Law & Order: SVU's Aimé Donna Kelly On Why Curry Made That Decisive #TeamBenson Move (And What It Might Cost Her)

This post contains spoilers from this week's "Law & Order: SVU." Proceed accordingly.

Capt. Renee Curry landed two crucial blows in this week's "Law & Order: SVU." The first earned her victory in a police-department-vs-fire-department charity boxing match. The second cemented her status as one of Capt. Olivia Benson's most stalwart supporters... but at what cost to her professional future?

In a moment, we'll talk with Aimé Donna Kelly, who plays Curry, about just that. But first, a quick recap of the episode, "Thirsty":

The crime of the week involved a teen male ballet dancer/social media sensation who was raped by one of his followers. It was a pretty straightforward, if awful, case that took place as workplace-politics drama was going down at the precinct. Chief of Detectives Kathryn Tynan approached Curry to offer her the Special Victims Unit deputy chief role that Tynan previously offered to Benson. Curry eventually turned it down, telling the big boss that she was "not interested in being a pawn in someone else's game. Respectfully." Soon after, Tynan reassigned Curry to be an executive officer in another department in the precinct — not exactly a demotion, but the chief's message was clear all the same.

"She's doing this to get to me," Benson said when Curry informed her of the move. "I'm not letting that happen. I'm sorry."

Earlier in the episode, Benson became aware that Tynan might've smoothed over the rougher details of an officer-involved shooting years before, and that the cop in question was her partner, Griff's dad. So when Curry lamented that they had no recourse which which to battle Tynan's latest power move, Benson murmured, "I'm not so sure about that."

On a much lighter note, the episode opened with Curry dominating the aforementioned NYPD-vs-NYFD boxing event — which is where I started when Kelly and I chatted earlier this week.

TVLINE | I want to start with that sweet, sweet boxing you were doing in the beginning of the episode. Are you a boxer? Tell me everything.
AIMÉ DONNA KELLY | It's so funny. I started boxing as a way to work out during the pandemic because I was absolutely losing my mind. All of these fitness folks were on Instagram doing, like, boxing videos, and I was like, "OK, this is cool. I don't need a lot of equipment. I can shadowbox in my living room." And since then, I've obviously moved offline and have started working with a trainer [Coach Ky], one-on-one, who's actually in the show. He plays one of the corner men for the FDNY opponents, which is really cool. We've been working together for two years, and I've gotten really into it.

It's a great way to work out, it's a great way to just kind of release and let go of all frustrations on a bag, or someone. [Laughs] It's a lot of fun. I am definitely not going to say that I am a pro fighter, by any means. It's just fun in your body. You feel super strong and capable when you use your body in that way.

TVLINE | How did you wind up doing it, on-camera, as Curry?
One of the writers, Kevin [J. Hynes, consulting producer]  — who is fantastic — literally came up to me and he was like, "What do you want to do this season?" And I was like, "You know what? I wanna punch someone in the face." [Laughs] He was like, "OK, I don't know if Curry can really do that, but we'll see how close we can get," and here we are. Our writers are so fantastic. They take pieces of our real lives sometimes, and they go with it... I had so much fun that day on set.

TVLINE | I'm intrigued by her choice of corner men.
[Laughs loudly]

TVLINE | Why do you think she chose Bruno and Griff to be in it with her?
I feel like Bruno and Curry have had this history. Usually Bruno's the one that kind of goes off the rails, and I like rein him back in. So I think, as Curry, I know Bruno is definitely the guy I always want in my corner. And with Griff, there's still this mentor-mentee relationship that's happening with Curry and Griff. I feel like I've taken him under my wing, so this is a nice way to introduce him to another side of my personal life. [Laughs] It's so funny. [In the scene,] they have no idea what they're talking about! I'm the one that's actually doing the training. It's just fun to have them there. It's a little bit of levity — but also, to know that these two people are 100% on my side. The whole squad is, right? We get to see everyone root for someone on the squad, which is so fun. We don't get a lot of that, so I love it.

TVLINE | That's such a nice take on it, and now I'm going to ask a jerk question: DO you think Curry could take Bruno? Could she take Fin? Who in the squad do you think she could reasonably get a few shots in on?
[Laughs] Oh my goodness, let's see. You know what? I think I could go a round with Bruno. Why not? I think he definitely would probably overpower me, just given the stature, but, yeah, I think I could hold my own. I mean, listen: Curry is tough. The Curry Clothesline happened this season. I did a tackle last season. She's got some grit! She hides it, but she's scrappy. [Laughs]

TVLINE | Obviously there's the other side of what Curry encounters in this episode: Tynan's offer, and how she reacts when Curry turns it down. Do you think there's any point at which Curry is even a little tempted to take it?
That's a great question. I think there's probably a part of [her] that is curious about what would have happened if [she'd] never met Benson, right? Like, if [she] had stuck to the plan — because, as we know, Curry is a planner, right? So [she] definitely had a five-year, a 10-year plan before [she] met Benson. And then, all of a sudden, [she meets] this powerhouse of a woman who's done so much, who has changed so many lives, who's been in the game for so long.

I think if Tynan had met [Curry] before [Curry] met Benson, [Curry] immediately would have said, "Oh yeah, let's let's climb the ladder, let's let's see what happens." But as soon as Benson enters Curry's life, [Curry] realized that there is more to this job than climbing the ladder. [She sees] firsthand how good officers, really great officers, make a difference in people's lives. Because again, coming from the Internal Affairs Bureau, [Curry was] on the side where [seh was] seeing so many things go wrong, right? And here [she is] now, meeting someone who has really figured out how to work the system and and still do things by the book, but also get real justice for real people, right? So there's no side of Curry now that would ever abandon that or go against Benson and the rest of the squad.

I think we do a really good job of that on the show: We show how bonded these people are, how connected they are and how, how much they have each other's back. So anytime anyone comes to any one of us with something that's underhanded, we're immediately like this, "This is off. This doesn't feel right. This doesn't feel aligned with what my purpose is."

So no, I don't, I don't think Curry in this moment is thinking that she's going to take whatever offer. I know immediately that the answer is no. [She] just has to figure out how [she's] going to play it because, [she doesn't] want it to go back on Benson's squad.

TVLINE | What can you tell me about how Curry is feeling about all of this as we move into the rest of the season? She mentions that she and Benson don't have a lot of leverage against Tynan. And given Curry's new role, how much will we see you on screen?
Curry is not someone that normally goes against authority right away. She's a thinker. She's a planner. She's going to try to figure out what the best chess move is... [Her] tactic moving forward is, "OK, this is where I am now. I know this isn't my endgame. I know this isn't where I'm gonna stay, and I know there's something shady about Tynan and Griff's father." [Her] take on it is, "I'm going to do what I can behind the scenes and not let anyone — even the rest of the people on my squad right now — I'm not going to let them know that I am gonna take this on the chin and look behind the scenes on my own."

You'll see me on screen, maybe not as much, and maybe not in the trenches with everyone else. But you will definitely see Curry in a very new position, and you'll see how [she deals] with that, and how the squad deals with it, too.

TVLINE | Does she bake for her new co-workers?
[Laughs] No, she is not baking for her new co-workers. She's in a very different position. She's not trying to make friends here, right? You're going to see a different side of her.