The cast of ‘Law & Order: SVU,’ then and now

Mariska Hargitay (Olivia Benson)

Mariska Hargitay’s Capt. 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. The role earned her an Emmy and a Golden Globe, among other accolades. 

Hargitay has since gotten to explore her fun and adventurous side, including an appearance 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 on SVU and making appearances on Law & Order: Organized Crime, where her character works once again with Meloni’s 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. They share three children. In 2025, she released a documentary, My Mom Jayne, a personal story about her famous mother, ’50s actress/icon Jayne Mansfield.

Christopher Meloni (Elliot Stabler)

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

After SVU, Meloni leveraged his acting intensity on many TV shows, including roles on 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.

Above all, though, Meloni is still known for Law & Order despite initially leaving SVU after season 12. He eventually returned to star on 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.

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 Sgt. 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. The two-time Grammy winner ironically sparked much controversy with his group Body Count and their 1992 track, “Cop Killer,” before stepping up to play an officer on SVU. 

Since the ’90s, Ice-T has balanced his music with acting, though he is primarily known for Law & Order. His other acting work mostly includes cameos as himself on Chappelle’s Show, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, and more. He also hosted 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. 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 joining the cast for season 13.

Before SVU, Giddish had one-off roles on Law & Order: Criminal Intent and a season 7 episode of SVU as different minor characters. Since becoming a series regular, she reprised Rollins on Chicago Fire and Chicago P.D. She eventually left SVU in 2023 after season 24, but returned for a crossover between SVU and Organized Crime and has stayed on SVU since, becoming a series regular again starting in season 27. 

Giddish was married to Lawrence Faulborn from 2015 to 2018. They share two sons, and both 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 Det. Chester Lake beginning in season 8. Still, he left quite the impression: His character was the first Native American detective on 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.

Beach 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 appeared in big films like Suicide Squad (2016) and The Power of the Dog (2021), all while extending his television acting cred with roles on Hawaii Five-0, Hell on Wheels, Drunk History, and Nancy Drew.

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.

Dick Wolf reportedly cast her as Monique Jeffries based on her powerful performance as an FBI informant on the original Law & Order. Since parting with the franchise, Hurd took on more prominent roles on shows like The Glades, Blindspot, ER, and Gossip Girl. She eventually established herself as a genre queen thanks to parts on 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, playing Assistant District Attorney Casey Novak. Though only in the main cast from seasons 5 through 9, her character was still one of the franchise’s longest-running DAs. Ironically, Neal had already appeared on SVU as a criminal in season 3.

After putting the role of Casey Novak on pause, she added Suits and Power to her résumé, though she returned to SVU as a guest for seasons 12 and 13. But she was far from done with police procedural shows, going on to appear as Special Agent Abigail Borin for multi-episode arcs on NCIS and NCIS: New Orleans.

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. 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. Law & Order helped springboard her career from there; March has since guested on 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 appeared on 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 on 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 on Sex and the City, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, 30 Rock, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Winters’ Brian Cassidy also returned to SVU, popping up in seasons 13–15, 19–20, and 27.

Though he’s acted in movies like P.S. I Love You (2007), John Wick (2014), and 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 on 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 Capt. 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 appeared in more than 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 on Hill Street Blues, 21 Jump Street, and L.A. Law. But he still branched out into other genres with roles on Wings and Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Though he’d appeared in movies like The Flintstones (1994) and Hard Rain (1998), he primarily operated as a television actor. He turned up in the film Crater (2023) and also reprised the role of Captain Cragen in a couple of episodes of SVU and Organized Crime.

He is married to artist Karen Florek.

BD Wong (George Huang)

BD Wong‘s George Huang helped detectives (and by extension, audiences) understand the psychology behind the chilling criminal actions they were investigating. Though he officially departed the series after season 12, the actor came back for occasional cameos.

In addition to winning a Tony in 1988, Wong’s biggest credit pre-SVU was in Jurassic Park (1993) as Dr. Henry Wu. After leaving SVU, his career came full circle when he returned for the Jurassic World films. He also appeared on series like Mr. Robot (for which he received an 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 2021. She also appeared in the role in one episode each of seasons 4 and 5 of Law & Order: Organized Crime.

Before joining the SVU crew, Tunie appeared on 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. She now stars as the matriarch Anita Dupree on the CBS soap opera Beyond the Gates.

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 works have included 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 on television and in film.

Beyond playing Mickey Gavin on Rescue Me and Bart Bass on Gossip Girl, the actor frequently appeared on shows like Homicide: Life on the Street, CSI: Miami, and The Sopranos. Since leaving SVU, his most recent works were the films Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) and Boston Strangler (2023), and a four-episode arc as Seth on The Last of Us. 

In addition to acting, Burke is a certified New York State volunteer 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 SVU, Esparza was mostly known as a Broadway actor, amassing four Tony nominations in the early-aughts. After appearing as different characters on 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 on BoJack Horseman, Hannibal, and Dopesick, and has also made a cameo on SVU’s spinoff, Organized Crime. He’s set to star as scientist Galileo Galilei in the Broadway musical Galileo in the fall of 2026.

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 onscreen 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 Michael Moriarty portrayed.

Winchester 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). Since departing the series, he has starred in movies like Endangered Species (2021) and A Week in Paradise (2022), and appeared as a guest actor on NCIS: Origins.

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