that kind of glamorous sexpot. So they were always, Wow you're not what I expected.

I'm an L.A. girl who became a tough New York cop.

I have a nest egg, and I don't buy above my means.

I am grateful that I didn't let fear get the best of me. It only holds you back from possibilities and greatness.

I have a more developed sense of my priorities. Life has so much more meaning now.

I am proud to be a role model for my viewers. I am finding out that helping victims is as or more rewarding the all the awards I win.

Golf made me feel like a loser. So I dismissed it.

Having a child changes everything. All of a sudden you have so much to lose, so much to live for.

Becoming a parent erased many of my negative childhood feelings and filled them in with something new.

You know how you wake up in the morning and sometimes you look gorgeous and other times you look like you got hit by a mack truck? I realized that my mack truck is food. If I have no sugar, yeast or wine, I have no undereye bags and my skin is perfect.

Every day is deeper and richer and more soulful.

You make sacrifices to become a mother, but you really find yourself and your soul.

When you see a girl like me bustin' perps, there ain't no time to be pretty.

As an actress, there were so many months, years even, when I didn't get work, when I wanted to quit.

Yes. I did more research than I ever wanted to and saw some things I wish I didn't. I went on ride-alongs, spent time with Homicide, Cold Case, and SVU detectives, hung out in subways learning how to spot pervs and pick-pockets, viewed an autopsy, went to a police firing range, and witnessed court cases and I read, read, read.

I think because I became a mom later in life, everything in life means more.

I have so much love that I didn't even know about.

You've got to kick fear to the side, because the payoff is huge.

My weekends are extremely precious.

I definitely have my days where I look like I got dressed in the dark.

Chocolate is the first luxury. It has so many things wrapped up in it: Deliciusness in the moment, childhood memories, and that grin-inducing feeling of getting a reward for being good.