Mariska Hargitay to make Broadway debut on ‘Every Brilliant Thing’ in May

Actress Mariska Hargitay will be trading her crime-fighting skills for the stage lights of Broadway.

Hargitay, 62, who has played the intense, driven and compassionate Olivia Benson on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” since 1999, will replace Daniel Radcliffe in the Broadway production of “Every Brilliant Thing.”

The “Harry Potter” star’s limited run engagement in the popular play ends on May 24, The New York Times reported.

“Every Brilliant Thing,” written by Duncan Macmillan and Jonny Donahoe, centers around a person whose mother attempted suicide, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Characters attempt to cheer the woman up by listing things that make life worth living.

“I read ‘Every Brilliant Thing’ and cried, rejoiced, laughed, cried some more, and loved it so much,” Hargitay said in a statement. “I’m always drawn to themes of healing and renewal, especially when the journey is rendered in all its complexity. It feels like an extraordinary gift to make my Broadway debut, the fulfillment of a lifelong dream, with a play that affirms life so emphatically.

“For me, the triumph of this beautiful piece of work—this luminously brilliant thing — is that through a deeply personal story, we experience the universal endeavor of keeping ourselves pointed towards light, compassion and hope.”

Jeremy Herrin, one of the production’s two directors along with Macmillan, told the Times that he wanted a performer who would go “in a completely different direction” than Radcliffe. He said that Hargitay was a perfect choice.

“She’s very warm and funny and bright and tender and vulnerable, with a background in comedy and improv, and this felt like a nuanced idea, rather than having somebody who was going to imitate the success that Dan has had,” Herrin told the newspaper.

Hargitay recently made her debut as a feature film director with the documentary “My Mom Jayne,” which explores the life and legacy of her mother, actress Jayne Mansfield, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Mansfield died when Hargitay was 3 years old. The actress was killed as a passenger when the vehicle in which she was riding hit the back of a trailer truck on U.S. 90 in Louisiana. Mansfield was 34.

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