Mariska Hargitay has revealed that she tested for the role of Monica on Friends "so many times". Before she found fame on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in 1999, the actress went on "a lot of comedy auditions" because she thought she was best suited to sitcoms. Sharing examples of those auditions, she told Amy Poehler on her Good Hang podcast, "I did Seinfeld and I did Single Guy, and I tested for Friends so many times. I think for Monica. I always thought I would end up being on a sitcom or doing comedy. "I was like, I want to do drama but it has to be funny because that's what I felt like my gifts were... (I would tell people), 'I'm going to be a comedian because I'm funny and I'm pretty.'" Monica Geller was ultimately played by Courteney Cox on Friends between 1994 and 2004. Hargitay, 61, went on to share that she became more open to working in dramas after meeting with a psychic during a visit to New York. "He said to me... 'You see that face you're doing right now? You see that face?'" she recalled. "I said, 'Yeah.' He goes, 'You're going to be famous for that face. You're moving to New York and you're gonna be famous for that face.' I said, 'Uh, no. I live in L.A. and I'm going to be a comedian.' Six months later, swear to God... I got SVU." Hargitay has played Olivia Benson in the police procedural crime drama for the past 26 years, making her the longest-running character in U.S. live-action primetime TV history. The show is currently in its 27th season.