Misty Copeland Made Mariska Hargitay Cry for the Sweetest Reason

SVU star is in tears after encounter with Principal Dancer with American Ballet Theatre

By Rebecca Macatee Apr 08, 2016 8:18 PMTags
Watch: Mariska Hargitay Is Starstruck By Misty Copeland

Mariska Hargitay is an A-list member of Taylor Swift's squad (only she and Ellen Pompeo have cats named in their honor), but that doesn't prevent her from getting starstruck.

In fact, the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit star was moved to tears when she met Misty Copeland, Principal Dancer with American Ballet Theatre, at Variety's Power of Women New York event, which was sponsored by Lifetime. E! News caught Mariska's emotional meeting with Misty on camera, and when we discovered the sweet reason behind her tears, we wanted to name our next pet after Olivia Benson, too.

"My daughter's four and wants to be a ballerina," she said of little Amaya as she held Misty's hands. "God bless you, thank you!"

After the ladies chitchatted for a few moments, the overwhelmed actress told E! News, "I need to take a moment to recover from that...I have chills! Look at me, I have chills! She's so amazing." 

Amaya's mom later Instagrammed a photo of her meeting with Misty, writing that she was "#overjoyed meeting my daughter's idol (and mine)."

Stephen Lovekin\Variety/REX/Shutterstock

Mariska told E! News she was in awe of Misty's "soul, the triumphant soul, the triumphant spirit and the hard work," adding that the unparalleled ballet dancer "is fearlessness incarnate to me."

To see Mariska and Misty's emotional meeting for yourself, watch the video above.