The cast of Law & Order: SVU: Then and now

Mariska Hargitay (Olivia Benson)

Mariska Hargitay’s Captain Olivia Benson has always been at the center of Law & Order: SVU, and after Christopher Meloni left the show, she became the de facto main character in a stacked ensemble cast. It’s been rewarding to see her grow from a junior detective into a police captain, much like how Hargitay transitioned from series regular to series lead. The role earned her a Primetime Emmy award, a Golden Globe win, and numerous other nominations. 

Previously, Hargitay starred in the ‘80s series Downtown and Falcon Crest followed by minor appearances in shows like Seinfeld and Ellen, and she made a splash across 13 episodes of ER. She also had roles in the films Leaving Las Vegas (1995) and Lake Placid (1999).

After Law & Order: SVU began, the actress carried her Olivia Benson character over to shows like Chicago Fire and Chicago P.D. She got to explore her fun and adventurous side with a memorable turn in Saturday Night Live and in Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood” music video (the singer even named her cat after the detective). But she has mostly been kept busy starring in SVU and making appearances in Law & Order: Organized Crime, where her character works once again with Elliot Stabler.

Hargitay has been married to actor Peter Hermann since 2004. They met on the set of SVU in 2002, where he played defense attorney Trevor Langan. The pair later reconnected when he continued to guest star in the series. They share three children.

Christopher Meloni (Elliot Stabler)

While Law & Order: SVU has an impressive ensemble cast, Christopher Meloni’s character Elliot Stabler — and his relationship with Mariska Hargitay’s Olivia Benson — arguably formed the heart and soul of the show. It’s certainly his most well-known role among critics and fans, even earning him a Primetime Emmy nomination in 2006.

Before SVU, Meloni notably appeared in Oz as Chris Keller, a role that later overlapped with his tenure as Stabler. He then continued to split his time between SVU and occasional films like Wet Hot American Summer (2001) and Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle (2004).

After SVU, Meloni leveraged his acting intensity in many TV shows, including roles in True Blood and The Handmaid’s Tale. He also became an active voice actor, lending his trademark pipes to Family Guy, American Dad, Rick and Morty, and Harley Quinn. Movie-wise, Meloni has appeared in Man of Steel (2013) and Snatched (2017).

Above all, though, Meloni is still known for Law & Order despite initially leaving SVU after season 12. He eventually returned to star in and produce Law & Order: Organized Crime, and reprised the role of Stabler for a recurring arc on SVU beginning in season 22. 

The actor married production designer Doris Sherman Meloni in 1995. They share two children, a boy and a girl. SVU’s Mariska Hargitay is the godmother of his daughter.

Ice-T (Fin Tutuola)

Tracy Lauren Marrow, a.k.a. Ice-T, remains one of the most consistently appealing parts of Law & Order: SVU. His Sergeant Fin Tutuola is tough and no-nonsense, possessing street smarts that many of his colleagues lack, which often helps him crack cases that others can’t. 

Before making waves as an actor, Ice-T was known for his rap music, releasing his debut album, Rhyme Pays, in 1987. The two-time Grammy winner’s sophomore venture, Power, went platinum the following year. He continued to make rap records while extending his reach into heavy metal, co-founding the group Body Count in 1990, which was another success. Ironically, he sparked much controversy with his 1992 track “Killer Cop” before stepping up to play one on SVU. 

After a string of bit parts and cameos, Ice-T had his first major film role in 1991’s New Jack City (also as a cop). From there, he began a lifelong career of balancing his music with acting. He went on to appear in movies like New Jack City (1991), Surviving the Game (1994), Tank Girl (1995), and Johnny Mnemonic (1995). And while he explored other mediums (including voice work for video games like Borderlands 3), he is primarily known for Law & Order. Since then, he's mostly made cameos as himself in Chappelle's Show, Sesame Street, Hip-Hop Evolution, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, and more. You may have also heard his voice in UglyDolls (2019) and Rick and Morty or seen him hosting In Ice Cold Blood, a true crime docuseries on Oxygen.

In 2002, Ice-T married actress Coco Austin, with whom he shares a daughter, Chanel. The couple starred together in the reality show Ice Loves Coco, which ran on E! from 2011 to 2013. He also has two children from previous relationships.

Kelli Giddish (Amanda Rollins)

Given how much New York life is at the heart of Law & Order: SVU, it’s always interesting to see Kelli Giddish’s Amanda Rollins onscreen. This character hails from Atlanta, Ga., and she brings a bit of southern sensibility to her dealings with northern criminals. Giddish too has brought a special charm to the show since she joined the cast in season 13.

Before SVU, Giddish played Di Henry in All My Children and even had one-off roles in Law & Order: Criminal Intent and a season 7 episode of SVU as different minor characters. Since becoming a series regular, she reprised the role of Amanda Rollins on Chicago Fire and Chicago P.D. Her other TV gigs include Without a Trace, Past Life, Chase, and The Good Wife. She eventually left SVU in 2023 after over a decade, but she came back for a crossover between SVU and Organized Crime, which helped us catch up with her character. Aside from that brief return to Law & Order, her last onscreen appearance was narrating the TV movie The Brief Tragedy of Ernest Carter in 2019. 

Giddish was married to Lawrence Faulborn from 2015 to 2018. They share two sons, and both her pregnancies were written into SVU. She later married Beau Richards in 2021 and gave birth to her third child in 2023.

Adam Beach (Chester Lake)

Adam Beach had a relatively brief tenure on Law & Order: SVU, appearing in only 21 episodes as Detective Chester Lake beginning in season 8. Still, he left quite the impression: His character was the first Native American detective in the long-running franchise, which is memorable enough in its own right. But Beach also ended up exiting the show in an explosive way after his character killed another detective.

Before SVU, you may have spotted him in Smoke Signals (1998), Joe Dirt (2001), Windtalkers (2002), and Flags of Our Fathers (2006). He also earned a Golden Globe nomination while filming SVU for the historical TV movie Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (2007).

After leaving the Special Victims Unit, Beach starred in big films like Cowboys and Aliens (2011), Suicide Squad (2016), and The Power of the Dog (2021), all while extending his television acting cred with roles in Hawaii Five-0, Hell on Wheels, Drunk History, and Nancy Drew. Most recently, he starred in the movie Hey, Viktor (2023).

Beach has been married to Summer Tiger since 2015. He has been married twice before and has three children.

Michelle Hurd (Monique Jeffries)

If you weren’t watching Law & Order: SVU from the beginning, you might have missed Michelle Hurd’s Monique Jeffries. Her character partnered with Richard Belzer’s John Munch during her short tenure but ultimately faded away after season 2.

Before SVU, Hurd was a Broadway actress who appeared in numerous television shows and TV movies throughout the ‘90s. Dick Wolf reportedly cast her as Monique Jeffries based on her powerful performance as an FBI informant in the original Law & Order. Since parting with the franchise, Hurd took on more prominent roles in shows like The Glades, Blindspot, ER, and Gossip Girl. She eventually established herself as a genre queen thanks to parts in Daredevil, Ash vs. Evil Dead, and Star Trek: Picard. 

Hurd has been married to actor Garret Dillahunt since 2007.

Diane Neal (Casey Novak)

Law & Order: SVU was one of Diane Neal’s first acting roles, and she came in like a wrecking ball as Assistant District Attorney Casey Novak. Though she was only in the main cast from seasons 5 through 9, her character was still one of the longest-running DAs in the franchise. Ironically, Neal had already appeared on SVU as a criminal in season 3 before joining the main cast as a character who brings baddies to justice.

During her time on SVU, Neal appeared in shows like 30 Rock, White Collar, and A Gifted Man. After putting the role of Casey Novak on pause, she added Suits and Power to her resume, though she returned to SVU as a guest on seasons 12 and 13. But she was far from done with police procedural shows; aside from Casey, her most recognizable onscreen role is Special Agent Abigail Borin of NCIS and NCIS: New Orleans fame. Most recently, Neal has acted in Blue Bloods and the Lifetime movie Circle of Deception.

Neal also dabbled in politics for a time, running for a New York seat in the U.S. House of Representatives as an independent in 2018, but to no avail.

In 2005, Neal married Marcus O. Fitzgerald. They later divorced in 2014.

Stephanie March (Alexandra Cabot)

Stephanie March played ADA Alexandra Cabot, a hotshot lawyer who pursued justice with fervor. Her character also inspired many fan theories surrounding sexual tension with Olivia Benson. March officially left the show after season 5, but she continued to make cameo appearances.

As with her replacement Diane Neal, SVU provided an early breakout role for March, whose previous acting credits included an episode of Early Edition and a 2000 TV movie adaptation of Death of a Salesman. Law & Order helped springboard her career from there; March has since appeared in shows like Conviction, 30 Rock, Grey’s Anatomy, and Rescue Me. While on SVU, she also worked on the films Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005) and The Invention of Lying (2009). She even played Ivanka Trump in the Comedy Central TV movie A President Show Documentary: The Fall of Donald Trump (2019), and recently starred in the CW series Naomi.

March was married to celebrity chef Bobby Flay from 2005 to 2015. She later wed tech investor Dan Benton in 2017.

Dean Winters (Brian Cassidy)

Though his time on SVU was brief, Dean Winters’ Brian Cassidy helped show the emotional and psychological toll these cases can take on young detectives when he eventually transferred to narcotics, effectively exiting the show.

For a while, Winters mostly worked as a character actor in episodes of Third Watch and The Twilight Zone. His breakout role was as protagonist Ryan O'Reily in the acclaimed series Oz, which later led to scheduling conflicts with SVU, and thus his character’s departure from the latter. He’s since appeared in Sex and the City, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, 30 Rock, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Though he's acted in movies like P.S. I Love You (2007), John Wick (2014), and, most recently, The Out-Laws (2023), he is perhaps best known to casual audiences as “Mayhem” in Allstate Insurance commercials.

Richard Belzer (John Munch)

The word “iconic” gets tossed around a lot, but it arguably applies to the late Richard Belzer’s John Munch. After all, the jaded detective was a staple on Homicide: Life on the Street before appearing on Law & Order: SVU. His character later resurfaced in episodes of Arrested Development, The X-Files, and The Wire, among others. 

Before he spearheaded TV crossovers as Detective Munch, Belzer was a warm-up comedian on Saturday Night Live, a featured player on the National Lampoon Radio Hour, and appeared in films like Scarface (1983) and Species II (1998). After starring in Homicide from 1993 to 1999, he dazzled us for 15 seasons of SVU beginning in 1999. 

Belzer died on Feb. 19, 2023, at age 78. Before his death, Belzer had been married three times. He is survived by his last wife, actress Harlee McBride.​

Dann Florek (Donald Cragen)

Dann Florek’s Captain Donald Cragen was arguably the nucleus of Law & Order: SVU. Florek first joined the original Law & Order back in 1990. While he eventually left SVU after 15 seasons, he collectively appeared in over 400 episodes of the franchise, making him one of its most recognizable faces.

Florek was no stranger to police shows when he joined the franchise. Over the years, he’s acted in Hill Street Blues, 21 Jump Street, and L.A. Law (plus its 2002 movie). But he still branched out into other genres with roles in Wings and Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Though he'd appeared in movies like Angel Heart (1987), The Flintstones (1994), and Hard Rain (1998), he primarily operated as a television actor. Most recently, he turned up in the film Crater (2023) and reprised the role of Captain Cragen in a couple of episodes of Law & Order: Organized Crime.

He is married to artist Karen Florek.

BD Wong (George Huang)

BD Wong’s George Huang brought an interesting vibe to SVU as a psychiatrist who could help detectives (and by extension, audiences) understand the psychology behind the chilling criminal actions they’re investigating. Though he officially departed the series after season 12, the actor came back for occasional cameos.

Wong won a Tony in 1988 for his lead role in the play M. Butterfly. He then focused primarily on television and film work. Though he appeared in movies like Father of the Bride (1991), voiced Shang in Mulan (1998), and popped up in popular TV shows like X-Files, Wong’s biggest credit pre-SVU was in Jurassic Park (1993) as Dr. Henry Wu. That role, along with his powerful performance in Oz, helped him land the long-running SVU gig, and after he left, his career came full circle with the return of Dr. Wu in Jurassic World (2015) and Jurassic World Dominion (2022). Along the way, he has appeared in series like Awake, Mr. Robot (for which he received a Primetime Emmy nom), and Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens. 

Wong has been married to Richert John Frederickson Schnorr since 2018. He had twin boys, Boaz Dov and Jackson Foo Wong, via surrogate with his former partner, talent agent Richie Jackson, in 2000. Boaz Dov died shortly after birth, inspiring Wong to write his 2003 memoir, Following Foo: The Electronic Adventures of the Chestnut Man.

Tamara Tunie (Melinda Warner)

Tamara Tunie played medical examiner Melinda Warner, first as a recurring character in season 2 and later in the core cast beginning in season 7. After season 17, Warner only made occasional appearances on SVU, most recently in 2022.

Before joining the SVU crew, Tunie appeared in movies such as The Devil’s Advocate (1997) and Snake Eyes (1998) in addition to TV shows like SeaQuest 2032, NYPD Blue, and even the original Law & Order (albeit, as a different character). During her time on SVU, the actor also killed it in films like The Caveman’s Valentine (2001) and Flight (2012) as well as TV shows, including Blue Bloods, Almost Family, and Better Call Saul. Most recently, she starred in the biopic Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody (2022).

Tunie has been married and divorced twice.

Danny Pino (Nick Amaro)

Danny Pino’s Nick Amaro is the kind of character Law & Order: SVU does best: He’s flawed but has a good heart, and it’s tough not to empathize with his struggles of sharing child custody and rising through the ranks to make sergeant. Though he left the cast after season 16, he returned for the 500th episode.

Pino’s Law & Order career was in line with his past work. After all, his prior acting credits included roles on TV shows like The Shield and CSI: NY, and he was a regular on Cold Case. He later brought Detective Amaro to Chicago P.D. for a memorable cameo while on SVU. Since leaving the show, his most recent works have been Dear Evan Hansen (2021) and the Sons of Anarchy spinoff Mayans M.C.

Pino married his wife, Lily, in 2002. They share two sons.

Robert John Burke (Ed Tucker)

In the world of Law & Order: SVU, Robert John Burke played the formidable Internal Affairs investigator Ed Tucker. Burke did a stellar job portraying the kind of guy you love to hate, and he eventually developed a better working relationship with characters like Olivia Benson. And since Burke only made sporadic appearances on SVU, he’s had plenty of time to take on other roles in television and film.

Before joining SVU, Burke played a very different kind of policeman: He was the title character in Robocop 3 (1993), and when he wasn’t starring in creepy thrillers like Thinner (1996), he was popping up in films like Tombstone (1993), Cop Land (1997), Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002), the SAG-nominated Good Night, and Good Luck (2005), and Safe (2012). “Cop land” might be a good descriptor for his choice of TV roles; Beyond playing Mickey Gavin on Rescue Me and Bart Bass in Gossip Girl, the actor frequently appeared in shows like Homicide: Life on the Street, CSI: Miami, and The Sopranos. His episodes of Oz were always a standout treat, and since leaving SVU, his most recent works were the films Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) and Boston Strangler (2023). 

As for his personal life, Burke is an active New York State firefighter.

Raúl Esparza (Rafael Barba)

Raúl Esparza brings a kind of quirky intensity to the screen, and you could certainly see that with his Law & Order: SVU character, Rafael Barba. His ADA was fierce when interacting with criminals and cops alike, and was even fiercer with his literary references. He continued to make cameo appearances after leaving the series post-season 19.

Before his time on SVU, Esparza was mostly known as a Broadway actor, amassing four Tony nominations in the early aughts. He also appeared in Pushing Daisies and the films Find Me Guilty (2006) and My Soul to Take (2010). After appearing as different characters in Law & Order: Criminal Intent and the original Law & Order, he impressed producers enough to become a mainstay on SVU beginning in season 14.  

While on the show, Esparza found the time for memorable turns in BoJack Horseman, Hannibal, and Dopesick. While he recently starred in the miniseries Candy and A Murder at the End of the World as well as the film Glimpse (2022), he still makes cameos in SVU and its spinoff, Organized Crime.

Esparza married his high school sweetheart, Michele Marie Perez, in 1994. The couple later divorced in 2007.

Philip Winchester (Peter Stone)

While Philip Winchester had a relatively short stint on Law & Order: SVU, his ADA Peter Stone has plenty of interesting lore, both on the screen and behind the scenes. He’d made frequent appearances as the same character on Chicago P.D., Chicago Justice, and Chicago Med before coming to SVU. In the franchise, his character is the son of Law & Order's Benjamin Stone, who was previously portrayed by Michael Moriarty.

He eventually left SVU after season 20 because Stone cared too much about Mariska Hargitay’s Olivia Benson (which honestly describes most of this show’s fanbase). Before joining the franchise, Winchester was primarily known for other police-adjacent shows, including CSI: Miami and 24: Live Another Day. He also appeared in the series Strike Back and The Player. Since departing the series, Winchester has starred in movies like Endangered Species (2021) and A Week in Paradise (2022), and he most recently appeared in the television show Leopard Skin.

Winchester has been married to Megan Coughlin since 2008. The couple shares two daughters.