No matter the length, color, or decade, the Law & Order: SVU star can pull off any look. This throwback photo confirms it.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit star Mariska Hargitay’s hair has gone through many stages. She’s styled her hair with bangs, in a super short pixie cut, and with bouncy beach waves, to name a few of her most memorable looks. And in the years before she began playing Olivia Benson, Hargitay had rocked another iconic hairstyle that’s perfect for hot summer days.

Back in 1988, Hargitay played Carly Fixx on the soap opera Falcon Crest and, during this era, the future SVU star had the bounciest short curly hair.

Mariska Hargitay is an ’80s icon wearing bright animal print with her short curly hair

Mariska Hargitay as Carly Fixx on Falcon Crest.Photo: CBS via Getty Images

In this photo, taken in January 1988 when she was in her early 20s, Hargitay’s curly dark brown hair was cut just below her ears with blended, textured bangs. Completing her fun ’80s look, Hargitay looks so retro wearing layered animal print tank tanks, high-waisted jean shorts, and a bow in her hair.

Hargitay’s legendary acting career was just getting started in the ’80s. Before she was cast as Benson on NBC’s Law & Order: SVU in 1999, Hargitay had a variety of credits on her resume, including “Girl in a Red Dress” in Ronnie Milsap’s 1984 music video for “She Loves My Car.” In the following years, she also landed roles in Welcome to 18, Jocks, Downtown, In the Heat of the Night, and Freddy’s Nightmares. Towards the end of that decade, Hargitay appeared in blockbuster series including Falcon Crest and Baywatch, among others.

Fast-forward to 1999 and Hargitay knew she was destined to play Benson when she first auditioned for Law & Order: SVU. In a January 2025 “Sunday Sitdown” interview with TODAY’s Willie Geist, Hargitay said she “hit it off” with Law & Order creator Dick Wolf right away.

Detective John Munch (Richard Belzer), Detective Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni), Detective Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay), and Captain Donald Cragen (Dann Florek) appear in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 1.Photo: Chris Haston/NBCU Photo Bank

“It was a sort of once-in-a-lifetime experience,” Hargitay told Geist about first meeting and auditioning with Christopher Meloni in the spring of 1999. “In the room, when [Meloni] walked in, I sort of sized him up, and I said, ‘That’s the guy.’ … It was so obvious to me that that was the guy, and apparently, he felt the same way.”

Hargitay also recalled how she instantly felt protective over the role. “The second time I came back to meet with [Wolf] and everyone, there was this stunning girl in the waiting room. And I panicked,” she told Geist. “I walked in and I go, ‘Listen, I don’t know what you’re doing, but you’re a little confused. This is my role, this is my part. I am Olivia Benson.’”

And as they say, the rest is history.