Every Thursday night, they’re members of an elite squad called the Special Victims Unit (SVU), tasked with keeping the residents of New York City safe from severe crimes. But behind the scenes, these actors have starred as detectives on episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit since it debuted in 1999.
In real life, stars like Mariska Hargitay have taken the work beyond the screen, becoming an activist and advocate, while portraying her pivotal role as Detective Olivia Benson. Learn more about where you’ve seen the cast of SVU before and what they’ve had to say about their roles.
Mariska Hargitay
Getty Images / Handout // Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin / Contributor
Character Played: Detective Olivia Benson
Born: January 23, 1964, Santa Monica, California
Best Known For: Can’t Hurry Love (1995-1996), Lake Placid (1999) and Tales from Earthsea (2006)
Thoughts on Law & Order: SVU: “When I started the show, I wasn’t aware of how deeply it would go into me,” Hargitay reflected. “My husband Peter [Hermann] is always, like, anytime I go anywhere, my first question is, ‘What’s the crime rate here?’ So it’s on the brain.”
Christopher Meloni
Steve Granitz / Contributor // John Lamparski / Contributor
Character Played: Detective Elliot Stabler
Born: April 2, 1961, Washington, D.C.
Best Known For: Oz (1998-2003), Wet Hot American Summer (2001) and Law & Order: Organized Crime (2021-2024)
Thoughts on Law & Order: SVU: “My first audition was with Dick Wolf himself,” Meloni said. “I felt really good with that, I felt I’d earned that place, that I’d gone up in the hierarchy where I don’t have to audition with a casting director and five auditions down the road, I get to meet the wizard behind the curtain.”
Ice-T
Steve Granitz / Contributor // Dave Kotinsky / Stringer
Character Played: Detective Odafin ‘Fin’ Tutuola
Born: February 16, 1958, Newark, New Jersey
Best Known For: New Jack City (1991), Surviving the Game (1994), Tank Girl (1995) and Johnny Mnemonic (1995)
Thoughts on Law & Order: SVU: “I think SVU is a special show because it’s the first time I’ve ever done something where people walk up in the street and say thank you,” Ice-T says. “And I found out that SVU is as much entertainment as it is therapy for a lot of women, because a lot of women that watch the show are survivors — guys, too.”
Dann Florek
RJ Capak / Contributor // Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin / Contributor
Character Played: Captain Donald ‘Don’ Cragen
Born: May 1, 1950, Flat Rock, Michigan
Best Known For: Angel Heart (1987), The Flintstones (1994) and Hard Rain (1998)
Thoughts on Law & Order: SVU: “It’s smart,” Florek says of the series. “It’s great stories. It’s entertainment first, but it’s educational, it’s enlightening, it’s empowering… it treats the audience with respect.”
Richard Belzer
Steve Granitz / Contributor // Jamie McCarthy / Staff
Character Played: Detective John Munch
Born: August 4, 1944, Bridgeport, Connecticut
Best Known For: Scarface (1983), Homicide: Life on the Street (1993-1999), Species II (1998)
Thoughts on Law & Order: SVU: “I love the character. The writers got to know me,” Belzer enthused. “The character of Munch was really close to how I do things. It was a dream come true for me and an utter delight to play this character for so many years. I’m very lucky.”
Kelli Giddish
Gary Gershoff / Contributor // Michael Loccisano / Staff
Character Played: Detective Amanda Rollins
Born: April 13, 1980, Cumming, Georgia
Best Known For: All My Children (2005-2007), Chase (2010-2011) and Chicago P.D. (2014)
Thoughts on Law & Order: SVU: “I started playing her in my late 20s, so I’ve played her in three decades of my life, which is nuts,” Giddish said. “It’s insane…With playing someone as multifaceted as Rollins, I got to play all kinds of different things — down and out, on top, joyful, doubtful, scared, triumphant. I got to do the gambit.”
BD Wong
J. P. Aussenard / Staff // Bruce Glikas / Contributor
Character Played: Special Agent Dr. George Huang, M.D.
Born: October 24, 1960, San Francisco, California
Best Known For: Jurassic Park (1993), Mulan (1998), Jurassic World (2015) and Mr. Robot (2015-2019)
Thoughts on Law & Order: SVU: “The most gratifying kind of fan interaction that you can have is ‘I decided to be a forensic psychiatrist because I saw you in the show when I was very young, and I didn’t know there was such a career opportunity…’” Wong said. “That’s why it’s very important for television writers and television producers to be responsible about their content, because it’s reaching young people at a very impressionable time.”
Peter Scanavino
Rommel Demano / Stringer // Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin / Contributor
Character Played: Detective Dominick ‘Sonny’ Carisi, Jr.
Born: February 29, 1980, Denver, Colorado
Best Known For: Deception (2008), Happythankyoumoreplease (2010) and Frances Ha (2012)
Thoughts on Law & Order: SVU: “I’ve got a lot of responsibilities in my regular life, as well as on the show,” Scanavino said. “So, everything is just kind of chaotic, and I think that mirrors a lot of what’s happening with the show, where you don’t have a lot of time to just kind of sit and slow things down and reflect on what’s going on.”
Tamara Tunie
Evan Agostini / Contributor // Dimitrios Kambouris / Staff
Character Played: ME Dr. Melinda Warner
Born: March 14, 1959, McKeesport, Pennsylvania
Best Known For: Wall Street (1987), The Devil’s Advocate (1997), Snake Eyes (1998) and Flight (2012)
Thoughts on Law & Order: SVU: “It is thrilling [to play the character again],” Tunie said. “It’s absolutely thrilling… It was so interesting because it was at the same time familiar and yet strange.”