How Mariska Hargitay Got Injured On The Set Of Law & Order: SVU

It's hard to think that Mariska Hargitay can't do it all. For over two decades, she has been fighting crime as Detective Olivia Benson in "Law & Order: SVU" — the longest-running primetime scripted live-action series in the history of American television, per The Hollywood Reporter. In 2005, she took home a Golden Globe award for Best Television Actress – Drama Series, and in 2006 won an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. 

"I have had the very rare and unique opportunity to ... [play Olivia Benson] for 23 years, but grow into the lioness that I always saw her as," she said during an interview with Glamour. 

Hargitay is also one of the highest paid female actors in television, according to Yahoo! Finance. In 2018, Forbes reported that she had an annual salary of $13 million — which means she is raking in over $500,000 per episode.

But despite achieving so much throughout her career, there is just one thing that Hargitay no longer does on set — due to a serious injury she suffered in 2009.

In 2009, Access Hollywood broke the news that Mariska Hargitay suffered from a partially collapsed lung, as her team confirmed to the outlet she was "sidelined with pneumothorax." According to Mayo Clinic, "a pneumothorax occurs when air leaks into the space between your lung and chest wall. This air pushes on the outside of your lung and makes it collapse."

Since the incident, the actor revealed to Redbook Magazine that she actually sustained the injury while performing a stunt where she was "chasing a bad guy" while on the set of "Law and Order: SVU." "I jumped and landed on pads, but on the second take something happened — I just landed wrong," she said. Initially she thought she had just pulled a muscle, but unfortunately, it was much worse than she could have imagined. 

For three months after the fall, Hargitay explained to the outlet that she felt fine — and had no idea something was wrong. However, chest pains and shortness of breath started to creep in. "On New Year's Day, we were walking on the beach out here near the house, and I felt this sharp pain, sort of like someone had stabbed me," Hargitay described. "I went down on one knee and just couldn't catch my breath." She was admitted to the hospital and had to undergo several surgeries to repair the damage.

Now, the ambitious actor allows hired professionals to do the job. 

Despite Mariska Hargitay being a trooper and overcoming every obstacle thrown her way while on set of "Law & Order: SVU," she revealed that has a stunt double — or several. "I've got like three!" she told Access Hollywood while on the red carpet at the Gracie Awards in New York City in 2009. After having multiple surgeries, she confirmed to the outlet that she was doing much better. "I'm fine. I had a little set back a couple of months, but all is well and I've full recuperated."

Although Hargitay plans to be more careful moving forward, she is always grateful for the lessons in her life. "I have so many blessings, and I've learned from all of my experiences and my losses. I think you learn to feel grateful when you are exposed at such a young age to the fact that bad things can happen. I look at all the things life has allowed me to do and I feel like the luckiest person in the world," she said during an interview with Redbook Magazine.