The Truth About Mariska Hargitay's Visible Scar

Mariska Hargitay's scar comes from a horrific car accident she was involved in as a child. In 1967, when she was just 3 years old, Hargitay was driving with a chauffeur, her mother, her mother's boyfriend, and her siblings, Miklós and Zoltán, from Biloxi, Mississippi to New Orleans, Louisiana. On the road trip, at around 2 a.m., their 1966 Buick Electra rear-ended a truck (via Mirror).

The car's roof tore off and the Buick slid underneath the truck's trailer, instantly killing the three adults onboard. All three children survived, including Hargitay, but she retains no memory of the crash. The tragedy served as a catalyst for changing US traffic laws to force trucks to include steel bars (now known as Mansfield bars), to stop cars from sliding underneath them, per Mirror. 

In a 2009 interview with Redbook, Hargitay took an enlightened viewpoint on the accident that left her with depression. "I feel like it ultimately made me into the person I am today," she said. "I understand the journey of life. I had to go through what I did to be here."