Memories From The Set: Law & Order: SVU Edition

Nine Law & Order: SVU guest stars take TVLine inside their encounters with Benson and Stabler.

Ann Dowd

Having already guest-starred on the original Law & Order multiple times, Dowd was a pro by the time she got to the SVU set. In fact, she was such an expert that she ended up appearing in Seasons 2, 4 and 10 of the spinoff procedural. Her extra time allowed her to master all the tricks of the trade, inclduing the walk-and-talk, a core feature of any Law & Order series. Back in the day, however, she had trouble with the concept. "The lines are not easy," said Dowd, who now stars on The Handmaid's Tale. So Jerry Orbach (Law & Order) helped her out, teaching her to work backwards from the end mark so she could pace her dialogue. "Little clues like that were just helpful and kind."

Laura Benanti

What surprised Benanti the most on SVU was how dramatically her character shifted over time. Playing Amaro's (Danny Pino) now ex-wife from seasons 13 to 15, she started off as a neutral character before taking a drastic turn to the dark side. "All of a sudden, my character became this monster!" said the actress, now a series regular on The Detour. "Every script I would get, I would be like, 'Oh good. I'm being a total bitch again. That's awesome.'"

Margo Martindale

One of the more fun aspects of guest-starring on SVU is the opportunity to play truly insane characters, something that Martindale and her co-star Leo Burmester (True Blue) took full advantage of in their Season 8 appearance. "We kept children in cages," said The Americans actress. "We were people that were using some sort of therapy to train kids to do what we wanted... Leo and I laughed our asses off about that."

Eric McCormack

McCormack's character, a dating website CEO, meets his maker at the end of his Season 11 episode. So of course, he wanted to share that moment with the most special people in his life. "I remember getting home from New York and saying to my wife, 'Finn's got to see this! The special effects are so cool!'" the Will & Grace star recalled. "And she said, 'Are you out of your f—king mind? You want to show your 6-year-old you getting stabbed in the neck and dying?'" While McCormack lost the argument at the time, we wonder, now nine years later, if young Finn ever saw that scene. 

Richard Short

A common theme among many when talking about their experience on SVU: the kindness of the cast. Mary Kills People star Short's Season 9 experience was no different. "I did all my stuff with Mariska Hargitay," he said, "and she was the most open, generous, loving person to hold my hand and say, 'Welcome.'" 

Thomas Sadoski

After appearing on the show in Season 11, Life in Pieces star Sadoski returned in Season 15 for two episodes as Amanda Rollins' (Kelli Giddish) Gamblers Anonymous sponsor and lover. As someone who complicated Rollins' life, the show made sure that he was dressed appropriately. "Warren Leight, the showrunner, was just obsessed with making sure that I was wearing the douchiest hat possible," he said. "I kept on trying to find ways to lose the hat... and Warren was like, 'No. He has to wear the douchey hat.'"

Caitlin FitzGerald

The only thing more exciting than getting your first television part ever is getting cast twice! FitzGerald played twins in her Season 10 SVU guest-starring role, but she says that was not even the best part. One of her characters gets involved in the animal-smuggling business, leading to her ultimate demise at the paws of a tiger. "I had this insane tiger mauling prosthetic on my neck so I was like, 'I've arrived,'" said the Masters of Sex alum. "'Here I am. I'm a real actor now.'"

Seth Gabel

Salem star Gabel auditioned multiple times to be on the show when he lived in New York but never got a call back. "It really bothered me, because everyone in New York had done a Law & Order," he recalled. "It felt like [I was] one of the only people that hadn't." Ironically, though, it was only after he moved to Los Angeles that he was finally cast in a Season 6, guest-starring role. "It was the last straw of validation that I needed to really feel complete in leaving New York, [so] it felt great going back and doing SVU." 

Arielle Kebbel

Everyone who's ever appeared on SVU seems to love Mariska Hargitay, and Midnight, Texas' Kebbel followed the trend when discussing her Season 5 appearance. "Mariska, for example, was so warm and kind and wanted to know about me," she said. "To this day, I have a fondness for her. She exuded this warmth on set I think is really rare."