Mariska Hargitay has given fans another reason to talk after reports revealed the extraordinary salary she receives for her long-running role on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
The 62-year-old Emmy winner has portrayed Olivia Benson—who has since risen from detective to captain—since the crime drama premiered in September 1999. She has remained at the center of the series for 27 years.
Hargitay expanded her role behind the scenes in 2014, becoming an executive producer beginning with season 15. That additional responsibility also helped boost her compensation.
A new report from Variety claims the actress now earns an eye-catching $850,000 for every episode of the hit NBC police procedural.
With the exception of the shortened 25th season, which was affected by the 2023 Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA strikes, SVU has typically produced between 21 and 22 episodes annually over the past five years. Based on that schedule, Hargitay could earn approximately $17.85 million to $18.7 million during the show’s current 28th season.
The reported figure comes as NBC prepares to broadcast the landmark 600th episode of Law & Order: SVU on Thursday evening.
Mariska Hargitay’s reported Law & Order: Special Victims Unit salary has attracted attention (Above, on the SVU set on October 26 in NYC)
Variety reports that Hargitay, 62, earns $850,000 per episode, potentially bringing her seasonal total to between $17.85 million and $18.7 million (Above, on Law & Order: SVU)
The Daily Mail has contacted representatives for Hargitay and NBC seeking comment, but neither had responded at the time of publication.
The size of Hargitay’s reported payday stands out because SVU continues to produce the kind of 20-plus-episode seasons associated with traditional broadcast television. By contrast, many of today’s biggest streaming and prestige-cable shows release considerably shorter seasons, often consisting of only six to 12 episodes.
For comparison, Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon are both reportedly paid $2 million per episode for Apple TV+’s drama The Morning Show. With 10 episodes per season, that would amount to roughly $20 million each for a full season.
Page Six has also reported that Zendaya earned $2 million per episode for the third season of Euphoria, according to Page Six.
Meanwhile, Only Murders in the Building stars Selena Gomez, Steve Martin and Martin Short are each said to make $1 million per episode. The Hulu comedy has so far released 10 episodes in each of its five seasons.
A closer broadcast-TV comparison is Ellen Pompeo, who spent more than two decades leading ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy through numerous cast changes.
Pompeo has reportedly earned $20 million per season, with more recent installments of the medical drama running for about 18 episodes—putting her compensation in a similar range to Hargitay’s reported earnings.
Following the taping of SVU’s 600th episode, Hargitay attended a special dinner celebrating the milestone and her longtime colleagues. She later revisited the speech she delivered while speaking with Variety.
Hargitay’s reported earnings would place her among television’s highest-paid female performers and actors overall. The news comes as SVU reaches its 600th episode on Thursday night (Above, on October 27 in NYC)
Hargitay recalled telling former ER star Julianna Margulies in 2024 that she feared staying on SVU could make audiences view her as a “one-trick pony.” Margulies replied, “Sweetheart, that ship’s sailed” (Above, on October 25 in NYC)
She was joined by former co-star Christopher Meloni, who played Detective Elliot Stabler until leaving the show in 2011. He is set to make another guest appearance in the 600th episode
“Here we are at episode 600, and it really doesn’t feel totally real—which, in a way, is exactly how it should feel, because it’s as if we all get to live in this dream of what you thought might be possible someday,” Hargitay said, becoming emotional. “And you’ve shown that it’s not only possible, but it’s so much better than anyone could have imagined.”
Even with such a major achievement to celebrate, Hargitay admitted that she initially had little desire to attend the gathering.
“I wanted to go home and go to bed,” she said. Still, she made the effort to attend and ended up sharing a table with creator Dick Wolf and Christopher Meloni, her former co-star and the original Elliot Stabler.
Meloni has returned to SVU several times since departing in 2011, and he will once again reunite with Benson in the 600th episode.
The evening ultimately exceeded Hargitay’s expectations, becoming, she said, “one of the most extraordinary, meaningful nights, and unexpectedly so to me.”
“Dick got up and said, ‘This has never happened, and it will never happen again.’ And everything just landed that night,” she recalled.
Hargitay also spoke about doubts she experienced in 2024, during SVU season 25, when she questioned whether it was time to leave the series. She had shared those concerns during a conversation with former ER star Julianna Margulies.
“I said, ‘I’ve got to leave the show too. I don’t want people to think I’m a one-trick pony.’”
Margulies answered: “Sweetheart, that ship’s sailed.”