Mariska Hargitay has been a TV staple since she joined Law & Order: SUV in 1999.
The 60-year-old, who portrays Captain Olivia Benson, is forced to deal with harrowing storylines including sexual assault, child abuse, and domestic violence.
Due to the heavy subject matter, Mariska has struggled to leave her work on set, especially in the early years of career.
"That's been a process," she told Interview magazine. "When I started the show, I wasn't aware of how deeply it would go into me."
Mariska admitted that even her husband, Peter Hermann, noticed a difference in her behavior.
"My husband Peter is always like, anytime I go anywhere, my first question is, 'What's the crime rate here?' So it's on the brain."
© NBCThe actress confessed that the devastating storylines caused her to suffer from "secondary trauma", which she no doubt tried to hide from her children, August, 18, Amaya Josephine, 13, and Andrew, 12.
"There's been times when I didn't know how to protect myself, and I think I was definitely a victim of secondary trauma from being inundated with these stories and knowing that they were true," she explained.
© Instagram"Those were the parts that I didn't know how to metabolize, just because of the sheer volume of it."
Mariska was inspired by her role, and in 2014 she created the Joyful Heart Foundation so she would feel like she's "doing something about it".
© Getty Images"I learned that one in three women will be assaulted, and one in six men," she stated.
"That's when I started going, 'I have to do something,' because the show was obviously tackling the subject matter, but when I learned the statistics, I said, 'Why isn't everyone talking about this?'"
© Getty ImagesShe added: "And if I didn't know, I figured nobody knows what an epidemic violence against women is."
While she has personally struggled at times, Olivia is forever grateful to the show for surpassing her "wildest dreams".
© Getty Images"I knew that [Law & Order creator] Dick Wolf had this incredible track record, and I knew how smart he was and how respectful he was of his audience," she said.
"But this has surpassed my wildest dreams in terms of a career, but also in terms of personal fulfilment – that I could marry my acting with my philanthropy or with a personal mission to have a part in people's healing. I think about that often."
© Getty ImagesMariska has broken records with her role as Olivia Benson as she is the longest-running live-action character in primetime TV history.
Law & Order: SUV is even where she met her husband in 2001 when he guest-starred on the police procedural drama.
© Getty ImagesThe couple tied the knot in an intimate ceremony in Santa Barbara, California, in 2004, and they welcomed their first child August, in 2006.
Five years later, in 2011, they decided to grow their family again, this time choosing to adopt daughter Amaya Josephine. Less than a year later, they adopted their second son, Andrew.
© Getty ImagesOpening up about becoming an adoptive mother, just like her character, Mariska told Good Housekeeping: "August wanted siblings, and Peter and I both envisioned this big family because we both come from that.
"Plus, we just had so much love to give," she added, stating that it was "always part of the plan" to adopt.
