Juliana Aidén Martinez on Bond with ‘Law & Order: SVU’ cast, season 26

Her parents’ sacrifices, steeped in a multicultural upbringing, helped shape Juliana Aidén Martinez into the person she is today. And now the actor is bringing her talents to one of the world’s most famous television shows.

The first-generation Colombian American, who recently starred opposite Sofia Vergara in Netflix’s Emmy-nominated “Griselda,” is the newest cast member of NBC’s “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.”

She joins veteran stars Mariska Hargitay and Ice-T, alongside Peter Scanavino, Octavio Pisano and Kevin Kane, for season 26, which premieres Thursday, October 3 at 9pm ET.

Martinez plays a new detective, Kate Silva, on the SVU team, which is led by Hargitay’s captain Olivia Benson.

In a recent interview with TODAY.com during Hispanic Heritage Month, Martinez talks about “embracing” her family’s culture and the moment she met Hargitay. She also gives a sneak peek at what to expect from her new character, including “some secrets.”

Gratitude for a ‘very multicultural’ upbringing

Martinez, who is originally from Miami, explains that she grew up with “a very relatable first-generation experience,” citing how much her parents sacrificed for her to be where she is today.

They also taught her the importance of embracing her culture and family values, and of course, the love of Colombian food.

“My dad and my aunts really liked cooking food, and they really liked dancing,” Martinez recalls, adding some of her childhood memories of dancing at family parties and playing competitive soccer.

“I was also very entrenched in the way I grew up,” she says, “and I grew up sort of, I would say, Caribbean/South American. It was always Jamaican, Trinidadian, Haitian, Cuban… Venezuelan. It was always very multicultural how I grew up, which I am very grateful for to this day.”

She describes her hometown of Miami as “a very unique place,” but also a “really cool experience.”

Growing up at home, Univision was on her parents’ TV “a lot.” She remembers watching many telenovelas with her parents.

Although she is from Miami, New York, where “SVU” is filmed, she also has a special place in her heart.

Martinez moved to New York as a teenager to study acting and graduated from Yale Drama School in 2020.

“New York has always been more of a home to me in some ways, because I grew up in New York City as a young woman,” she says.

Her ‘SVU’ journey

Martinez started watching “SVU” in her later teens and explained that she only really became aware of the show during high school and college.

She traveled to Europe with friends in high school, and while in Germany she turned on the TV and saw “SVU” playing, which she describes as “such a surreal experience” because even though “it’s an American show,” it has ‘such’ international presence.”

Another “surreal” experience for Martinez happened years later when she learned she got the job on “SVU.”

She reflects on the “really crazy, serendipitous” process that all started with an email.

“I was in New York at the time, because I was in the finals for another project, and I remember saying to my partner, who is also a New Yorker, ‘Man, it would be so cool to be back in New York. I really miss it.”

Her rep explained that the show was looking for someone who they really “wanted to be a permanent member of the team – to be part of the squad.” They are really interested in you. They want to see what you do.”

Martinez says she auditioned and sent the tape to the team over the course of a weekend before heading to Los Angeles.

“And on Tuesday they said, ‘We’re taking you back on the plane and we want to screen the test with you right away,’” she recalls, adding that the team “was very deliberate about it.”

She remembers meeting Hargitay for the first time and working with Pisano and “the whole crew.”

“They wanted to make sure it was a good fit for the team, and the experience with Mariska was incredible too,” she says.

A ‘powerful’ welcome received by Mariska Hargitay

Martinez credits Hargitay for the “legacy” she created with “SVU.”

“She is such a trailblazer for American television,” she says. “What they were able to do with the show, no other TV show in history has been able to do.”

“SVU” is the longest-running primetime live-action series on American television, Hargitay’s Benson is the longest-running primetime live-action character and Ice-T is the longest-running male actor on TV.

“I knew Captain Benson,” Martinez says of Hargitay, “but I had no context about who Mariska Hargitay was as a person.”

Martinez says she has her own “kind of mechanism” that works for her, where instead of getting nervous, she becomes “really calm.”

She remembers a special moment she shared with Hargitay during one of her first days on set in the show’s team room.

“I was very chilled, and when I walked in, this booming voice immediately said, ‘Hey, you! Come here.’ And I turned around, and there was Mariska and she gave me a huge bear hug. She says, ‘This is where you belong. You belong here.’”