2025 has been a year of firsts for Mariska Hargitay — a rare feat when you’ve been an actor for 40 years. Many know her best from watching her as Olivia Benson on Law and Order: Special Victims Unit for nearly 30 years, but Hargitay’s most recent projects have her peeling back the layers of who she is out of character. There’s her directorial debut, My Mom Jayne, the deeply personal HBO documentary chronicling the life and death of her mother, Hollywood icon Jayne Mansfield. Now, as the face of Cetaphil’s new Skin Activator Hydrating & Firming line, her debut beauty campaign, she is opening up about her skin care journey.

The trio of products from the dermatologist-favorite drugstore brand (a face and neck cream, lotion, and body cream) are why the 61-year-old actor has looked particularly glowy these past few months. Formulated with skin barrier-restoring encapsulated cica and exfoliating micro-dosed mandelic acid, the line works to awaken dormant “zombie” surface skin cells, which contribute to signs of aging like dehydration, fine lines, and loss of firmness. It turns out the brand’s dedication to skin science is what drew Hargitay to work with the brand — and it’s a topic she’s particularly passionate about. (She even grilled me about my beauty routine — the first time I’ve gone from interviewer to interviewee.)

“It was very exciting and it was very innovative,” Hargitay tells me while dressed in a sleek navy button-down and trousers, casually sitting on a cream boucle sofa in a suite at the New York Edition Hotel. “It’s a brand that I’ve always trusted and a brand that I’ve loved since I was a little girl. I think everyone does. Everything is science-backed and [based] on new technology and new science — those are sexy words in skin care.”

As a beauty editor who’s essentially become numb to all of the wild skin care claims I come across online, I would have to agree — science is sexy. Ahead, the highlights from our convo on aging, self-care, and everything in between — including a bad haircut that resulted in a call from Dick Wolf.

On How Her Relationship With Her Skin Has Changed Over The Years

“Listen, we get older and things change. So we [start to] take a little bit better care, right? For me personally, I was blessed because I didn’t think about it. I was like, ‘Oh, my skin’s fine. I’m not worried about it.’ Now, my focus is taking care of everything from the inside. And self-care, to me, is about having good skin. We all know the basics we should be focusing on. We know your skin can change when we don’t hydrate, when we don’t drink water, and when we don’t sleep. And for me, the sugar thing was really powerful. When I eat sugar, it changes the texture of my skin. So to know how to treat our skin from the inside and then have this extra help — that’s the perfect combo, right?”

On How She Unwinds When Working On Emotionally Heavy Projects

“Laughter has a huge currency in our home, and I like to keep everything fun and light. So being able to laugh at things and take life in strides is huge.

“Also, it’s about taking care of myself in terms of going on a walk or taking 10 minutes to stop during the day to just reset. I’ve learned that slower is faster. And I think that some people are like, ‘I got to do this, this, and this.’ I’ve learned I have to stop, refocus, settle, see what’s bugging me, deal with it, and then let it go. So it’s not pushing through and not listening to my body, but actually saying, ‘OK, hold on. And how can I integrate this moment? What do I need to listen to?’

“But sometimes it’s necessary to feel the fear and do it anyway — just have tolerance for the uncomfortable moments. Once you learn that and you feel safer with that, then you’re able to recognize it’s going to pass and that you’re going to feel better as long as you stay focused and positive.”

On Aging In Hollywood

“I laugh about it. When things start to sag and fall and break, I go, ‘How about this?’ [pulls her cheeks down with her fingertips]

“I actually do. I bring attention. I lean in. Listen, this is the thing: Nobody can get around it. It’s part of aging, so why not enjoy it, embrace it, and help ourselves in the ways that we can. Everybody knows that obviously hydrating our skin is the magic potion. Drinking water is the magic potion. And now, Cetaphil has gifted us with science and new technology that says ‘Let me help you out here a little bit with your old tired surface cells.’”

On Her 60s Being Her Best Decade Yet

“My 20s were really rough. I recently did the Call Her Daddy podcast, and people were so grateful that I shared how rough my 20s were because people think like, ‘Oh, it’s always been like this.’ I’m like, ‘No, sweetie. It hasn’t.’ When you turn 30, you start to settle and go, ‘Hold on a second, what do I want to do?’ And then your 40s are when you’re [locked] in and go after something. For me, 50 was also a fabulous decade because you start to get clarity.

“But for me, the 60s has been when I’ve had the most internal space, the most clarity, the most wisdom, the most peace, and the most gratitude. So I have personally loved the evolution of aging because I didn’t have the peace or joy that I have now.

“I have my husband and my children and my family and my foundation and my job and my career that I built. And then that I get to surprise myself and allow this movie [My Mom Jayne] to come out. And it’s been a very exciting journey. And I get to do a beauty campaign with a cool, edgy company!”

On What She’d Tell Her Younger Self

“I’d say, ‘Don’t be afraid of all the parts of yourself and vulnerability.’ I don’t want to cry, but sometimes, I’m like, ‘You know what? You can cry.’ But then there’s another part that lets your strength come in. We’re allowed to be all of ourselves, and don’t let people put you in a box. I’m not one thing — none of us are. We’re amazing, complicated human beings.”

On The Haircut That Almost Got Her Fired

“A standout [hair] memory? You mean when I went to a photoshoot and I said yes to the hairstylists offering me a ‘quick trim’? [She laughs.] He did the one irrevocable cut [editor’s note: a pixie]. I went to work the next day, and Dick Wolf called me up, and I almost got fired because we were in the middle of shooting an episode. I was like, ‘You think I did this on purpose?’ But I love how my hair is now. I can be a bad*ss cop and have really cool hair doing it!”

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