The Law & Order franchise goes back all the way to 1990 when the very first show premiered on NBC, and has gone on to span six series with well over a thousand episodes between them. As such, a surprising number of actors who would become franchise icons and/or go on to become major stars actually appeared in the shows as more than one character. Read on for the biggest and most notable who weren’t held back by just playing one person!
Kelli Giddish
Kelli Giddish is best known for playing Law & Order: SVU‘s Detective Amanda Rollins as a series regular from 2011 – 2023, and she even took the character over to Law & Order and Law & Order: Organized Crime for crossovers. Her first role in the franchise was as Kara Bawson in a Season 8 episode of SVU in early 2007, however, followed by playing Dana Stipe in a Season 7 episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent in late 2007.
Peter Scanavino
While Peter Scanavino has been playing Detective-turned-ADA Carisi on Law & Order: SVU since Season 16 in 2014, he got his start in the franchise as Robert Hassel in the first season of Trial by Jury in 2005, followed by playing Johnny Feist later that year on Criminal Intent. In 2013, he made his pre-Carisi SVU debut as Johnny Dubcek.
Camryn Manheim
Camryn Manheim’s series regular gig in the franchise started with the Law & Order revival in 2022, and she spent three seasons as Lieutenant Kate Dixon. The lieutenant was Manheim’s fourth character in Law & Order, however, as she appeared as Leila in Season 1 in 1991, Martha Rollins in Season 3 in 1993, and Beatrice Hines in Season 4 in 1994.
Diane Neal
Diane Neal joined SVU as a series regular in Season 5 in 2003 to play ADA Casey Novak. She would go on to become one of the Law & Order cast members who appeared in the most episodes by the time of her last installment in 2012. Her first episode was in Season 3 in 2001, though, when she played Amelia Chase.
Raúl Esparza
Franchise fans undoubtedly know Raúl Esparza best as ADA Rafael Barba, who he played on SVU for more than 100 episodes from 2012-2022 and would reprise for an SVU/Organized Crime two-parter. Years before debuting as Barba, he played Kevin Mulrooney in a 2009 episode of Criminal Intent and Dennis Di Palma in a 2010 episode of Law & Order.
Mehcad Brooks
Mehcad Brooks has been playing Detective Jalen Shaw on Law & Order since late 2022, when he joined the show to replace Anthony Anderson’s Kevin Bernard. His franchise origin goes back to 2011, however, when he played Prince Miller in a Season 13 episode of SVU.
Jeremy Sisto
Jeremy Sisto may be best known in the nine-show Dick Wolf TV universe nowadays for playing Jubal Valentine across CBS’ three FBI shows, but he was a series regular as Detective Cyrus Lupo for Law & Order‘s final three seasons before its initial cancellation in 2010. His first appearance in the show happened in Season 17 in 2007, when he played Clint Glover.
S. Epatha Merkerson
S. Epatha Merkerson may be most often found in NBC’s One Chicago over the last decade thanks to her role on Chicago Med, but she’s credited with nearly 400 episodes of Law & Order as Lieutenant Anita Van Buren, from 1991-2010. Her first character in the show was in the very first season, when she played Mrs. Denise Winters.
Jerry Orbach
Jerry Orbach’s Lennie Brisco is arguably one of the franchise’s most iconic detectives after nearly 300 episodes of Law & Order and another handful on SVU and Criminal Intent between 1991-2004, but you can first find him on the original Law & Order in the second episode of Season 2, where he played Defense Attorney Frank Lehrman.
Kevin Kane
Kevin Kane was promoted to series regular status on SVU for Season 26 for his role as Detective Terry Bruno, which he originated in Season 24. That wasn’t his first SVU role, as he played Scott Ryland in Season 9 in 2008, Officer Greg Wilcox in Season 13 in 2012, Major Bowman in Season 17 in 2016, and Gary Kent in Season 20 in 2018. As if those aren’t enough, he appeared in two episodes of Law & Order, first as Matt Preminger in 2002’s Season 12 and then as a uniformed cop in Season 16 in 2005.
Jeffrey Donovan
Jeffrey Donovan helped launch Law & Order‘s 2022 revival as Detective Frank Cosgrove, who he played for Seasons 21 and 22 as a series regular. Fans can also find him much earlier in the series in other roles, first as Eddie Nicodos in Season 6 in 1995 and then as Jacob Reese in Season 17 in 2007.
Anthony Anderson
Anthony Anderson portrayed Detective Kevin Bernard for the last three seasons of the original run of Law & Order between 2008-2010, then reprised the role in the 2022 revival for one season. Before that, he played Detective Lucius Blaine in a memorable 2006 episode of Law & Order: SVU Season 7.
Tony Goldwyn
Law & Order introduced Tony Goldwyn as the new DA Nicholas Baxter in the second half of Season 23 in 2024 as the replacement for Sam Waterston’s DA Jack McCoy. That wasn’t his introduction into the larger franchise, however, as he played Frank Gorden across four episodes of Criminal Intent‘s sixth and seventh seasons, from 2007-2008.
Rick Gonzalez
Before Rick Gonzalez spent some time in the Arrowverse, he played Alfonso Cardenas way back in the very first season of Law & Order: SVU in 2000. More than twenty years later, he returned to the franchise to play Detective Bobby Reyes on Law & Order: Organized Crime, starting in 2022.
Dean Norris
Dean Norris kicked off a key role as Randall Stabler in Law & Order: Organized Crime‘s fourth season as the first of Elliot Stabler’s siblings to appear on screen. His first franchise appearance happened more than a decade earlier, in the finale of the short-lived Law & Order: LA as Bob Kentner.
Betty Buckley
Betty Buckley is a Broadway legend, but she made the time to play two different characters over the years of Law & Order: SVU. Between Seasons 7-10, Buckley appeared in multiple episodes as Attorney Walsh. Starting in Season 23, she began playing Trial Division Chief Lorraine Maxwell, which she continued into Season 24.
Michael Trotter
Michael Trotter arrived on Law & Order: Organized Crime Season 4 to play the youngest Stabler brother. Before he debuted on OC in 2024, Trotter played Teddy Muncy in an episode of Law & Order: SVU Season 24 the previous year. In a fun bit of trivia, he’s also married to former SVU series regular Jamie Gray Hyder.
Pedro Pascal
Pedro Pascal may be a big name in TV nowadays thanks to his lead roles in The Mandalorian and The Last of Us, but he made his rounds on the Law & Order circuit earlier in his career. He played Tito Cabassa in a Season 18 episode of Law & Order in 2008, visited Law & Order: Criminal Intent to play Reggie Luckman in Season 6 and Kip Green in Season 8, and dropped by Law & Order: SVU to play Agent Greer in Season 12.
Bradley Whitford
Following the end of The West Wing, Bradley Whitford arrived in the one and only season of Law & Order: LA to play Attorney Miklin in 2011. His two roles on SVU are more memorable, as he played a criminal named Frank Maddox in Season 15 back in 2014 before returning in Season 24 in 2023 to play the ailing husband of a victim in an episode directed by Mariska Hargitay.
Sarah Hyland
Sarah Hyland appeared in three different franchise shows as four characters, all before landing her part in Modern Family. Her first role was as Lily Ramsey in the Season 3 premiere of SVU in 2001, followed by playing Kristine McLean in Law & Order Season 15 in 2004. That was followed by Brianne Colby in Trial By Jury Season 1 in 2005, and then by Jennifer Banks in Season 10 of SVU again in 2009.
Cynthia Nixon
Cynthia Nixon won the Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama for playing Janis Donovan in the Season 9 premiere of SVU in 2007. That was only one of her three characters in the franchise, as she played Laura Di Biasi in Law & Order‘s first season in 1990 and Amanda Rollins (who is not the same as the SVU character) on Criminal Intent in Season 10 in 2011.
Ellen Pompeo
Before she landed her longtime role as Meredith Grey on Grey’s Anatomy, Ellen Pompeo appeared as two characters on Law & Order. She played Jenna Weber in a Season 6 episode in 1996, followed by Laura Kendrick in Season 10 in 2000.
David Harbour
Prior to joining Stranger Things, David Harbour appeared as five different characters in Dick Wolf’s TV franchise. First was Mike in a 1999 episode of Law & Order, followed by Terry Jessup in a 2002 episode of SVU’‘s fourth season, which he then followed by playing Wesley John Kenderson in Criminal Intent Season 4 in 2008, Jay Carlin in Law & Order Season 18 in 2008, and then finally Paul Devildis in Criminal Intent Season 8 in 2009.
Paget Brewster
Criminal Minds‘ Paget Brewster found time for another network TV crime procedural with two characters across three installments of Law & Order: SVU. First, she played Sheila Tierney in a Season 8 episode that aired on NBC in 2007, followed by two episodes of Season 14 in 2012 as Bureau Chief Paula Foster.
Allison Janney
Before she became an Emmy winner for the first time with The West Wing in 2000, Allison Janney was a repeat actor on Law & Order in the ’90s. Her first episode was as Nora in the second season in 1992, followed by Ann Madsen in the fourth season in 1994.
Jeremy Allen White
Prior to joining Shameless and more than a decade before The Bear, Jeremy Allen White appeared in two consecutive seasons of Law & Order as two separate characters, starting with playing Jeremy in 2007 and then Andy Steel in 2008. In 2010, he moved over to SVU to play Michael Parisi in Season 11.
Paul Wesley
Ahead of his debut as a Salvatore brother in The Vampire Diaries, Paul Wesley landed a role as Danny Burrell in the Season 2 premiere of SVU in 2000, followed by playing Luke Miller in Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 2 in 2002. Then he headed back to SVU in 2005 to play Luke Breslin in an early Season 7 episode.
Hayden Panettiere
Hayden Panettiere’s name may be more synonymous with Heroes and Nashville than anything else, but she can be found in two episodes of SVU earlier in her career. First, she was Ashley Austin Black in a Season 2 episode in 2001, followed by a return to play Angela Agnelli in Season 6 in 2005.
Pablo Schreiber
While it’s safe to say that Pablo Schreiber’s most memorable Law & Order role was as William Lewis on SVU from Season 14-15, that certainly wasn’t his only part. He previously played Dan Kozlowski in an SVU Season 8 episode in 2007, as well as Sean Hauser and Kevin Boatman in Seasons 16 and 19 (respectively) of Law & Order, and TJ Hawkins and Ed Lang in Seasons 4 and 7 of Criminal Intent.
Ann Dowd
Better known now for The Handmaid’s Tale, Ann Dowd may hold the record for the most characters in the Dick Wolf franchise. On Law & Order, she played Teresa Franz in Season 1, Dorothy Baxter in Season 4, Patricia Smith in Season 6, and Dr. Beth Allison in Season 14. On Criminal Intent, she played Laurie Manotti in Season 4. For Trial by Jury, she played Karen Ames in Season 1. On SVU, she played Louise Durning in Season 2, Sally Wilkens in Season 4, and Lillian Siefeld in Season 10.
Chandra Wilson
Future Grey’s Anatomy star Chandra Wilson arrived in the Law & Order franchise in 1992 to play Serena Price in the original show’s second season. A decade later, she came to SVU as Nurse Jenkins in Season 4 and then returned in Season 7 in 2005 as Rachel Sorannis.
Elizabeth Mitchell
Lost‘s Elizabeth Mitchell appeared in two memorable episodes of Law & Order: SVU. She first portrayed Andrea Brown in a Season 4 episode that aired in 2003. She returned nearly ten years later in 2011 to play June Frye in a Season 12 episode.
Source Agencies
