Intervista a Mariska Hargitay

Mariska Hargitay è recentemente apparsa sulla copertina del magazine americano More, che ha pubblicato un’interessante intervista in cui l’attrice parla della sua carriera e della sua vita privata.

Dopo il salto, un estratto dell’intervista, da  More.com e la traduzione italiana a cura di telesimo.it

“The only reason I have the career I have is that I didn’t quit.”

Mariska Hargitay is sitting pretty as one of prime time’s best-loved (and highest-paid) actresses. In the February 2010 issue of MORE magazine, on newsstands January 26, the Emmy-winning star of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit opens up to Meryl Gordon about her tumultuous year, what The Jay Leno Show did to her series’ ratings, how even she worries about money and why she couldn’t care less about Hollywood’s standards of beauty.

Even though Forbes recently estimated her annual earnings at $8.5 million,  Hargitay says, “I constantly worry about money. I make a lot now, but I don’t feel that way, because I was poor and had no money for a lot longer than I’ve had it. As an actor, if this show ends next year, then what? As an aging woman, then what? I’m saving money to live on, for the future. There are not that many roles for women, and I’ve been blessed with one of the great ones.”

She has also suffered for her art. While performing a stunt in October 2008, Hargitay landed awkwardly and didn’t realize until months later that she had suffered a collapsed lung. “I thought it was a pulled rib. I’m pretty tough,” she says. “When I couldn’t breathe anymore, I got an X-ray, and they couldn’t believe I was walking.” The result: three surgeries and a long recovery. “There are scenes where I have to run,” she says, “and I’ll only take a few steps. Everyone is super-careful of me.”

Hargitay was frustrated when NBC moved SVU (and its other 10 p.m. programs) earlier to make room for The Jay Leno Show this season. “It ruined our numbers,” she says bluntly. “The first four episodes, we were considerably down because nobody knew when the show was on.  Finally, we’re starting to find our audience again.” Given Leno’s disappointing ratings, she hopes “we go back to where we belong. It was doing so well. Why mess with it?”

The star also speaks frankly about her years of struggle in Hollywood, when she was constantly being told “they’re going in another direction” and “they wanted a blonde.” “The second half of my twenties, I don’t think I got a job,” she says. ”It was so rough that I wanted to quit.” Her father, Hungarian-born bodybuilder Mickey Hargitay, would say, “No, we don’t quit in this family.”

It was also daunting for her to come up against the screen image of her late mother, bombshell actress Jayne Mansfield. “I can never compete, so I don’t try,” says Hargitay, who was three when Mansfield died in a car crash; Hargitay and her brothers were in the backseat and escaped without serious injury. ”I think I’m a very attractive person, but I don’t put myself in the realm of the beauty. That’s not where I get my esteem. I’m a size 8, and I feel proud of that, because it’s healthy. I’ve never felt compelled to be a skinny actress.”

Mariska Hargitay (45) flirta con la macchina fotografica sulla copertina del numero di febbraio della rivista More!
La star di Law & Order: SVU si confida sul nuovo orario di messa in onda della serie, sul problema dei soldi e sul dover far fronte al rifiuto di Hollywood:
Sulla nuova collocazione di Law & Order: SVU alle 21.00 per lasciare spazio alla trasmissione di Jay Leno: “Ci ha rovinati. I primi quattro episodi hanno avuto poca audience perchè nessuno sapeva quando andava in onda. Finalmente ora stiamo cominciando a ritrovare i nostri spettatori. Spero ci rimetteranno nell’orario dove dovremmo essere. La serie stava andando così bene. Perchè rovinare tutto?”
Sulla preoccupazione riguardo al denaro: “Mi preoccupo costantemente del denaro. Adesso guadagno bene, ma non sono tranquilla: ero povera e il periodo in cui non ho avuto soldi è durato molto più a lungo di questo in cui ne ho. In quanto attrice, se questo show termina il prossimo anno, allora cosa succederà? Non sono più giovanissima, e quindi cosa succederà? Sto risparmiando soldi per poter vivere tranquillamente, per il futuro. Non ci sono poi così tanti ruoli per le donne e ho la fortuna di aver trovato uno dei migliori.”
Sul dover far fronte al rifiuto di Hollywood: “Un tizio alla ABC mi ha consigliato di cambiare il nome e rifarmi il naso. Gli ho risposto: il naso te lo rifai tu.”