(About Law & Order: Special Victims Unit) When you see a girl like me bustin’ perps, there ain’t no time to be pretty.

“I feel like Olivia’s grown into this lioness who is changing the world and is sort of fearless. It’s been really fun to grow into.”

“I got goose bumps reading it. I knew I was supposed to take this part.”

“I was scared all the time and couldn’t sleep. I kept thinking, ‘What woman did this happen to? Where did she live?’”

“After I returned home from Hawaii, I approached some friends who worked for nonprofits and asked them for advice on how to start Joyful Heart.”

“Ten years ago, I never thought I would be doing this kind of work. I feel like I’ve been handed a crown. When people used to ask me, ‘What’s the difference between you and Olivia, the character you play?’ I used to say, ‘I’m a chicken. She’s a lioness.’ Now that’s no longer true. I’m becoming more like Olivia every day, and I have Joyful Heart to thank for it.”

“When someone is raped, it’s like a light goes out. They just shut down—and with good reason. Our program is about showing people that they can feel open and safe again.”

“It was so profound. I felt so much joy, it was like a light went on. I knew I had to share it.” (On swimming with dolphins in 2002)

(At the Me & Ro shopping event to benefit Joyful Heart) “Are you going to shop till you drop?”

“I’ve been such a personal fan of Philosophy for so many years. I always say there are no accidents—I’d be in my bathroom, soaking in the tub after a long day and reading the Philosophy bottles (which have always featured empowering statements) and saying, ‘I love these people!’ It was a natural partnership.”

“My only project right now is being the best mom I can to August.”

“The emails I was receiving on mariska.com were not typical fan mail. Women would say things like ‘I wish the cop that dealt with me when I was attacked had your compassion. You understand.’ Women would grab me on the street crying, asking me to hold them. I realized that SVU and Olivia Benson were giving a voice to assault victims, and finally talking publicly about ‘the elephant in the room’—sexual assault. More than an acting job, I felt I was in a position of responsibility.”

“Through dolphins, we work to break the bonds of fear that tie these women to their pain and to open doors to their souls—doors to trust, love, and life that slammed shut with the abuse. The success of JHF—offering hope and the choice to restart one’s life—has been an affirmation that I chose the right path for my world. Olivia Benson has changed my life in ways I could never imagine. I became an actor for self-fulfillment; I never started out to be an humanitarian, but JHF has been so gratifying. I finally have a platform from which to give back. And isn’t that what the world is about?”

“The training changed my life. When someone has that kind of story, she’s so fearful of being rejected. The key is to listen and let her know that there’s support—and that if she doesn’t give up on herself, no one else will.”

(To the Girl Scouts) “I tell them that my weaknesses are the reason I am what I am today. They are what made me work harder.”

“I think becoming a parent reinvents you. I wanted to be a mother so badly, so no matter what’s going on, when I see him, it’s a wash. Nothing is in my heart more than he is—he just wipes the slate clean.”

“The other night my doorbell rings, and I ask who it is. ‘This is officers Johnson and Warner,’ and I’m thinking, like, ‘Where is Ashton Kutcher?’ They said, ‘We would like you to answer a few questions. Is it true that you have a black BMW X5?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘There was a burglary involving a black BMW X5 in the neighborhood.’ ‘Really…so you think I did it?’ And they ask me where I was Sunday night. Finally, I just had to stop them. ‘Guys, that’s my line.’ They started laughing. I ask if they’re intimidated by me and they say, ‘No, ma’am. Should we be?’ And I say, ‘Yeah, since I solve more cases in an episode than you do in a year.’”

“As soon as we had August, we refell in love again.”

“Let’s face it. I’m a hottie—smokin’!”

“Look! I’m the Queen of Prime Time. Actually, I prefer the Queen of Crime Time, but I can’t complain. Just as long as I have a comfortable and tasteful throne.”

“My dad used to say, if you don’t learn something new every day, you’re an ass. His point was that you can learn something from anyone, you just have to be observant, and that there’s so much good in everyone.”

(On the death of her father) “We got to say goodbye. There was nothing left unsaid, I get a lot of peace out of that.”

(On Hope Shining) “I wanted to join an organization whose vision was that every single child is entitled to a life free from violence and full of possibilities. That’s what’s so exciting about Safe Horizon and this campaign. It’s about support services and awareness-raising—everybody joining together so that everybody knows who to call and how to engage people and employers. It’s getting everybody talking about abuse so that it stops being swept under the carpet.”

“We have to turn our outrage and grief into action and compassion—by learning the signs, by informing others, talking about it, coming together as a group, and saying, ‘We need to deal with this.’”

“Speak the truth. Seek the truth. Be the truth.”

“I want to be a fun mom, not a gasping-for-air mom.”

“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’ve realized my Mack truck is food. If I don’t have sugar, yeast and wine, I have no undereye bags and my skin is perfect!”

(On Hilary Swank) “We’re very alike in a lot of ways. If you’re not living a certain life, it’s hard for people to understand it. Hilary and I share the insane schedule, the relentlessness of it. We have this very special understanding, and in our friendship, I think we provide each other with something no one else can.”

“The dichotomy for somebody that lives in this ‘place’ I do every day is that I’m probably one of the happiest people I know. I just live in gratitude.”

“My Dad always said, ‘You gotta get yourself together before you hook up with somebody—you gotta know who you are first.’”

“I lost my mother when I was only 3, and it left me with lots of terrible fears about being a parent myself.”

“It took me a long time to get there, and to believe my own self-talk. I had to minimize my self-battering, and that’s not easy.”

“The show is the most rewarding experience of my life. I feel as if I’m doing something that matters. I’ve learned more about sexual assault through the show than I ever knew before, and I now understand that souls get shut down and the lights go out for many of these women. They’ve been robbed of something precious, and it’s hard work to ever feel free again.”

“You need to care for yourself before you can care for others.”

Others on Mariska:
Soon!

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