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\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n Mariska Hargitay<\/strong><\/a> and Jamie Lee Curtis<\/strong><\/a> are opening up about their incredible lives and careers.<\/p>\n The stars took part in a conversation for Variety<\/em>\u2018s Actors on Actors<\/a> series, out now.<\/p>\n During their chat, the Law & Order: SVU <\/em>actress and the Halloween<\/em> icon spoke about their respective families and childhoods, as well as their recent reunion when Mariska<\/strong> was making her documentary My Mom Jayne<\/em>. They also discussed their current projects, and Mariska<\/strong> doing her first play.<\/p>\n Check out the highlights inside\u2026<\/p>\n \n<\/center><\/p>\n On their early history together:<\/strong><\/p>\n Jamie Lee:<\/strong> Nobody knows this \u2014 you grew up in a pink house on Sunset Boulevard, which was once owned by Sonny<\/strong> and Cher<\/strong> and later purchased by Tony Curtis<\/strong>. He married this very young woman [she signals displeasure by raising her eyebrows]. He bought this house, and [you and I] met. There is a photograph of us standing in the driveway. We never saw each other after that. You ask yourself, \u201cWhy don\u2019t we know each other when we have so much history with our families?\u201d<\/p>\n Mariska:<\/strong> We were sisters from another mother or father.<\/p>\n Jamie Lee and Mariska on their long-awaited reunion:<\/strong><\/p>\n Mariska:<\/strong> I was at the Beverly Hills Hotel. I had just started shooting my movie, My Mom Jayne<\/em>. I was talking to [actress] Amy Landecker<\/strong>, saying you and I used to live next door, but we don\u2019t know each other. She immediately connected us. I can\u2019t remember if you called me or I called you.<\/p>\n Jamie Lee:<\/strong> It doesn\u2019t matter.<\/p>\n Mariska:<\/strong> But it was like a missing piece of my life. And that first phone call was so emotional, because when we have histories like ours, we are in such a unique and singular position that people just can\u2019t understand it unless they\u2019ve lived it. You\u2019re one of the most deeply sensitive, empathetic and compassionate humans that I\u2019ve met. Your unique lens on my story was extraordinary.<\/p>\n Jamie Lee:<\/strong> You explained to me that you were making a doc and had come back to Los Angeles and started going through [your mom\u2019s] storage unit. But you didn\u2019t tell me the secret you held for a very long time. I\u2019m guessing there were people close to you who knew the story of your birth father [entertainer Nelson Sardelli<\/strong>]. Once it becomes a sensational secret, it\u2019s going to get shared. You came to my house. I made a little lunch. I think I may have baked a little lemon cake for you.<\/p>\n Mariska:<\/strong> You made a little pasta salad.<\/p>\n Mariska on Jamie Lee and Mariska watching each other\u2019s projects:<\/strong><\/p>\n I had to separate you as an actor, because you were also just this sister that I got \u2014 one who understood my movie. I know that it brought up so much for you. Both of us have these complicated pasts. But you texted me six months ago and said, \u201cYour show has been on for 87 years \u2014 I can\u2019t watch it all. Give me the top 10 episodes that you would want me to see, because I want to know you as an artist.\u201d I asked you the same question about The Bear<\/em>. I watched three episodes, and [the first two] were so magnificent. What you did, the layers and the pain you brought. But then I saw the episode \u201cIce Chips\u201d [where Jamie Lee<\/strong>\u2018s character, Donna, sits with her estranged daughter in labor]. I couldn\u2019t even comprehend it. And that you do it in two takes \u2026<\/p>\n Jamie Lee on her own career highlights:<\/strong><\/p>\n My favorite job ever was a sitcom I did back in the day called Anything but Love<\/em> with Richard Lewis<\/strong>. It was fantastic. I\u2019d never been in front of a live audience. John Ritter <\/strong>was one of the producers of the show. I loved him. We were auditioning actors for the part of a rogue guy who kept coming on to me in a scene. Every actor who came in backed me up against a desk, and I had to push him off. After one guy left, John Ritter<\/strong> came over to me and he whispered in my ear, \u201cYou have really funny legs.\u201d Then I got to do True Lies<\/em>. My character, Helen, was a fish out of water. She\u2019s a housewife who becomes a spy. It was about doing things physically you aren\u2019t supposed to do. I remembered John Ritter<\/strong> \u2014 freedom comes from fearlessness.<\/p>\n Jamie Lee and Mariska on powerful women working together:<\/strong><\/p>\n Jamie Lee:<\/strong> But you are the f\u2013king heartbeat of [Law & Order: SVU<\/em>]. That entire machine is driven by you. At the center of the work is you also as a humanitarian, you as an advocate for women who\u2019ve been abused. You also wear it outside of work; I wear it outside of work. It\u2019s part of the other sisterhood of caring. Women are not often in positions of leadership. For the first time, you have a woman running [SVU<\/em>]. How important was that for you?<\/p>\n Mariska:<\/strong> It\u2019s everything. Michele Fazekas<\/strong>, who is now our showrunner, is hilarious and talented. We also have a female directing producer named Brenna Malloy<\/strong>, who pushes me to new heights.<\/p>\n Jamie Lee:<\/strong> [You and I] are two women over 60, both on shows that have women showrunners and directing producers. I\u2019m only on [Scarpetta<\/em>] because Nicole Kidman<\/strong> said, \u201cJamie<\/strong> is on the show, right?\u201d I was a producer. I just wanted to be a boss; I didn\u2019t want to have to put on the gear.<\/p>\n Mariska and Jamie Lee on doing her first play:<\/strong><\/p>\n Mariska:<\/strong> This is a dream come true for me, to play in a different sandbox. I am very unlike Olivia Benson, but nobody knows that except for my friends. Being onstage has been my lifelong goal. [In my 20s], I became friends with the amazing [stage actress] Kathleen Chalfant<\/strong>. She said, \u201cDon\u2019t sell out and do TV.\u201d An hour later I got SVU<\/em>. So that was a hard call to make. Getting this call from my agent with the offer for the play Every Brilliant Thing<\/em>, I was pinching myself. Can you come?<\/p>\n Jamie Lee:<\/strong> Of course I\u2019m going to come.<\/p>\n Mariska Hargitay<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Jalen Brunson<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0are good friends, and you may not know the story behind their bond! Find out how it happened.<\/a><\/p>\n Posted To:Jamie Lee Curtis<\/a> Mariska Hargitay<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n