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"I was so excited because I was going to Australia to play this queen," Hargitay says of the role.
Many years before Mariska Hargitay was breaking records as Olivia Benson on "Law & Order: SVU," she was fired from an acting job.
While appearing on "Late Night with Seth Meyers" Monday night, the actress recalled being let go already months into filming 1995's "Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: The Movie" after she left set to spend Christmas with her family.
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View StoryHargitay, 55, was originally cast as the role of Dulcea, a warrior queen on the planet Phaedos who bestows the animal spirits on the Power Rangers.
"I was so excited because I was going to Australia to play this queen," she recalled. "I get there, hair, makeup, prosthetics pieces, walking around like that, feeling pretty good."
"I was there from November and then December, and then we were getting close to Christmas and they had me on hold a lot," Hargitay continued. "And finally, around December 21, I said, 'Hey, guys, this is great, but you kept me on hold too long. I gotta go.' It's Christmas. I think that's only fair."
"I fly home, and January 3 I call them," she added. "I'm like, 'Okay, I'm ready.' And they're like, 'Sweetie, you're good. Don't worry about it.' Yes, and they fired me... because I wanted to go home for Christmas and be with my family."
When asked if she learned a "valuable lesson" from leaving set to spend time with her family, Hargitay said, "Yes. I watch my P's and Q's on 'SVU' now. And when they say, 'We need you.' I say, 'I'm there and I'm ready.'"
Meyers showed stills of Hargitay in Dulcea's costume, which included a bra top and mini skirt that left little to the imagination. Although Hargitay was ultimately recast, the Golden Globe winner expressed that she wants to "make wallpaper" out of the photos of her in the sexy costume.
Despite being fired from the "Power Rangers" movie, we all know Hargitay has been wildly successful in her acting career. In fact, "SVU," the series of which Hargitay has starred as Detective Benson for all of the show's whopping 21 seasons, was just named the longest-running primetime live-action series in U.S. television history.
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