Mariska Hargitay shares 'wacky story' of her acting journey

Mariska Hargitay recently got candid and gave credit to a nun for her acting career.

The 62-year-old American actress and philanthropist appeared on the Tuesday, June 16 episode of the I Am An Actor podcast, where she revealed that becoming an actor had been decided in her school.

Hargitay, who was at Marymount High School in Los Angeles, shared that she had a close bond with her English teacher, who advised her to become an actor because of her talkative nature.

She said, "I started acting because when I was in high school, my English teacher, who was a nun, suggested that I try out for the school play. I did. I fell in love with it. I did a play the following year. And these encouraging words that my nun gave me actually started the trajectory of my entire life.”

"My favorite teacher, who was my English teacher, her name was Sister Margaret. And I loved her. She was just so deep. And she saw all the students. And I just loved her and felt very connected to her,” the Law & Order star recalled.

Hargitay was an extrovert and would frequently face “trouble” because of her nature. She believes that her favourite English teacher one day saw her “doing accents and being crazy,” so she pulled her aside when she was in 11th grade and said, “Mariska, I think you should try out for the school play.”

“So I was like, 'Oh, okay. That'd be fun,’” she noted.

"And I tried out for the school play and it was a comedy, a French farce called Salad Days. It was very, you know, crazy, wacky story. And I had such a blast and this thing sort of came alive in me. And then the following year I auditioned for the play and I got the lead in another play,” Mariska Hargitay shared.