Make no mistake about it, Mariska has had to work hard and face many demons in her life in order to get where she is today. But did you know that the Law & Order actress actually comes from a family of celebrities?

Believe it or not, Mariska Magdolna Hargitay is actually the daughter of one of the most popular actresses of the 1950s – Jayne Mansfield.

Probably best known for being one of the first Playboy playmates, Mansfield was the actress that every woman wanted to be and every man wanted to be with. But eventually, the superstar settled down, got married and had children. One of those kids happened to be Mariska. But her father was also known by many…

Alongside her superstar mother, Jayne Mansfield, was her father who happened to be a famous Hungarian actor – Miklos Hargitay. Better known as Mickey, the man from Budapest will be best remembered for being crowned Mr. Universe in 1955.

After Jayne and Mickey hit it off in the 50s, they tied the knot and had a family together. And Mariska Magdolna can thank her father’s roots for her name, which is the Hungarian version of Mary Magdalene. She was raised Catholic.

It wasn’t just Mariska who Jayne and Mickey brought into the world. She also had two older brothers, Miklos Jr. and Zoltan. But these weren’t the only siblings that Mariska would have.

She had a half sister from Jayne’s first marriage – Jayne Marie Mansfield. She also had a half-sister from Mickey’s first marriage too by the name of Tina Hargitay. Although she maintained a good relationship with all her siblings, changes would start to take shape in the Hargitay household…

In light of the increasing fame, fortune and celebrity life, Mariska’s parents found it difficult keep their marriage going. So in May 1963, Jayne and Mickey went to Mexico and had a quick divorce.

However, an American judge deemed the divorce invalid. It turns out that this separation actually occurred before Mariska was even born. And despite a brief attempt to rebuild their relationship, it was to no avail. But the changes would keep on coming for the newborn Mariska…

Just a few weeks after Mariska’s birth, Jayne Mansfield married for a third time, this time with filmmaker Matt Cimber. The duo had previously met in a 1964 production of the play Bus Stop.

Together, the couple had another child, Antonio “Tony” Cimber. This meant that Mariska had another half-sibling in her life. The list seemed to get longer and longer. But none of these changes would affect Mariska quite like the events that would transpire a few years later…

Everything changed in the blink of an eye. On June 29, 1967, Mariska was sleeping in the back of a car alongside her mother Jayne, her new boyfriend Sam Brody, and her brothers, Miklos and Zoltan.

Then, the car crashed while they were driving down Route 90. Thankfully, the three kids all survived the crash with minimal injuries and Mariska came out with a zigzag scar on her forehead. However, the accident claimed the lives of the driver, Brody, and Mariska’s mother, Jayne.

As a result of such a horrific experience, Mariska’s life continued to see extreme changes left, right and center. At just three and a half years of age, she was oblivious to the events that had transpired.

She had no idea that her mother had been killed. At this point, Mariska and her brothers were taken in by their father Mickey, who was now married to his third wife, Ellen Siano. Sadly, it wouldn’t take long before she forgot about her mother…

To this day, Mariska has been keen to distance herself from the shadow cast by her mother and her untimely death. She has been so sheepish about being Jayne Mansfield’s daughter that she has repeatedly shot down interviewers for comparing her to her mother.

However, when it comes to her father, Mariska only has good things to say. When she was a young woman, she said, “my dad was Mr. Universe, so it would be fun for me to be Miss Universe.”

Mariska didn’t let these irreversible circumstances dictate how her life was going to go. She knew that she could only affect what she was in control of.

When it came to her formative years, she was a star in high school, excelling in many fields. These included athletics, cheerleading, student government and most importantly, theater. She had such a fervent passion for acting and after graduating from high school in 1982, she did an acting course at UCLA.

This was when Mariska started to truly come into her own. During her freshman year, she already had an agent and locked down a string of respectable acting roles. She was a popular character at college.

Then, to top off her fantastic college experience, she was crowned Miss Beverly Hills USA. It was a tremendous achievement for the young lady. And it’s safe to say that Jayne Mansfield would have been incredibly proud of her little girl.

Her achievement as Miss Beverly Hills USA would pave the way for even bigger things for Mariska. The following year, she competed in the Miss California USA pageant.

Although she didn’t win, she did finish in a respectable fourth place. And there was no shame in Mariska finishing runner-up to Julie Hayek, who would go on to win Miss USA in 1983. One thing was for sure though – Mariska was a class act from day one.

Just a year later, Mariska made it onto MTV. The music channel was in full effect, releasing music videos and becoming one of the biggest providers of 80s pop music.

In Ronnie Milsap’s hit single, “She Loves My Car,” the young actress starred in the music video as the pop star’s girlfriend. Mariska helped make history for Milsap as it was the first country music video to appear on MTV. It was the start of something truly special…

In 1984, Mariska made another huge stride in her career when she was cast in her first ever movie role. She won a role in the horror-comedy movie Ghoulies.

The story revolves around a group of demonic creatures that manifest themselves in a variety of spooky ways. They terrorize whoever enters the house in which they have been summoned. Although the flick wasn’t much of a commercial success, it developed a cult following and put Mariska on the map…

Originally, Mariska was strictly a theater actress and had no intention of performing on TV. However, CBS came calling in 1986 and offered her a role in an up and coming show by the name of Downtown.

It was an offer she simply couldn’t refuse. She was cast as a parolee who helps the LAPD crack down on crimes. The show was a flop and was discontinued after just one season. But it would be the first of many for Mariska…

The actress would star in a long string of TV shows over the next decade. Some of her most notable roles included Carly Fixx in soap opera Falcon Crest, Angela Garcia in Tequila and Bonetti and Didi Edelstein in the sitcom Can’t Hurry Love.

She also made cameos on classic shows such as Seinfeld, Baywatch and In The Heat Of The Night. But there was one role that, although it didn’t catapult her into superstardom, it did stand out for other reasons…

One of Mariska’s most notable career decisions came in the mid-nineties when she replaced Gabrielle Fitzpatrick as Dulcea in the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers movie.

This was because Fitzpatrick was forced to undergo surgery and needed time to recover. However, the creators decided to bring her back. So they took out Mariska’s scenes from the final cut and reshot them with Fitzpatrick instead. It was a small speed bump, but Mariska was about to bounce back in a big way…

As the new millennium neared, NBC was on the verge of starting production for its new crime series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

Auditions were underway to cast the two main leads for the show and Mariska, who had been recommended for the role of Detective Olivia Benson, ended up on the shortlist for the final round. Other candidates included Samantha Mathis and Reiko Aylesworth. Also, Tim Matheson, John Slattery, and Christopher Meloni were being considered for the role of Detective Elliot Stabler.

In the final round, Mariska and Christopher Meloni recited a scene together. Then, when the auditions were over, one of the producers said, “Oh well. There’s no doubt who we should choose – Hargitay and Meloni.”

The panel thought that the pair’s chemistry was absolutely electric and unanimously decided that the two were the ideal choice for the lead roles. Mariska and Meloni were cast as Detectives Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler, and the rest was history…

It seemed like both Mariska’s professional and private lives were going equally well at the same time. And even though the two seemed to be oddly intertwined, the actress didn’t have any problem with it.

Alongside her and Meloni was Peter Hermann, who was cast in a recurring role as Defense Attorney Trevor Langan. After a couple of years on the show together, the pair hit it off and on August 28, 2004, Mariska tied the knot with Hermann in Santa Barbara.

Everything seemed to be going Mariska’s way. She was the co-lead of a hit crime series and she had married the love of her life. Then, in the Summer of 2006, Marika was forced to take some time off from Law & Order.

This was because she and her husband were expecting their first child. She gave birth to August Miklos Friedrich Hermann on June 28, 2006, through an emergency cesarean section. But despite her elation, Mariska missed being on the show…

In the months building up to the birth of August, Mariska took maternity leave. And in order to fill the void left by her departure, the producers cast Connie Nielsen as her temporary replacement.

For six episodes, Nielsen portrayed Detective Danielle “Dani” Beck, covering for Olivia Benson who was, in the context of the show, “on an undercover assignment.” Although fans enjoyed Nielsen’s performance on the show, they were chomping at the bit to have their beloved Detective Benson return to SVU.

Shortly after giving birth to August, Mariska received the ultimate honor when she was awarded an Emmy for her performance on Law & Order. But it was her acceptance speech that really captured what the entire experience meant to her.

She thanked her father for everything he had done for her. Then, on September 14, 2006, Mickey died from multiple myeloma. Mariska knew that her father was going through a lot, and wanted to thank him for giving her the best upbringing she could have possibly had.

Despite losing her father, Mariska refused to let such a tragic loss bring her down. She knew that there was only one direction to go, and that was forward.

Just a few months after Mickey passed away, Mariska and August were part of a Got Milk? advertisement. The campaign promoted the consumption of cows milk, and other celebrities that appeared on Got Milk? ads included Jessica Alba, Elton John, Jennifer Aniston and Angelina Jolie, to name a few.

But Mariska suffered quite the setback at the end of 2008. In the middle of shooting a scene, the actress was performing one of her own stunts, as she usually would.

But in the middle of the stunt, she tripped, fell and suffered a partially collapsed lung in the process. As a result, she required surgery. And even though she returned to the studios soon after, she had recurring chest pains and had to miss one episode of the show.

It wasn’t just physical pains that the actors on the show had to deal with. Law & Order: SVU was undoubtedly a hit, and after the show reached its tenth season, it was clear that the fans wanted more of it.

However, Mariska and Meloni, who had consistently been the leads of the show, were facing expirations on their contracts after making a staggering $385,000 per episode. At this point, the two leads’ futures were up in the air…

Like other actors had done in the past, Mariska and Meloni wanted a sum of the show’s profits. But NBC was furious with the actors’ demands and threatened to fire them if they continued.

But then, just two months later, both actors’ contracts were renewed for an additional two years. While Meloni ended up quitting the show after those two years were up, Mariska carried on and is still the lead of the show to this very day.

It seemed that whenever good news came Mariska’s way in her professional life, something good would happen at home too. This couldn’t have been any truer when she and her husband adopted a little girl in April 2011.

They attended Amaya Josephine’s birth and took her in shortly after. Then, just a few months later, they adopted another child – this time, a baby boy. They adopted Andrew Nicolas shortly after he was born. Both Mariska’s career and family were flourishing.

One of the most incredible things about Mariska’s journey is her refusal to have the stereotypical lifestyle of a celebrity. Since 2012, Mariska has been earning in the region of $400,000 to $500,000 per episode of Law & Order: SVU.

But she still remains one of the most kind, charitable actors in the world of TV. This was clearly the case when she founded the Joyful Heart Foundation in 2004. The organization aims to help victims of abuse in all its forms.

Somehow, Mariska has proven that celebrities can find a healthy balance between a successful career, a healthy love life, and a warm, loving family.

Since her tragic beginnings, coming from divorced parents and losing her mother, Jayne Mansfield, Mariska has consistently moved up in the world and become one of the most recognizable faces on TV. There’s no telling what could be next for the star of Law & Order: SVU. But one thing’s for sure, her parents must be looking down on her, full of pride and joy.

Susan Sarandon has been a staple among the Hollywood elite for over four decades. The award-winner is known as much for her off-screen work as she is for her film career. Recently, she opened up about her career.

Now 73 years old, actress Susan Sarandon has been making waves in the entertainment industry since she first entered it in 1970. Back in 1969, Sarandon went to a casting call — with her then-husband Chris Sarandon — for a motion picture called Joe. While Chris ultimately didn’t get a part, the bombshell landed a major role as a disaffected teen who disappears into the seedy underworld. Not long after that, Sarandon began appearing in various soap operas including A World Apart and Search for Tomorrow.

As if she hadn’t already made a name for herself throughout the early 1970s, Sarandon certainly did so when she starred as Janet Weiss in the 1975 musical comedy horror film The Rocky Horror Picture Show. That same year, the powerhouse also played the female lead in The Great Waldo Pepper, opposite Robert Redford. The film — an adventure-drama — follows a disaffected World War I veteran pilot who missed the opportunity to fly in combat, and examines his sense of dislocation in 1920s America.

A few years after starring alongside Robert Redford, Susan landed a role in the 1978 historical drama Pretty Baby, which was directed by Louis Malle. Still, this isn’t the last time that Sarandon would star in a Malle-directed movie. In fact, she even earned an Academy Award nomination for her performance in the 1980 romantic-crime film Atlantic City. From then on, the acting work just kept rolling in for Sarandon, appearing in films including The Hunger and The Witches of Eastwick — which had a star-studded cast such as Jack Nicholson, Cher, and Michelle Pfeiffer.

Although Sarandon had become a well-known actress throughout the mid to late-’80s, the actress didn’t really become a household name until she appeared alongside Kevin Costner and Tim Robbins in the 1988 romantic comedy sports film Bull Durham. A commercial and critical success, the Ron Shelton-directed — and written — movie was loosely based on his own life experiences in which he played for a minor-league baseball team in Durham, North Carolina. Before she knew it, Sarandon had become an absolute sensation.

Once the ’90s came around, Sarandon had become an absolute worldwide sensation. It was during this decade that the actress was nominated for an Academy Award four different times. She finally brought home the award in 1995 for the crime drama film Dead Man Walking in which she played Sister Helen Prejean. The movie, which starred Sarandon and actor Sean Penn, was well-received by audiences and critics. Aside from this achievement, Sarandon has also earned eight Golden Globe nominations — including for White Palace, Stepmom, Igby Goes Down, and Bernard and Doris.

The popular actress has graced the small and big screens since 1970. While she has remained in the public consciousness for some time, Sarandon has kept her private life pretty closed. Later on, she revealed the way she coped with her biggest struggle.

Susan was born on October 4, 1946, in the Jackson Heights neighborhood of Queens, New York. She was alway destined for stardom but her childhood was not always easy. Astonishingly she was the oldest child of nine, and whilst she for the most part enjoyed this role, it wasn’t without a struggle…

Being the oldest of so many children gave Susan Sarandon an early sense of responsibility. She was forced into action even if it fought against her natural instincts. In a 2014 interview with Time Out magazine, Sarandon explained how it affected her, “Being at the top, I had a lot of responsibility, which was a good thing as I tended to be spacey and always daydreaming.” She eventually learned how her siblings looked to her as a parent.

After graduating from Catholic University with a BA in drama, Susan decided to take her training (from master teacher Gilbert V Hartke) and find herself some work. Susan and her husband, Chris Sarandon, both auditioned for a part in Joe in 1969. Chris missed out on a role, but Susan won the part of Melissa. The movie put Susan in her first major role, and it was a huge success, making 13 times its budget at the box office.

Her performance in Joe helped open doors for Sarandon. She became a working actress, making the rounds between soap operas and smaller films, including Rocky Horror Picture Show, which became a huge cult hit. Her first taste of recognition came from the film Atlantic City in which she starred across from Burt Lancaster. Susan was nominated for Best Actress at the Academy Awards for her part, something she would earn on another four occasions.

Although she was now an Oscar nominee, Sarandon entered a disappointing phase in her career during her 30s. She told The Guardian, “In movies, I wasn’t getting parts that were stretching me so much. I was earning a living and having a good time; I’ve always had a good time. But I was at a crossroads and needed to move on in some way.” Fortunately, a golden opportunity was right around the corner, changing the trajectory of her career.

Susan took a detour from film into the theater before finding her biggest role. She was not finding the parts that she wanted, so she started an improv company with some friends. In 1981, she worked on the off-Broadway show A Coupla White Chicks Sitting Around Talking which received great reviews. She said about theater, “You and the audience become completely involved, laughing and crying together and if when it’s over they applaud, there’s no way to avoid believing that you contributed to it.”

Sarandon continued to act throughout the 80s, but her career took a major turn after signing on to Ron Shelton’s Bull Durham. The studio felt that she was too old for the role of Annie, so Sarandon flew herself to see Shelton for an audition wearing an off-the-shoulder dress similar to the one she wore in the film. She proved them wrong and became the focal point of the hit film’s love triangle.

In Dead Man Walking, Sarandon played Sister Helen Prejean, a nun that befriends a death row inmate and attempts to save his life. The role earned her an Oscar. Along with the real Sister Helen Prejean, Sarandon and other celebrities (including Mark Ruffalo, Sir Richard Branson, and Pope Francis) have become advocates.

In 2009, Sarandon became involved in an exciting new project. She founded, along with other investors, SPiN, a table tennis club and bar. Since its inception, Sarandon has helped SPiN open locations across the world, including locations in New York, San Francisco, Dubai, and Toronto. SPiN allows guests to reserve tables and play ping pong in a social setting which occasionally features celebrity appearances and professional ping pong players. The adult playhouse has become quite successful for Sarandon.

Make no mistake about it, Susan Sarandon knows how to get stuff done. This has been proven on many occasions with her real estate endeavors. In her words, she’s just wanted a place for her family “where the maintenance isn’t too high and they’re safe.”

It’s not just TV that Sarandon has made a name for herself in. Since the turn of the millennium, the actress has starred in numerous shows such as Friends, Malcolm in the Middle, and Feud: Bette and Joan, to name a few. She has been nominated for awards for her performances in all three aforementioned shows. Despite this, Sarandon has never actually won any of her TV award nominations. However, it’s just a matter of time before that changes.

Susan Sarandon’s role alongside Geena Davis in the classic Thelma & Louise is arguably her most iconic role to date. So when the two got back together for a jaw-dropping reunion at 2018 Golden Globe Awards, everyone in the crowd was in absolute awe. The pair presented the award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama, which ultimately went to Gary Oldman for his portrayal of Winston Churchill in the movie Darkest Hour. It was a priceless moment.

Susan Sarandon might be a world-renowned actress, but there is another in her family tree that has been turning heads recently. Her daughter Eva Amurri has developed quite a nice career for herself as an actress. Her credits include an episode of Friends in which she appeared with her mother. Susan got revenge for years of mothering by slapping her daughter – for the role of course. Eva starred in the film Middle of Nowhere and had a season-long arc in Californication.

In 2011 Eva married former soccer player Kyle Martino, opening the door for Susan’s family to expand with grandchildren. She received that blessing three years later when Eva gave birth to daughter Marlowe Mae and son Major James two years after that. Sarandon said about the prospect of being a grandmother, “There’s some part of your brain that can’t wrap itself around this idea that your child, that your daughter, is going to have a daughter. I mean, it’s just so beautiful and huge.”

With her family seemingly growing every few years, Susan is loving life as a grandma. She told Metro, “Being a grandmother is so much easier than being a mother. You don’t have that constant worry that’s in your mind all the time.”  Susan will appear in two films slated for late 2017 releases, including a sequel to Bad Moms. For now, she is content spending time and taking Instagram photos with the family she never thought she could have.

Due to her liberal ways, Sarandon has been known to get in touch with her youthful self on numerous occasions, mixing with people over half her age. In recent times, she has been spotted at Nevada’s Burning Man festival. She only has good things to say about it. “It’s fabulous,” she said in an interview with The Daily Beast. “Despite the fact that there was more of a police presence there, it was a lot of fun and I’d definitely go back.”

As a student at Catholic University, Susan met a nice boy named Chris Sarandon. Their relationship blossomed, and the two were married on September 16, 1967. She was only a 20 year old senior at the time of their marriage. Unfortunately, the couple would divorce in 1979. With her career starting out, Susan decided that a name change would not help, so she held onto her ex-hubby’s name. She still uses his last name as her stage name.

In that Time Out interview, Sarandon expanded on how her family impacted her life. She said, “My parents were pretty overwhelmed. Neither of them had families, so they ended up finding each other and creating this huge tribe with very little knowledge or example to follow of how to deal with kids. [For me] it was very good training; lack of privacy and chaos are very good conditioning for show business.”

Susan’s early life was heavily rooted in Catholicism thanks to her mother and her Italian descent. Prior to high school, she attended Catholic schools. She told the Los Angeles Times, “I was very spacey, kind of in my head, dreamy and really concerned with my faith and being a good person.” Susan enrolled at The Catholic University of America in 1964, but the experience left her questioning her faith even more than she had as a teenager.

By the time Sarandon attended Catholic University, she was no longer the practicing Catholic she was in her younger days. Perhaps it was due to the time a nun told her that she had “an overabundance of original sin after asking if “you had to be married in the Catholic church or it didn’t count, how were Joseph and Mary married?” Sarandon only went to Catholic University because her parents had missed the deadline on the rest of her college applications.

Due to her young marriage, Sarandon did not begin seeing other public figures until later in her life. As her profile expanded, the freshly single Susan began dipping her toes in the celebrity waters. At one point she was romantically involved with her Atlantic City director, Academy Award winner Louis Malle. In 2014, she revealed a relationship with rock legend David Bowie who she called “extraordinary.” The two starred together in the 1983 vampire film The Hunger.

As her relationship with Bowie started growing and filming continued on The Hunger, Susan began suffering from sporadic bleeding and fainting. After seeing the doctor, Sarandon found out that she was suffering from a condition called Endometriosis. The condition makes it difficult to have children. Doctors told Susan that if she hoped to give birth in the future, she would require surgery first. In the end, they gave her some birth control and let her live her life.

Sarandon was not phased by being told she would never be a mother. In a 2011 speech at the Blossom Ball hosted by the Endometriosis Foundation of America, she referred to it as a “half-assed diagnosis.” A few years later in an interview with Time Out magazine, she revealed, “It didn’t break my heart; I had plenty of nieces and nephews by that time. I wasn’t dipping into gene pools that I felt the need to replicate. I was fine with it.”

If you have not heard of Endometriosis, you are not alone. Many are unaware of the condition. That being said, about ten percent of women of reproductive age suffer from it. To help raise awareness for it, many celebrities have begun openly speaking on their experiences with it. Oscar winner Whoopi Goldberg, Girls star Lena Dunham, and Star Wars: The Force Awakens heroine Daisy Ridley have all taken to the press to create more awareness based on their struggles with Endometriosis.

Not long after her diagnosis, Sarandon began welcomed a new man into her life. She started seeing Franco Amurri, an Italian filmmaker best known for the Italian film which inspired Big starring Tom Hanks. The two had met on the set of Tempest a few years earlier. Neither Susan nor Franco intended the relationship to last long as both expected it to be a quick fling. Instead, they would be forever linked in a major and surprising way.

Due to her condition, Susan treated her relationship with Franco similar to her past flings. She had not used birth control for years believing that she could not get pregnant. This time around, Susan received shocking news – she was pregnant with a baby girl. Susan and her close friends and family could not believe the news. Her career had started to trend upward, and she did not know how this would affect her. Susan decided to keep the miracle baby.

Sarandon told Oprah about how she broke the news to Franco. She explained, “I said to Franco, you know, ‘I’ve decided that I’m going to have this baby. And if you want to be part of it, that’s great. If you don’t, that’s great too. Because I thought, you know what, if this was an impossibility and it’s happened, clearly it’s meant to happen.” The impossible had happened, and Susan was ready for the challenges.

On March 15, 1985, Sarandon’s miracle was finally realized, and she gave birth to baby girl Eva Amurri. Susan had not married Franco nor were they still dating, but they decided that Eva should take her father’s name. Young Eva would live with Susan and would go visit her father in Italy as she grew older. Eva has deep Italian roots, as her father is Italian and her maternal grandmother is Italian as well.

While filming Bull Durham, Susan, now with a three-year-old daughter, began getting close to one of her costars. In the film, Sarandon’s character, a minor league baseball groupie, becomes involved with both the up and coming young pitcher (Tim Robbins) and the cranky veteran catcher (Kevin Costner).

Susan’s relationship with Tim came at the most prosperous time of her life. Bull Durham became one of the highest grossing films of 1988. Not only were her films successful, but she became a powerhouse actress, picking up numerous nominations and awards along the way. Between 1991 and 1995, Susan was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress four times including Thelma & Louise, Lorenzo’s Oil, and The Client. Finally, in 1995, she broke through and captured her first Oscar for Dead Man Walking.

Sarandon was overjoyed to have finally won an Oscar for Dead Man Walking. In addition to thanking the cast and crew, Sarandon had planned on making a statement about war and violence. She had always been a very politically and socially conscious person and wanted the chance to share her thoughts on one of the world’s biggest stages. Instead, she got wrapped up in the moment and forgot to make her full statement. She focused on thanking Robbins.

Although Sarandon missed her chance to make a statement in 1995, audience would not have been surprised if she did. Two years earlier, Sarandon and Robbins used the state at the Oscars to not only announce a category’s nominees, but to urge the United States government to release some prisoners. They disapproved of the United States’ detention of HIV-positive Haitian refugees at Guantanamo Bay. The Academy was not pleased with the stunt, but they could not ignore her talent.

Robbins and Sarandon became a Hollywood “It” couple. Although they never married, the couple made a major announcement in 1989: they were expecting a baby. John “Jack” Henry was born on May 15, 1989. Almost exactly three years later, Sarandon would yet again give birth to a boy, Miles Guthrie. A decade had passed since Sarandon received her Endometriosis diagnosis, but here she was with not only one child, but three beautiful children and a full family.

In 2009, Robbins and Sarandon made a shocking revelation: they announced the end of the relationship. After 21 years together and two children, the power couple decided to call it quits. Susan told The Telegraph,  “I thought that if you didn’t get married, you wouldn’t take each other for granted as easily. I don’t know if after twentysomething years that was still true.”  With their children grown, they seemed to handle the split well and carrying on with their young lives.

The 72-year-old recently opened up about her love life. Sarandon revealed that her sexual orientation is not as straight forward as you might have thought. She said that her sexual orientation is “open” and “up for grabs.” Sarandon admitted that she would be open to relationships with either men or women. However, she does not seem to be getting as many offers as she would like. Hopefully, she will find someone right for her.

Susan always had a man by her side in her younger days. During the 80s, she once had an affair with her The Hunger co-star, Philip Sayer. Sayer, a British actor, died in 1989 but was known to be gay. Sarandon said, “I did at one point have a very successful and very loving and wonderful affair with a man who then wasn’t with another woman after me, and that worked out fine!’

Susan is famously liberal in most of her political opinions. While one might think that would also include being a staunch feminist, you would be surprised to hear the contrary. She said, “I think of myself as a humanist because I think it’s less alienating to people who think of feminism as being a load of strident b**ches.” She tries to fight for the rights of everyone, not only those of her gender.

Of all her political causes, Susan Sarandon has always been an anti-war activist. When the 2003 war with Iraq broke out, she made sure to make her objection known appearing in political ads. Sarandon has spoken out against many wars, but interestingly, her mother falls on the other side of the political spectrum. Her mom, Leonora Tomalin, is a staunch Republican was very supportive of George W. Bush and the 2003 war with which her daughter disagreed.

Due to her strong views and willingness to voice them, Sarandon got in some hot water due to some comments about Pope Benedict XVI. When Sarandon was a speaker at the Hamptons film festival, she spoke about how she sent the Pope a copy of Dead Man Walking because of his stance on the death penalty. She clarified that she was speaking about Pope John Paul II by saying, “The last (pope), not this Nazi one we have now.”