United Kingdom, Oct. 14 -- Mariska Hargitay thinks people confuse her with Olivia Benson.

The 61-year-old actress - who is best known for playing Olivia in Law and Order: Special Victims Unit since 1999 - admitted she is much more "scared" than her alter ego, although she's learned some important lessons from her formidable character.

Speaking on stage at Hello Sunshine's annual Shine Away summit, she said: "People, they project on me, they think that I'm Olivia Benson and I'm bada** and I'm fearless.

"I'm like, 'Oh, I'm not fearless. I'm super scared' - but the motto that I have is 'feel the fear and do it anyway.'

"And I learned that from Olivia Benson."

Mariska previously revealed how she suffered "secondary trauma" as a result of...