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Trivia / Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

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  • Accidentally-Correct Writing: In the episode “Alta Kockers” Olivia is interrogating an elderly Jewish suspect. At one point the suspect calls a black person a “shvatzer”. Olivia gets angry and says “That is unacceptable” to which the suspect replies “It’s unacceptable to be a shvatzer? What’s the matter with you?” The joke is supposed to be based on Deliberate Values Dissonance, that an old man would see nothing wrong with using an ethnic slur. In fact, “shvatzer” isn’t an ethnic slur at all, it’s just Yiddish for “black”. While there have been instances of the word being used as a derogatory term by American Jews who don’t speak Yiddish, this is not nearly as common as many people think it is, and Olivia’s ignorance obviously reflects that of the writers. So the dialogue between Olivia and the suspect still makes sense, but the writers were wrong about who was the clueless one.
  • Actor Allusion: When Nick returns from California for the 500th episode, he tells Olivia he now works with cold cases, a nod to Danny Pino's pre-SVU role as Scotty Valens on Cold Case.
  • Actor-Shared Background:
    • Richard Belzer has openly stated that John Munch is basically "me as a cop." Thankfully, Belzer doesn't share the darker elements of Munch's backstory.
    • Fin was in the Army, just as Ice-T was.
    • Kelli Giddish is from Georgia, as is Rollins.
    • Both Amaro and Barba are Cuban-Americans who speak fluent Spanish, reflecting that Danny Pino and Raúl Esparza are as well. There's also a good bit of subtext about Barba probably/possibly being bisexual (or some other form of queer). Esparza is bisexual in real life.
    • The Irish Declan Murphy is played by second-generation Irish immigrant Donal Logue.
    • Kat Tamin is a Lebanese-American like Jamie Gray Hyder.
    • In the episode "Inheritance", Marcus Chong (best known as Tank in the The Matrix) plays a character whose heritage (half African-American, half Chinese-American) matches his own exactly, even to the point of each parent's race (his father is the former, his mother the latter).
  • Adored by the Network: USA Network and Ion Television absolutely adores marathons of this series. Justified, as like its original series, the series is a huge money maker on syndication thanks to its huge episode count.
  • Billing Displacement:
    • Despite being a cast member since Season 2, Ice-T has been billed below several cast members who joined in later, specifically Diane Neal (Seasons 5-9), Michaela McManus (Season 10), Danny Pino (Seasons 13-16), and Kelli Giddish (since Season 13). Pino and Giddish were also billed before original cast member Richard Belzer until Belzer's departure in Season 15.
    • Likewise, both B.D. Wong and Tamara Tunie were part of the cast since Season 2. Though they only got their Promotion to Opening Titles in later seasons (Seasons 4 and 7, respectively), they were still billed below cast members who joined in later, specifically Diane Neal, Adam Beach (Season 9), and Michaela McManus. It even applies between Wong and Tunnie themselves, as Wong was billed and promoted before Tunnie despite the latter debuting much earlier and having more screen time.
  • Casting Gag: Alex Kingston was cast as attorney Miranda Pond. Prior to this she had also played Dr River Song in Doctor Who, who's real name was eventually revealed to be Melody Pond.
  • The Cast Showoff:
    • SVU has had exactly three episodes featuring French (or Franco-African) characters, two of which just so happened to be when Detective Beck was on the show. Interestingly, it appears that the writers actually showed restraint on this one, seeing as Connie Nielsen speaks eight languages.
    • Benson is seen speaking Spanish and Italian on multiple occasions, demonstrating Mariska Hargitay’s multilingual talents.
    • Averted when an episode shows most of the characters watching an Expy of American Idol. The only one not shown singing along is Barba, who is played by Broadway legend Raúl Esparza.
  • Cast the Runner-Up:
  • Corpsing: In "Popular", Olivia's lips noticeably twitch when delivering a cheesy pun based on student body. An outtake shows Mariska Hargitay couldn't make it through without breaking down giggling.
  • Creator Backlash:
    • Ice-T (who's a gamer himself) wasn't fond of "Intimidation Games," as he made clear on his Twitter after it aired.
    • Marcia Gay Harden regrets her final appearance as Dana Lewis, feeling that the show did the character an extreme disservice.
  • The Danza:
    • In the episode "Friending Emily," Taylor Spreitler guest stars as the victim's sister, Taylor Culphers.
    • The Victim of the Week in "Agent Provocateur", Madison Baker, is played by Madison Grace.
  • Dawson Casting:
    • Elliot Stabler (b. 1966) is played by Christopher Meloni (b. 1961).
    • Olivia Benson (b. 1968) is played by Mariska Hargitay (b. 1964).
    • Sarah Hyland in both of her guest appearances. She was 10 years old playing 7 in the Season 3 premiere "Repression", and 18 (turning 19 in five weeks) playing 14 in Season 10's "Hothouse".
    • In season 4's "Fallacy," Katherine Moennig plays 19 year old Cheryl Avery. Moennig was 26 at the time.
    • The Season 6 episode "Obscene" revolves around 16-year old starlet Jessie Dawning, played by then 21-year old Maggie Grace.
    • Then 18-year-old (and turning 19 in a month) Amanda Seyfried played a 16-year old Victim of the Week in the Season 6 episode "Outcry".
    • Constance Wu (b. 1982) played a hooker whose birth year is listed as 1987 in the Seasons 8 episode "Underbelly".
    • In-universe: In the episode "Demons", they try to see if a rapist is guilty by baiting him with an adult cop who can pass for a teenager.
  • Died During Production:
    • Ned Eisenberg, who played the longest-tenured Recurring Character Roger Kressler, passed away on February 2022. Season 23 episode 14 was dedicated to his memory.
    • Joanna Merlin, who played Judge Lena Petrovsky in 43 episodes across 11 seasons, died in October 2023. Harvey Atkin, who played Judge Alan Ridenour in 18 episodes (as well as 2 episodes of Criminal Intent), died in 2017.
    • And of course, though his character had long since been written out, original cast member and longtime series regular Richard Belzer passed away in February 2023.
  • Directed by Cast Member:
    • Mariska Hargitay directed Season 15's "Criminal Stories", Season 16's "Padre Sandungeuro", Season 17's "A Misunderstanding" and "Sheltered Outcasts", Season 18's "Motherly Love", Season 21's "She Paints For Vengeance".
    • Chad Lowe, who guest-starred in the Season 2 episode "Pique", directed the Season 4 episode "Soulless".
    • Monica Raymund, who had a minor role in the Season 9 episode "Authority" (and later Chicago Fire regular Gabriela Dawson), directed the Season 20 episode "Hell's Kitchen".
  • Executive Meddling: Everybody on the show, from showrunner David Graziano on down, was livid when The Powers That Be at the channel mandated that Kelli Giddish would leave the main cast halfway through season 24, and made that fact abundantly clear on social media. The tearful goodbye scene between Amanda and Olivia at the end of her final episode as a main cast member is actually between Mariska Hargitay and Kelli Giddish, who became extremely close friends over their years on the show.
  • Fake American: Adam Beach, who played Chester Lake, is from Manitoba.
  • Fandom Nod: in 11x13, "P.C.", Kathy Griffin's lesbian character coming onto Liv. The reasons she gives for her mistake are pretty much the same ones fans have been using for their Slash Fic since, oh, the start of the show. Olivia asking, "Why does everyone think I'm a lesbian?", Olivia fooling the suspect into confessing by pretending to be a lesbian, swaggering into the interrogation room in a leather jacket, it has it all.
  • Hide Your Pregnancy:
    • Why Olivia disappeared for part of season 8.
    • Averted in season 17 with Kelli Giddish's pregnancy. There's almost a Running Gag of the characters telling Rollins to stop pushing herself so hard when she's pregnant. The gag becomes much less funny when she has to be put on bed rest.
  • In Memoriam:
    • The entirety of Season 3 was dedicated to the victims and heroes of 9/11.
    • The Season 23 episode "Video Killed the Radio Star" was dedicated Ned Eisenberg, who played longest-running Recurring Character Roger Kressler.
    • "King Of The Moon" from Season 24 is dedicated to Richard Belzer, Munch's actor. Belzer is the first main cast member of SVU to pass away. Oddly enough, Munch is actually mentioned by Fin in the prevous episode, "Dutch Tears"— which first aired only three days before Belzer's death.
  • Life Imitates Art:
    • During the first half of the 2011 season, the episode "Missing Pieces" in which a mother claims that her car was stolen with her young son still buckled into his car seat bore more than a passing resemblance to the still-unfolding Sky Metalwala case.
    • "Personal Fouls" which revolves around a well-respected coach who uses a children's charity to molest young boys originally aired a few weeks before the Penn State molestation story broke. However, according to The Other Wiki, this one was actually based on a different sports abuse case.
    • In the episode "Imprisoned Lives," based on Ariel Castro but written before he was convicted, a scene with not-Castro allocuting about why he took the girls had to be cut when it ended up matching Castro's almost word for word.
    • Tragically, this real life case is disturbingly similar to both the season 4 episode "Resilience," in which a father artificially inseminates his teenage daughter, and, to lesser extent, the season 5 episode "Home," where a mother is an extreme control freak over her home-schooled children.
  • Missing Episode: The Season 18 episode "Unstoppable" was scheduled to air around the end of October 2016, but it was pulled at the last minute. The episode would have featured Gary Cole as a business mogul turned politician who causes non-stop controversies. Inspired by the 2016 presidential campaign of Donald Trump. The episode was made, but shelved. It has not resurfaced.
  • On-Set Injury: While filming an action scene, Mariska Hargitay suffered a collapsed lung after landing wrongly, requiring multiple surgeries to correct the injury.
  • The Other Darrin: Kathleen Stabler was played by Holiday Segal in Season 1. Allison Siko took over the role starting Season 3. It's notable since the rest of the Stabler children retained their actorsnote .
  • Out of Order: The second episode of season 2 featuring Monique Jeffries occurs late in the season yet is obviously meant to have been much earlier on. Hints include Fin wearing the same outfit as when first introduced as well as actually mentioning Fin's first name. The other episode featuring Jeffries involved her resigning from the force and Fin taking her place.
  • Playing Their Own Twin:
    • Mili Avital as Ava Parulis and Irina Burton in Season 2's "Parasites".
    • Reiley McClendon as Logan and Lindsay Stanton in Season 6's "Identity".
    • TR Knight as Gabriel Thomas and Brian Smith in Season 13's "Double Strands".
  • Queer Character, Queer Actor:
  • Real-Life Relative:
    • Crossing with Romance on the Set, Mariska Hargitay (Olivia Benson) met her future husband Peter Hermann (Trevor Langan) on set. SVU had a hell of a time covering up her pregnancy in Season 8. She also pulled a few strings to have her father, Mickey Hargitay, cast in a small role in Season 5, quite openly saying that she'd always wanted to work with him at least once. This would be the elder Hargitay's final screen credit (he died three years later). Recurring Character Officer Montero, who first shows up at the end of Season 19 as the officer also held hostage alongside Olivia is played by Mariska's cousin, Eddie Hargitay.
    • Richard Belzer's cousin, Henry Winkler, was cast as a Villain of the Week for Season 3's "Greed".
    • Ice-T's wife Coco made cameos in episodes for Seasons 5 ("Head"), 9 ("Fight"), and 12 ("Theater Tricks").
    • Diane Neal's (Casey Novak) ex-husband Marcus Fitzgerald guest-starred in Season 8's "Underbelly".
    • Kelli Giddish's pregnancy was incorporated into Rollins' story in Season 17, resulting in Giddish's own baby boy being brought to set to play Rollins' daughter Jesse in a few episodes.
    • Dean Winters (Brian Cassidy) and Scott William Winters (Robert Dumas) are brothers.
  • Reality Subtext:
    • Much like Olivia, Mariska Hargitay grew up with only one parent. In Mariska's case it's due to her mother's tragic death when she was only three, whereas Olivia is a Child by Rape.
    • Barba and Benson's close onscreen friendship springs from the fact that Raúl Esparza and Mariska Hargitay clicked with each other from their first meeting and rapidly became close in real life (Esparza has said on more than one occasion that working with Hargitay is his favorite thing about the show).
    • Kelli Giddish and Peter Scanavino have also admitted that Rollins and Carisi's close onscreen relationship reflects the fact that the two actors are also very close in real life.
    • The Elliot/Olivia vs Elliot/Kathy shipping wars can get very nasty. In real life, Mariska Hargitay considers Isabel Gillies, who plays Kathy, as one of her best friends.
    • Munch mentions a couple of times that his father committed suicide when he was a teenager. Richard Belzer's father died by suicide when Belzer was in his twenties.
    • Munch & Finn's friendly sniping at each other and mutual snarkiness is based in large part on the real friendship between Ice-T & Richard Belzer.
    • A subplot from Season 2's "Taken", dropped in part due to the Unfortunate Implications, would have revealed that Olivia's mother lied about being raped. In "Florida", when Olivia learns the identity of her biological father, she briefly considers the possibility that her mother might have lied about being raped. Both loops are effectively closed when Olivia ultimately determines that he had raped at least one other woman, leading Olivia to conclude that her mother was telling the truth and establishing that fact as canon. In essence, the arc plays out in a way that mirrors the writers' own development of that backstory.
    • Their introduction in Season 13 present Rollins and Amaro as New Meats, with the latter being the more experienced one. At the time, both Kelli Giddish and Danny Pino have just starred on two Police Procedurals; Pino on Cold Case which ran seven seasons, Giddish on Chase which ran with just one.
    • The tearful goodbye between Amanda and Olivia in "And a Trauma in a Pear Tree", when Amanda leaves the squad for a teaching position at Fordham, is pure Mariska Hargitay and Kelli Giddish, neither of whom were pleased one whit with Giddish's forced departure.
  • Recast as a Regular: Counting only those who are recast as main characters here.
  • Recycled Script: SVU has a nasty habit of doing this with the original and then adding The Unfair Sex aspects to the plot. For example, in the original Law & Order 1995 episode "Bitter Fruit," a young girl is kidnapped between school and her music lesson and later killed. While it was questionable exactly who did it due to the fact that they both were Jerkasses, in the end it turns out it was the mother and while she tried to blame her ex husband she was given the maximum sentence. However “Shattered” had the exact same plot only they eliminated all of the ex husbands jerkassiness while transforming the mother into the biggest Misandrist that they possibly could. It turns out that it was the father who kidnapped his son even though that made absolutely no sense.
    • Another recycled script from the Mothership was used in the season 5 episode "Poison." The plot was taken from Law & Order's season 7 episode "I.D." Both episodes deal with a corrupt judge railroading an otherwise open and shut murder trial because of his personal biases and dislike of the ADA (Jamie Ross in the original and Casey Novak in the SVU version) handling the case. The ADA eventually gains the upper hand and exposes the judge at the end of the episode.
      • The storyline was recycled yet again, with some tweaks, in the season 22 episode “The Long Arm of the Witness.”
    • Season 19 episode "Complicated" is a beat-for-beat remake of season 10's episode "Stranger," right down to the ending twist. The only difference is the motive/background of the imposter and the secondary plot arc in the original involving said imposter, which the later episode cuts in favor of an unrelated subplot concerning Olivia's adopted son Noah and his recently surfaced biological grandmother who is fighting Olivia for custody.
    • The Season 18 episode "Genes" involved a Child by Rape committing crimes similar to those committed by his father and a defense attorney arguing that his propensity for violence was a genetic trait. If this sounds familiar, it's because this was also the plot of the Season 3 episode "Inheritance".
    • Season 13's "Theatre Tricks" has a nearly identical premise to Season 10's "Liberties" (a third party using an alleged fantasy rape scenario to set up a woman to be raped), although they admittedly play out very differently: "Liberties" established almost immediately who was responsible and used that to lead into a Halfway Plot Switch, while the entirety of "Theatre Tricks" is focused on the detectives trying to determine who was behind it, with the identity of the perpetrator only being revealed in the last few minutes.
    • Another Season 13 episode, "Lost Traveler", mirrors the Season 1 episode "Uncivilized" to a significant degree. Both involve a missing child turning up dead, both have an initial suspect arc that turns out to be a Red Herring, and in both cases, the two teenage witnesses turn out to be the killers. The episodes even have similar dynamics between the pairs of killers, with one teen being horrified and remorseful, while the other, the instigator, just shrugs it off.
    • Season 7 episode "Strain" shares quite a few similarities with the Season 2 episode "Victims", including the killer's motive, with the biggest change being setting the story within the gay community.
    • "Post-Graduate Psychopath", season 22 ep. 14, is made from two previous episodes:
      • The episode borrows its main plot from "Beast's Obsession", season 15 ep. 20. A sociopath gets out of prison unexpectedly early and goes on a rape/torture/murder spree in which he first targets the family of a female doctor who cared for him in prison, raping her daughter and burning her with cigarettes. He assaults one teenage girl and hangs her up by her wrists in her home for the police to find and kidnaps another teenage girl, ultimately using her as a hostage.
      • The episode borrows its climax from "Holden's Manifesto", season 16 ep. 4. Rollins allows herself to be taken hostage alone by a young male sociopath/sexual predator on a revenge spree in order to get him to let a teenage girl go, and so she can become emotionally intimate with him and get inside his head so as to be able to take him in peacefully rather than letting the swat team blow his head off. This time around she succeeds, but comes to regret her success.
  • Romance on the Set: Mariska Hargitay met her husband Peter Hermann on the show.
  • Star-Making Role: The show that made Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni TV icons.
  • Starring a Star as a Star:
    • Emily Deschanel plays renouned cellist Cassie Germaine in the Season 3 episode "Surveillance".
    • Maggie Grace plays popular TV star Jessie Dawning in the Season 6 episode "Obscene".
    • Norman Reedus plays popular rock star and activist Derek Lord in the Season 7 finale "Influence".
    • Bailey Chase plays NFL superstar Lincoln Haver in the Season 9 episode "Closet".
    • Antwon "Big Boi" Patton of Outkast plays Hip-Hop artist Gots Money in the Season 10 episode "Wildlife".
    • Carol Burnett plays the eponymous legendary ballerina Birdie Sulloway in the Season 10 episode "Ballerina".
    • Mehcad Brooks plays NBA superstar Prince Miller in the Season 13 episode "Personal Fouls".
    • Emma Bell plays TV star Rose Summers in the Season 15 episode "Reasonable Doubt".
    • Stevie Lynn Jones plays Former Child Star Tensley Evans in the Season 16 episode "Producer's Backend".
    • Chad L. Coleman plays NFL superstar A.J. Martin in the Season 16 episode "Spousal Privilege".
  • Technology Marches On:
    • Inevitable given that SVU premiered in 1999. The show's adjustment to the existence of social media occasionally veers into the hilarious.
    • Often swerves into their Technologically Blind Elders — the characters are frequently exasperated by the Evil Internet, but the writers themselves have a very shaky grasp of how popular websites work (see their definition of "blogging" as "daily visits to one website" and describing a Twitter account as having thousands of "friends" and featuring posts from many different users. That's...not how that works.)
  • Throw It In!: Amanda Rollins' devastated shout to Carisi that "I would be fine if you were right here beside me!!" was ad-libbed by Kelli Giddish.
  • Trans Character, Cis Actor:
    • In "Fallacy", cis actress Katherine Moennig plays trans woman Cheryl Avery.
    • In "Transitions", trans girl Hayley is played by cisgender actor Bridger Zadina. Her counselor, Jackie Blaine, is played by actress Aisha Hinds, who has been mistaken for a trans woman in the past due to her size but is cisgender. The episode does feature an actual trans non-binary actor, Daniel Sea, in the minor role of Blake.
    • In "Transgender Bridge", cis actor Christopher Dylan White plays trans girl Avery Parker.
  • Trolling Creator:
    • Warren Leight having Olivia describe her relationship with Elliot as one where she was completely unable to grow. Even the positive interpretation of that, that she held herself back because she was nursing unrequited love for him, mightily pissed fans off.
    • Leight's use of characters from seasons beyond his era has resulted in major character derailment with half-assed justifications for those developments. Major examples include:
      • Dr. George Huang, who worked with SVU from seasons 2-12 (with occasional episodes in 13, 14, and 15), returns for an episode in season 17 to help another lawyer win her case by stating that Liv coerced a confession out of him. Not only was Liv pissed, but Leight has stated that there's little hope for Huang and Liv's professional relationship because Liv holds grudges.
      • As of mid-season 17, Liv is dating IAB Captain Ed Tucker - the same officer who relentlessly persecuted various SVU officers (including Liv herself!) over seasons 3-15. When asked what could have led to this development, Leight stated that Liv has decided to let go of the past and that the relationship makes sense since Liv hasn't had time to look elsewhere due to having a toddler at home. What.note 
  • Troubled Production:
    • Season 9 was produced with less episodes than normal (19 vs the usual 22-24) due to the 2007-2008 Writers Strike.
    • Production of the last four episodes of Season 21 was cut short due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.
  • Underage Casting: Alexandra Cabot (b. 1968) is played by Stephanie March (b. 1974).
  • What Could Have Been:
    • Nick Chinlund, Tim Matheson, and John Slattery were the actors considered to play Elliot Stabler before Christopher Meloni was cast, with Chinlund being the runner-up according to Meloni himself.
    • Samantha Mathis and Reiko Aylesworth were the actresses considered to play Olivia Benson before Mariska Hargitay was cast.
    • Both Fin and Barba were supposed to be only four-episode characters, but their popularity caused the show to keep them as regulars.
    • It was originally going to be revealed that Olivia's mother lied about being raped.
    • Originally, upon Homicide's cancellation and after hearing that Benjamin Bratt was leaving the original series, Richard Belzer suggested to Dick Wolf that Munch become Lennie Briscoe's new partner, since they had originally teamed in three Homicide crossovers. Wolf loved the idea, but had already cast Jesse L. Martin as Det. Ed Green.
    • The creators actually considered making Elliot and Olivia a couple during the former's marital problems between Seasons 6-8, complete with scenes of Olivia dreaming of Elliot and appearing jealous of him and Dani's (her replacement) closeness, before deciding that the two are much Better as Friends.
    • Kathy and Dickie Stabler were supposed to guest star in the Season 21 finale to serve as a Sequel Hook for Law & Order: Organized Crime, but production for the last four episodes of the season were halted due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.
    • After the death of Richard Belzer, it was reported that the show had frequently asked Belzer to reprise his role as Munch for cameos after his final departure from the show in 2016; unfortunately, Belzer had become too frail from health issues to make the trip from his home in France to New York in what would ultimately be the last years of his life.
  • Working Title: Law and Order: Sex Crimes.
  • You Look Familiar: Aside from the ones Recast as a Regular above;
    • This guy has played an FDNY Captain, a bartender, and a character named Erik Pullham. And that's only on SVU. On Law & Order and Law & Order: Criminal Intent he has played four additional one-off characters.
    • This lady played two different characters in season 4 and season 5.
    • Mili Avital appeared in prominent roles in the Pilot, the Season 2 episode "Parasites", and the Season 14 episode "Manhattan Vigil" in which she reprised in Season 17's "Depravity Standard". She also guest-starred on Law & Order: Criminal Intent.
    • Noelle Beck played two different characters in Seasons 1 and 12.
    • Hayden Panettiere has played two different characters within 5 years (in Season 2 and Season 6).
    • Liza Lapira has played two other characters besides a lab tech, see here.
    • Blythe Auffarth played two different characters in Seasons 2 and 3, in addition to her guest-stints on both Law & Order: Trial by Jury and the original Law & Order.
    • Peyton List played two different characters in Seasons 2 and 4.
    • Nestor Serrano played two different characters in Seasons 2 and 6.
    • Shirley Knight played the Villain of the Week in this series twice, specifically during the Seasons 3 and 5 premieres. Knight also made a prior guest-appearance in the parent series.
    • Sarah Hyland played two different characters in Seasons 3 and 10, in addition to her guest-stints on both Law & Order: Trial by Jury and the original Law & Order.
    • Paige Turco played two different characters in Seasons 3 and 13. Both times with Diane Neal, coincidentally.
    • Kyle Gallner has appeared on the show as two different characters, in Season 4 and Season 9.
    • Dan Lauria played two different characters in Seasons 4 and 13. He already made two prior guest-stints on the original Law & Order and one in Law & Order: Criminal Intent in-between his appearances here.
    • Elizabeth Mitchell played two different characters in Seasons 4 and 12.
    • Chad L. Coleman played two different characters in Seasons 4 and 16, in addition to two prior appearances on Law & Order.
    • Samantha Mathis played three different characters in Seasons 5, 15, and 21, plus a guest appearance on Law & Order: Criminal Intent during its fifth season.
    • Kyle MacLachlan played two different characters in Seasons 6 and 13. Both times as a father whose son was killed by another boy, coincidentally.
    • Emma Bell played two different characters in Seasons 6 and 15, plus a guest appearance on the parent series' 17th season.
    • Paget Brewster played two different characters in Seasons 8 and 14.
    • Navid Negahban played two different characters in Seasons 8 and 16, plus an appearance on the parent series.
    • Before turning up as a Villain of the Week in Season 11, Sarah Paulson made her TV debut in a guest appearance on a Season 5 episode of the parent series.
    • John Magaro guested on Seasons 11 and 17 as two different characters, plus prior appearances in Conviction and the parent series.
    • Aaron Tveit played two different characters in Seasons 11 and 13.
    • Alyssa Sutherland played two different characters in Seasons 12 and 20.
    • Andre Braugher as an attorney. Kinda weird, given that Homicide: Life on the Street exists in the same universe as the Law & Order series. It works because Frank Pembleton never appeared on SVU and (aside from Munch) never met or worked with any of the SVU characters. Lampshaded when Munch greets Ellis in a familiar (and sarcastic) way, and Ellis replies "Have we met?"
    • Lothaire Bluteau seems to be the guy the producers have on speed dial whenever they need a vaguely European-ish creep (although the actor is actually Canadian), having played such roles in three episodes. He's also appeared as separate characters on Criminal Intent and Trial by Jury.
    • Sherri Parker Lee played a grifter suspect in "Greed" and a protective older sister who was also guilty of assault and murder in "Mother."
    • Emily Kinney already guested on Criminal Intent when she turn up as a Victim of the Week in Season 13.
    • Guillermo Díaz played two different characters in season 13 and season 21. Both characters were innocent men who had been wrongly convicted and serving life sentences in prison for crimes they didn't commit. He also appeared in the parent series on two separate occasions beforehand. He would later be Recast as a Regular in Law & Order: Organized Crime.

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