Olivia Benson might just be entering her Taylor Swift Lover era going into the Law & Order: SVU’s landmark 25th season — at least according to Mariska Hargitay.
Hargitay, 59, gushed over the “awesome” premiere episode — set to air on Thursday, January 18 — to Us Weekly exclusively while walking the red carpet at the Law & Order: SVU 25th Anniversary Celebration on Tuesday, January 16, in New York City.
Ahead of the event, NBC released a first look at the forthcoming season. In the scene, shared via Instagram, Benson looked on as Carisi (Peter Scanavino) and Rollins (Kelli Giddish) had a sweet moment together. The clip left viewers wondering if Benson was focusing more on romantic love or self-love this time around.
“Yeah, go with it,” Hargitay told Us when Benson’s Lover era was suggested before delving into what current Swift tracks are on her playlists these days.
“I was listening to [Lover] last night as I was running on the treadmill. I listened to also 1989 because that’s good to run to,” Hargitay shared, revealing “Paper Rings” is her “favorite” Lover track. However, one of Swift’s songs actually has a deeper meaning for the actress.
“My favorite one is, I don’t know what album this is, sorry, ‘Invisible String.’ That’s my song with my children. Really gorgeous,” she added of the Folklore track. (Hargitay shares three kids, August, 17, Amaya, 12, and Andrew, 11, with husband Peter Hermann.)
Hargitay and the “amazing” Swift have a longtime friendship that kicked off years ago after the singer revealed that one of her cats was named Olivia Benson after the actress’ SVU character.
“When she named her cat, I had so much going on,” Hargitay told Us in October 2014, revealing that she sent Swift an engraved collar in the shape of a heart. “I was out of town, and when things calmed down, I thought it warranted a real something [special]. That’s so sweet and too fabulous.”
Swift later recruited Hargitay to appear in her 2015 “Bad Blood” music video as Justice. Years later, the pairstill have a close bond. In fact, Hargitay took a page from Swift’s book and named her cat after one of the musician’s songs.
“Karma is a Cat @taylorswift Meet Karma. My Cat.🐱 #MeAndKarmaVibeLikeThat #AndIKeepMySideOfMyPawClean #KarmaIsACat,” Hargitay captioned a December 2023 Instagram post, posting lyrics from the hit single off 2022’s Midnights.
“Are you serious?!!!! Nothing has ever come more full circle ⭕️ LOVE THIS SO MUCH!! 😻,” Swift wrote back.
Law & Order: SVU airs on NBC Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET.
