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NBC Insider Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Mariska Hargitay Channels '90s Britney Spears in This Iconic Throwback Photo

Do you remember when she was on a sitcom called Can't Hurry Love

By Christopher Rosa
Mariska Hargitay Hair 2016

Mariska Hargitay is widely known for playing Olivia Benson on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, but once upon a time, she was a working actor trying to find her big break. Of her many gigs before landing SVU, Hargitay snagged a sitcom in 1995 called Can't Hurry Love. The premise centered around a 30-something woman, Annie (Nancy McKeon), looking for love and happiness in New York City. Hargitay played Annie's friend, Didi, and she took to Instagram in late March to remind fans of this little factoid.

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Watch Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Thursdays on NBC and next day on Peacock.

Hargitay shared a photo of herself to her grid from the '90s dressed as Didi. The 'fit is the epitome of 1995: a lavender crop top, matching jeans with a micro-belt, all tied together with a sea foam green button-up that's tied up her midriff. Think "...Baby One More Time" Britney Spears meets the cast of Friends. That, in a nutshell, is Didi's look from Can't Hurry Love.

Check out the incredible photo here. Can't Hurry Love was canceled after only one season, but no tears because Hargitay landed Law & Order: SVU just three years later. The rest is history. 

Bensler Get Steamy and Almost Kiss | NBC’s Law & Order: SVU

Hargitay's Olivia Benson is now the longest-running female character on network television. Twenty-four seasons and years later, fans are as riveted as ever—especially because it seems like Benson and Stabler (Christopher Meloni) may become more than friends soon. 

The jury's still out on this, but the two did share an almost-kiss a few episodes back this season. Fans still haven't gotten over it. 

Neither have the actors in the Law & Order universe. Danielle Moné Truitt, who plays Sgt. Ayanna Bell on Law & Order: Organized Crime, told the TODAY show, “[Bell] can tell that [Benson and Stabler] love each other. I don’t know if Bell is concerned about whether it’s a platonic love or a romantic love... But she can see the bond that they have and I think she’s gonna want whatever’s best for Stabler at the end of the day. I think she’s a supporter of his emotional health, his mental health, and hopefully they hook up and get together, and it’s a great relationship. I think Bell would definitely be on board." 

Watch Law & Order: SVU Thursdays at 9/8c on NBC and the next day on Peacock