Once upon a time, in a land far, far away from Litchfield Penitentiary, there was a magical world called New York City in the ’90s. People called actors lived there, and those people had a really hard time landing huge jobs in film, television or theatre that consistently paid them a lot of money. To supplement their income, or just to boost their careers, many actors took bit roles on a fantastic long-running television show called Law and Order, which also branched out into spinoffs like Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, Law and Order: Criminal Intent, and its ill-fated cousins, Law and Order: Los Angeles, Law and Order: UK and Law and Order: Trial By Jury. Each different breed of Law and Order had its own unique cadence, which was comforting if repetitive, and viewers could enjoy solving the mystery along with the charmingly curmudgeonly detectives and a stable of very attractive Assistant District Attorneys. You guys, it was the best show, and still is (because you can watch a marathon of it on USA or TNT at any given moment).
These glorious motherfuckers.
Our own illustrious Kate suggested while putting together one of her brilliant Orange Is The New Black recaps that probably nearly every single actor on the show had at one point been featured in a Law and Order episode, a theory that turned out to be true. Because I am a person of questionable sanity and dubious employment, I decided to prove her hypothesis. I scoured IMDB, locked myself in my apartment for three days, and over time I was able to collect almost every appearance. These are their stories.
DOINK DOINK.
Kate Mulgrew/Red
In “Web” (Season 7, Episode 21 of Law and Order: SVU), Kate Mulgrew plays Assistant US Attorney Donna Geysen, who demands that a 14-year-old boy with a history of sexual abuse be punished to the full extent of the law for molesting his younger brother on a live webcam show. In case you ever wondered how Red’s intimidation factor would stack up against badass ADA Casey Novak, this episode answers that question for you: Red wins. Her investigation drives the boy to run away from home, aided and eventually kidnapped by the pedophiles who supported his online endeavors. Thankfully, this episode takes place during that tragic period of time where Detective Benson had run away to join the computer crimes unit, so Benson is able to use her new l337 hacking skills to help Detective Stabler rescue the boy and serve sweet, sweet justice.
Could really use a jalapeño scrub from Piper right about now.
Selenis Leyva/Gloria
The Law and Orderverse has a very short memory, and it’s not uncommon to see an actor play several assorted roles as different bit characters throughout the years – like this woman, who has basically played a different maid in every single episode of the Law and Order franchise, or Diane Neal, who played a rapist in Law and Order: SVU‘s third season only to join the cast full time as ADA Casey Novak in season five. Selenis Leyva played Lorinda Gutierrez in the first season of SVU, and assorted bit roles in various episodes of Criminal Intent. On Law and Order proper, Leyva spent 17 episodes as Detective Mariluz Rivera, often popping out of the woodwork to offer evidence or explain key plot developments to main detectives Fontana and Green. Three seasons later, she popped up as a bit character in Season 20 Episode 14 (“Boy On Fire”), and nobody on the force seemed to recognize her. Great detective work, you guys.
Also looks cute in a hairnet though.
Vicky Jeudy/Janae Watson
Man, everything happens to poor Watson. In Season 15, Episode 10 of Law and Order: SVU, Detectives Amaro and Rollins are coming home from a party when they happen upon Officer Shannon McKenna (Vicky Jeudy) and her partner, who are in hot pursuit of a teenager they suspect of selling drugs. Both McKenna and the suspect are injured in the subsequent gun battle, and when it comes to light that the suspect was unarmed, Amaro finds both his badge and his conscience on the line. I remember watching this episode earlier this year and I have a lot of episodes to get through so I didn’t re-watch the entire plot, but I assume it ends with Watson being put in the SHU again for little to no reason. Sorry buddy.
“WHY DO TERRIBLE THINGS KEEP HAPPENING TO ME ON TELEVISION SHOWS!??!!”
Michael Harney/Sam Healy
Before he was Defender Of All Men and Protector Of The Talking Stick on Orange Is The New Black, Michael Harney was mostly famous for playing a cop on NYPD Blue. He’s been in four different episodes of Law and Order, two of them as Lieutenant Stu Miller. In Season 7, Episodes 15 & 16, Lieutenant Miller shows up to help Briscoe and Curtis track down the murderer of a wealthy movie studio executive.
“Well, Detective Briscoe, we still haven’t ruled out ‘potential lesbian activity’ as the cause of death.”
Sanja Danilovic/Katja Healy
While we’re at it, Sam Healy’s mail order bride has also been featured on a couple of episodes. In Season 15 Episode 1 of Law and Order: SVU, Sanja has a bit role as the unsuspecting wife of a man who has kept several other women locked in a Brooklyn basement for decades. In spite of all of this, she seems to like this guy a lot more than Katja likes Healy.
“I don’t know, he said something about taking me to the Spaghetti Factory later.”
Lea DeLaria/Big Boo
Season 10 Episode 14 (“Transitions”) of Law and Order: SVU features Lea DeLaria as Frankie, the tough-as-nails bouncer at a strip joint called Sugar Pops. Her job is to keep creepy, potentially dangerous men away from the dancers, and she seems to enjoy the hell out of it.
hahahaha who knows
Barbara Rosenblat/Miss Rosa
The SVU detectives are trying to track down the ID of a man who was brutally assaulted outside the club, and when they discover his place of employment, they run into none other than Barbara Rosenblat, also known as Miss Rosa. Rosenblat also appears as a nurse in an earlier episode (Season 6, Episode 17, “Rage”).
“Always so rude, that one.”
Laverne Cox/Sophia
Autostraddle’s Favourite Person Of All Time Laverne Cox has a tiny role as a friendly truck stop prostitute named Minnie in Law and Order Season 19 Episode 6, “Sweetie,” which was based loosely(?) on the scandal surrounding writer JT LeRoy. You can also spot her in Law and Order: SVU Season 9, Episode 16, “Closet,” as Candace, the manager of a men’s gym called Bulge’s.
Pablo Schreiber/Pornstache
Pornstache is the absolute worst, whether he has a mustache or not. In Law and Order: SVU‘s continued efforts to emotionally destroy Detective Olivia Benson (and/or give Mariska Hargitay all the Emmys, hard to tell), our favourite be-lipglossed superhero cop was presented with an absolute nightmare of a stalker, sadistic criminal mastermind William Lewis. Lewis kidnapped and tortured Benson on more than one occasion, and took advantage of every woman he encountered — including his lawyer, played by Lauren Ambrose, aka Claire from Six Feet Under. Terrible things just keep happening to Benson, and honestly it’s gotten to be a little bit ridiculous — like, how much trauma is it going to take before this lady retires? We will not miss you, Pornstache. Leave Mariska alone.
WE DON’T LEAVE LUNCH TIL LUNCH IS OVERRRRRRR.
Natasha Lyonne/Nichols
Natasha’s stint on SVU is actually pretty significant — she stars in Season 13 Episode 8, “Educated Guess,” as Gia Eskas, a patient at a psychiatric facility who is being abused by someone at the hospital. Although her world-weary character is pretty dramatically different from Nicky Nichols, she still drops a couple of Nichols-esque wisecracks at Benson and Rollins’ expense.
“Cagney and Lacey were just leaving.”
Michael Chernus/Cal Chapman
Oh look, it’s Michael Chernus, AKA Piper’s brother Cal Chapman, playing another patient in the hospital who comes under suspicion and gets interrogated by Ice-T.
“WE’RE GONNA EAT THE WORLD.”
Annie Golden/Norma
Annie Golden’s had a pretty fascinating career; in the late 70s she fronted a New Wave band called the Shirts, and then went on to enjoy brief pop stardom in the mid-80s. In 1999, she appeared in Season 10 Episode 2 as the mother of a little girl who was interviewed as a potential witness to a homicide. You can also spot her in Season 7, Episode 14 of Law and Order: SVU as Varla, a pregnant homeless woman with a substance abuse problem who panhandles outside a coffeeshop. In both roles, she actually talks to the cops.
“…”
Joel Garland/O’Neill
After spending most of Season 1 as merely background noise (something about fad diets), correctional officer and civil war re-enactment enthusiast Scott O’Neill basically kills it this season with his on-again, off-again relationship drama with Bell and his banjolele songs about his Catholic upbringing. In the Season 12 premiere of Law and Order (“Who Let The Dogs Out?”), Garland plays Ralph Carson, a man who is arrested and questioned for his participation in a brutal dogfighting ring. This episode is also noteworthy because it features the first appearance of Elisabeth Röhm as dreamy lesbian ADA Serena Southerlyn. You can also see Joel Garland as Mickey Scertza in Season 17 Episode 16, “Murder Book.”
“Officer, it’s not what it looks like. I’m doing the four-hour body.”
Catherine Curtin/Wanda Bell
In Season 6, Episode 6 of Law and Order: Criminal Intent, a man is arrested for the long-unsolved murder of a young girl, but his story doesn’t add up. As Goren and Eames investigate, the girl’s attention-hungry mother (Liza Minnelli) points them in the direction of her daughter’s acting coach, Jenna Switzer — aka Catherine Curtin, who also plays stone-faced correctional officer Bell on Orange Is The New Black. Switzer isn’t much help with the investigation, but if Bell were there I’m pretty sure her suggestion would be to perform a squat and cough on well, pretty much everyone present. Curtin also plays the bit character Julie Liscomb in Law and Order Season 18, Episode 10 (“Tango”).
“Have you tried squatting? And you also tried coughing? Have you tried them together?”
Taryn Manning/Pennsatucky
Without spoiling too much of Season Two for those of you who somehow haven’t finished the episodes yet (get it together, seriously), I think we can all agree that Pennsatucky takes great strides this season to get her anger under control and change her life for the better. Unfortunately, her character Larissa Welch on Season 12 Episode 12 of Law and Order: SVU (“Possessed”) doesn’t get quite so positive a story arc — she grows up sexually abused and forced to star in child pornography, only to be recognized and later assaulted by one of her “fans.”
Emma Myles/Leanne
Emma Myles has been in two episodes of SVU, Season 11, Episode 9 “Perverted” and Season 6, Episode 10 “Haunted.” In “Perverted,” she plays Starla, the “old lady” of a biker who’s found murdered with Detective Benson’s business card in his wallet. After Stabler comes by Starla’s place to ask her a couple of questions, she bursts into tears over the loss of not her boyfriend, but his motorcycle.
Also concerned about a very serious maple syrup situation.
Constance Shulman/Yoga Jones
Just four episodes after her BFF Watson gets shot in the line of duty, Patty Mayonnaise herself appears as the manager of a daycare who also arranges illegal adoptions for problem children. In Season 15, Episode 13 of Law and Order: SVU, Constance Shulman takes a rowdy little boy from his overwhelmed mother and places him with a couple who give her fake names and list Yankee Stadium as their address. Oops.
“Okay, you want to project your issues onto me… That’s cool.”
Tamara Torres/Weeping Woman
I’m not the hugest fan of Law and Order: Criminal Intent, because I find Vincent D’Onofrio’s character completely obnoxious and infuriating. The formula of Criminal Intent just seems like it’s trying too hard to be cerebral, and it ends up being overly complicated and irritating. Anyway, if you keep your eyes peeled during Season 5 Episode 2, you can spot the woman responsible for my favourite running gag on Orange Is The New Black, the Weeping Woman who constantly hogs the phones. This episode is fortunately Vincent D’Onofrio-free and instead features Chris Noth as Detective Logan, and Weeping Woman finds herself in the wrong place at the wrong time at her family’s mom and pop jewelry shop in the Bronx. She’s also credited as “Woman” in an episode of Law and Order Proper (“School Daze,” Season 11, Episode 22).
Never not crying.
Nick Sandow/Caputo
Almost no other character on Orange Is The New Black has had a more prolific Law and Order career than Nick Sandow, who appears in two episodes of Criminal Intent (Season 9, Episode 13 and Season 5, Episode 4), one SVU (Season 7, Episode 17) and three regular Law and Orders. In Season 7 Episode 7, Sandow plays Pete Pogosian, a smarmy car thief who turns up to visit a business associate who (unbeknownst to him) has just been murdered. I only skimmed this episode because I have a lot more Law and Order to watch, but apparently Jerry Stiller ends up involved in this situation somehow. Also, Caputo’s brother is played by Big Pussy from the Sopranos. Good episode, guys. In another episode, Sandow plays a bail agent, and in yet another, he’s a cop. He’s much better looking without that goofy mustache.
Detective Briscoe, huge fan of Side Boob.
Beth Fowler/Sister Ingalls
Oh hey, check out Beth Fowler in Law and Order‘s Season 3, Episode 19 as the horrified mother of a teenage hacker who invented a virus that infected a hospital’s computer and killed several diabetic patients. Like most mothers of teenage murderers on Law and Order, she staunchly insists upon his innocence and then makes a series of horrified faces over the course of her son’s trial. Sister Ingalls would never stand for this. Sister Ingalls would have sprayed pigs’ blood all over Jack McCoy’s office door and probably led a courthouse riot. Easily the best part of this episode is the early 90s-era hacking, which even predates the movie Hackers.
Sister Ingalls is having none of this bullshit.
Jessica Pimentel/Maria Ruiz
Jessica Pimentel is another well-seasoned L&O veteran, having appeared in one Criminal Intent, two regular Law and Orders and two SVUs. In an effort to find the most important episode from her career, I skimmed through her first appearance, Law and Order Season 13, Episode 12 (“Under God”), wherein she plays a sex worker whose john finds a dead body in the opening sequence. Her next role on classic Law and Order was Season 20, Episode 7 (“Boy Gone Astray”), as Tina, a party girl who Detectives Lupo and Bernard pick up while investigating the murder of an interior designer with connections to a Mexican drug cartel. Later in the episode, Elizabeth Rodriguez (aka Aleida, Daya Diaz’s mom) pops up as the mother of a child recruited and trained as an assassin by the cartel, and the credits reveal that said episode was directed by Rose Troche, who is responsible for several episodes of The L Word. Bingo.
Somehow, this is probably Alex Vause’s fault.
Elizabeth Rodriguez/Aleida Diaz
Daya’s mom Aleida is certainly not the most sympathetic character on Orange is the New Black, but occasionally she can be surprisingly tender with Daya. Elizabeth Rodriguez has been featured in one episode of SVU (see above) and three episodes of Law and Order proper. Here she is in 1995 as Caridad Montero, the girlfriend of a young man found stabbed to death in a bar fight, rocking some really serious braids.
“And so the penguin says, ‘Dude, he’s not an eggplant…'”
Maria Dizzia/Polly
I hope that you all appreciate that I am so dedicated to this project that I watched a lot of Criminal Intent for you. Season 5, Episode 18 “Cruise to Nowhere” features Maria Dizzia as Daphne, a single mom who is also the harried older girlfriend of a crooked young gambling genius. All things considered, this is no worse than Pete leaving her and their newborn alone for his manly adventure times in Alaska.
You can bet Finn Harper will never eat any breakfast cereal that is not local, organic and “artisanal.”
Alysia Reiner/Natalie Figueroa
I invite you to travel back in time with me to 2002, when Law and Order: SVU premiered Season 4, Episode 9, “Juvenile.” When police uncover the rape and murder of a woman with terminal cancer who was running a large-scale weed-farming operation out of her apartment, they seek out members of her medicinal marijuana club to track down the killer. Enter Alysia Reiner, also known as Assistant Warden Natalie Figueroa, queen of Resting Bitch Face, playing Cindy Kerber. You can also see Ms. Reiner’s condescending sneer in three episodes of Criminal Intent and two episodes of regular Law and Order.
“Just don’t tell the warden about this, okay?”
Michelle Hurst/Miss Claudette
Did I say Caputo was the reigning champion of Law and Order bit roles? Forgive me — this honor goes to Miss Claudette, who has enjoyed cameos in four episodes of Law and Order proper, three SVUs and one Criminal Intent. She’s performed such diverse roles as “ACS Social Worker” and “Pizza Lady.” Here, Michelle Hurst’s take-no-bullshit signature scowl is put to good use as she plays a public defender representing a murder suspect. That withering glare could make Jack McCoy shiver in his penny loafers.
“Baptiste better be taking me to the goddamn Olive Garden after this shit.”
Lorraine Toussaint/Vee
Lorraine Toussaint was a recurring character on Law and Order — she played Shambala Green, a tough-as-nails defense attorney who was a terrifying adversary to ADAs Benjamin Stone and Jack McCoy. She gave just about as much of a fuck about what anyone thought as Vee might, but under it all, her character had a heart of gold. Shambala Green often defended women who had been victimized by society, and she commanded the courtroom without so much as batting an eyelash. In Season 3 Episode 1 (“Skin Deep”), Green defends a woman accused of murdering a fashion photographer who was also pimping out aging models on the side. She tells Benjamin Stone, “You want to do this? Go. I’ll clean your clock. When I’m through, you won’t even care what time it is.” Bonus: this episode also contains some really excellent crumple-face crying from the defendant’s daughter, played by a very young Claire Danes.
“At the end of the day, you are a garden rose and that bitch is a weed.”
Deborah Rush/Carol Chapman
Deborah Rush is my favourite casting decision on this show, due to her brilliant turn as Jerri Blank’s awful, racist, neglectful stepmother on Strangers With Candy. If there’s one thing Deborah Rush excels at, it’s playing an uptight, unsympathetic white lady, often to a delightfully hilarious degree. Less hilarious is her character Frances Houston on Law and Order Season 8, Episode 7 (“Blood”), where she comes under suspicion after her ex-husband’s new wife is murdered as a racially-motivated cover-up. In SVU Season 1 Episode 10 (“Russian Love Poem”), Rush plays the wife of a serial cheater who discovers her husband’s body in their home. The most important bit role on Law and Order is always the one where you find the corpse.
“Your honor, my daughter will never find a husband in those shapeless khakis.”
Lin Tucci/DeMarco
Speaking of finding the corpse, Lin Tucci has the honor of finding her bloody mailman slumped outside her apartment while arguing with her husband in the opening scene of Season 9, Episode 5 (“Agony”) of Law and Order. Later, the detectives find a woman who’s been brutally attacked in the same building, and they begin to build a case against a suspected serial killer. Not much for Lin Tucci to go on here as her only line is an exasperated, “SHE’S YOUR NIECE!” but hey, here she is:
Laura Gómez/Blanca Flores
I have now watched Season 19, Episode 2 (“Challenged”) of Law and Order three times looking for Laura Gómez, who allegedly plays someone named Claudia. I am sorry. I have failed you. Unless she is on the cutting room floor and/or not facing the camera in any scenes, IMDB is a liar.
Kimiko Glenn/Soso
As the most annoying inmate in all of Litchfield history, Soso launches a hunger strike intended to create positive change in the quality of prison life. In Season 15 Episode 23 of Law and Order: SVU, Kimiko Glenn is introduced as an underage webcam girl in Bangkok who coyly solicits requests from her online admirers. In reality, she’s a decoy who helps the special victims unit locate dangerous pedophiles, apparently including Kevin from The Office.
“This beats the hell out of the time I spent WWOOFing on a macadamia farm in Xenia.”
Lori Tan Chinn/Chang
Chang is one of the most under-utilized characters on Orange Is The New Black, and in this deep cut from the short-lived series Law and Order: Trial By Jury, Lori Tan Chinn says literally one word: “manicure?” Nobody is really sure why any of this is happening.
Faye Yvette McQueen/Vee’s Doppelganger
Without spoiling any of the events this season for readers who may not have finished, Faye Yvette McQueen’s character is mistaken for Vee and suffers some of the consequences of Vee’s actions. She’s also been in two episodes of SVU, once in Season 15, Episode 17 (“Criminal Stories”) as a criminal defense attorney (just like Vee!), and once in Season 11, Episode 13 (“PC”) as “Lesbian Rights Activist.” Well, hello Faye Yvette McQueen. She’s got two regular Law and Orders under her belt and is also an extremely gifted professional dancer.
“Shut up, straight white dude.”
Abigail Savage/Gina
This one came from a commenter tip – in Season 11, Episode 2 of Law and Order: SVU (“Sugar”), Abigail Savage plays the orchestrator of a high-level scavenger hunt who plants a prize in a darkened train tunnel… which obviously also houses the dumped body of a recently murdered woman. Savage’s charming handle? The “Master Baiter.” She also appears in Season 5, Episode 9 (“Control”) as Dot, a homeless woman who lives in a subway tunnel.
“Says here the scavenger hunt prize is… a bloody tampon on an English muffin.”
Omg, I’m glad my person and I aren’t the only people to have noticed that. It was a game of ours for awhile after the first OITNB season to spot the actors showing up in L&O.
FYI, most of the Grey’s Anatomy stars also appeared in L&O episodes, sometimes several in one episode.
Just so fantastic.
AGREED! I kept finding actors overlapping and I’ve been talking about this with friends lately. SO rad!!!
I salute your dedication to this project. Like, how many hours? Dude. Duuuude.
Y’all are hitting it out of the PARK today!
I was JUST realizing this as I was perusing IMDB yesterday. Thank you for doing all of the research!
these are the important issues our website needs to tackle. THIS IS URGENT
You’re doing God’s work.
Thank you for your dedication; this information is valuable to me and relevant to my interests!
Pablo Schreiber as William Lewis has creeped me out to the point where I actively cannot like any role the actor plays. I hate Pornstache MORE because of William Lewis.
So basically, he played the role so well that I’ll never be able to watch him again in anything without thinking he’s about to horribly traumatize someone.
…Why yes, I’ve watched every episode of SVU.
100% agree. I didn’t want to watch but couldn’t pull myself away from that season. He was beyond creepy and terrible and definitely the scariest SVU villain and now I keep thinking that he and Pornstache are the same.
I’ve seen the whole Lewis arc and didn’t realize he was also Pornstache, which I guess is what they call “acting”
It took me a hot second to catch on too, but my SVU watching spree happened after I watched season 1 of OITNB, so… But once I saw it, I never unsaw.
So now my reaction to Pablo Schreiber is now all “Nope. Nope. NOPE.”
The Wire,Season 2–plays a good-at-heart blue-collar guy struggling with the changes of the City
Weeds, Season 7–he’s actually really, well, sexy as a partner for Nancy.
Both roles he was likeable, but glad I saw these before Pornstache!
hahahahah oh my god i am so, so deeply impressed. great investigative work here. zapped a solid 40 minutes from my workday and i’m not even mad about it
That was great!
I made sure to listen to this while reading your article: http://youtu.be/xz4-aEGvqQM
This is amazing work. Amazing. Work.
This is excellent. I applaud your dedication to this list.
Also…
Easily the best part of this episode is the early 90s-era hacking, which even predates the movie Hackers.
But it doesn’t predate the far superior Sneakers or the even more far superiorer WarGames. On the other hand, neither of those films had Angelina Jolie, which is a grave oversight on their part.
i stopped watching svu two,three seasons ago. i think they didn’t know what to do once stabler left. and there will never come a time that i won’t watch law and order the original, so it makes all the sense in the world that amazing actors in one tv show like law and order would also be oitnb. i really appreciate your dedication madame, well done
Is it weird that I like some of changes in how the write the show now? A few more arcs thrown into the works.
HOWEVER, dear god, they need to stop fucking with Olivia. And all of them, really. I feel like Tutuola is the only not dealing with some shit, or at least not dealing with shit using terrible coping mechanisms.
no its not weird but i think because mariska is one of the producers her character is going to go through stuff but I’m like an old curmudgeon…kids these days,
I normally don’t pay as much attention to OITNB posts because I still haven’t watched it (I know, I know!), but I have real strong feelings about L&O. RIP Jerry Orbach, seriously.
I would buy a t-shirt that said “What Would Jerry Orbach Do”
I commend you for how long you took to actually find all of this information out. Haha well done
The feyonce and I have a thing about how every actor’s profile on IMDB lists a L&O role. But this list… this is amazing. Thank you.
Stef, Katja Healy is Ukrainian. Speaking Russian doesn’t make someone a Russian.
kalyna, healy refers to her as russian when he’s talking to his shrink about her. pay attention. we all know you’re ukrainian, dude.
She’s described as being Ukrainian in the first season and Healy first attempts to learn Ukrainian (despite Katya speaking Russian), so it’s disappointing that the writers can’t even tell the difference or acknowledge the change.
And come on, the only Ukrainian characters on TV are either interchangeable with Russians or are psychopaths. Excuse me for getting irate when we’re constantly undermined and dismissed in Western media. I know you’re just joking, but I don’t appreciate you telling me to “pay attention” when nobody knows the fucking difference between Ukrainians and Russians on TV.
Thanks, I’ve been trying to figure out whether I was just confused or whether the show represents Healy as not knowing the difference between Russian and Ukrainian.
Yeah, I assumed that the blunder was a reflection of Healy’s character not knowing the difference, but the OITNB wiki says that Katya (which is the correct transliteration of the name from Ukrainian or Russian) is Russian which is infuriating.
I mean, it’s not like hundreds of people have literally died this year because the world doesn’t think there’s a difference between Ukrainians or Russians, so obviously this is no big deal. Pay attention, indeed.
Thank you for your important community service work, Stef.
So, interesting fact. You know how Hollywood Reporter do these roundtable discussions with entertainment industry people? (Check them out if you don’t… They’re fascinating) Well, I just happened to be watching one with casting agents (http://m.hollywoodreporter.com/entry/view/id/14402) yesterday and guess what… The casting agent for Orange used to be a casting agent on law and order :)
And by casting agent I mean casting director, sorry, I think I just demoted her.
AND Pablo Schreiber was also in:
Law & Order
– Rumble (2008) … Sean Hauser
– America, Inc. (2006) … Kevin Boatman
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
– Self-made (2007) … TJ Hawkins
– The Unblinking Eye (2005) … Ed Lang
I joined the site just to post that. Because I am a nerd.
This list is a work of art.
The sad part is I have probably seen all of these episodes at least 20 times. I have a debilitating addiction to the Law and Order franchise that makes me stop what I’m doing to watch any episode when it comes on. I even watch Law and Order: UK. I have a problem, guys. And I need help!
There MUST be a L&O help group somewhere…MUST!!!
Autostraddle needs to have a “Hard-Hitting Investigative Journalism” tag to go with it’s shiny brand new “Vapid Fluff” tag. Obviously this article needs to be tagged with the first one.
“This are their stories” I alomost die!!
I kept scrolling down waiting for the list to end but it just kept going, which I found hilarious because that’s a huge list.
Also, poor Watson.
…So the episode with Yoga Jones in it was on tonight. My mom is watching it, and I just walked into the room and started watching it about a minute before the scene that the picture is from.
The woman who plays Gina is in an episode of I think the old school law and order I saw it on a couple weeks ago, she plays like this bad ass mystery geocacher
Actually I looked it up its svu season 11 episode 2: sugar her cover name is “Master Baiter” lol
she’s in two! i am watching them both now and will update accordingly, thanks for the heads up!
Really good. But I have to assume writing “every” OITNB character is in L&O was facetious. Joe, Daya, Tastee, Crazy Eyes, Morello, that female guard, Poussey & the 3 stars…Piper, Alex & Jason Biggs all aren’t on the list above. But this is still a really good piece. Kudos for taking all that time.
anybody who isn’t on this list isn’t in an episode of law and order – which is too bad, cos i’d love to see all those actors play a role.
I apologize for commenting twice, but I started watching the one with Lea DeLaria in it, and in that very same episode there is also Daniela Sea. This is wonderful and amazing.
I’m watching it right now and it is amazing!
Holy fucking shit like, every character.
This is kinda amazing! I started watching the early SVU seasons a few years ago (cause Alex) and I really get a little kick out of spotting bit actors that have made it big since then. Thanks for the 3 days spent on this Stef :)
this is spec-goddamn-tacular.
Now do the same for L&O and Sons of Anarchy. :)
While watching SOA, I found myself saying “Where do I know that actor from?!” and every single time, it was from L&O, with the majority from SVU.
A few examples:
– Opie (Ryan Hurst) plays Doug alongside his TV sister Rose McGowan in SVU’s “Bombshell”
– Unser (Dayton Callie) plays a NJ Judge in SVU’s “Jersey Breakdown”
– Chibbs (Tommy Flanagan) plays a bookie in SVU’s “Home Invasions”
– DA Patterson (CCH Pounder) plays a recurring defense lawyer Maddox in SVU
– Lee Toric (Donal Logue) played Lt. Declan Murphy in several episodes of SVU’s season 15
– Juice (Theo Rossi) played a victim’s brother in SVU’s “Presumed Guilty”
….and those are just the main characters. A lot of SOA’s guest stars also had appearances in the L&O franchise.
In Television City, the people are represented in two separate but equally important decades by the same bunch of actors. These are their stories.
DOINK DOINK
You missed one person … Thaddeus Daniels. He recently appeared in Season 2, Episode 6 on Orange is the New Black and previously has appeared in episodes for both Law & Order and Law & Order SVU.
Pornstache was also on an episode of L&O:Criminal Intent. He played the murderer who was a James Frey-esque fake memoir writer – Season 7, Episode 7 “Self-made”. I caught that re-run about a week before the new season.
Pornstache does an eerily great job playing evil, sadistic, sociopath, depraved, roles. My girl and I were watching scandal and noticed that Vee is in it too.
Holy shit! Maybe i should watch Law and Order more often
so i was skimming through yahoo when i saw an article titled 33 actors go from law and order to oitnb, and i was ready to punch someone,(shaking my fist yelling plagiarism!) anyway I clicked on the article, they give a cute summary of your article and then provided a link to it. Just wanted to let you guys know you’re all over my yahoo feed!!! here’s the article
http://www.theverge.com/2014/6/19/5823650/33-actors-in-both-law-and-order-orange-is-the-new-black
Pennsatucky’s episode was so good!
Also this isn’t Law and Order but I recognized Healy’s therapist immediately (played by Dierdre Lovejoy) from another crime drama, Bones, where she plays crazy serial murderer Heather Taffet.
Not quite Law and Order, but close. Dierdre Lovejoy’s most famous character is Rhonda Pearlman – the prosecutor in The Wire.
Great post. I tweeted Laura Gomez about her disappearing L&O role and she tweeted back:
Mike Daley @MikeDaley8 · 1h
@lg_lauragomez did you ever appear in Law and Order?
Laura Gómez
@lg_lauragomez
@MikeDaley8 had a principal role years ago but my scene was cut, but hold.. I have a guest starring role in an upcoming episode of L&O SVU
Missed one! Flashback little kid Piper was the daughter of the director in one of the recent episodes of SVU. Just watched it on my DVR today!
Sorry, not director… Producer. Episode 22 “Reasonable Doubt”.
Bloody hell. You should be in the FBI or something. Seriously impressive.
“Pornstache” also appeared in 2 episode of CI and 2 episodes of L&O. He is always someone that is “off.”
Haha, wow. I’ve never watched Law and Order.
Great post! These ladies deserve kudos! I note a preponderence of blondes though! Helen Miren Prime Suspect, Mary McCormack in Plain Sight, Kathryn Morris Cold Case, Kyra Sedgwick The Closer, Marg Helgenberger CSI, Gillian Anderson in The Fall and Sofia Helin The Bridge.
You mentioned Lauren Ambrose as an attorney in OITNB. She also played a mentally challenged student who was raped in season 4 or 5 of Law and Order
Holy research. This is brilliant.
Law and Order proper and SVY also like to swap actors with the HBO show OZ.
I was really enjoying this until I reached the transmisogynistic joke under Laverne Cox’s picture. Every other actor or actress featured had some kind of funny quote or statement related to something their character on OITNB did or said. Laverne’s, on the other hand, was that she recommended the moons over my hammy. From a quick google search, this is both a breakfast sandwich and a phrase used to describe a man mooning someone with his pants too low, exposing his genitals. We don’t need any more jokes objectifying trans people’s genitals or pointing out how “hilarious” transitioning is. What’s more, there was a scene in Season One where Sophia talks about breakfast sandwiches with Pornstache that would’ve provided at least one great pull quote to go with that diner photo.
oh wow, did not actually know that was a thing…? i was literally referring to the fact that it looks like she’s in a denny’s, had never heard the other thing before and certainly was not trying to objectify or mock anyone. honestly was just making fun of denny’s. will pull that right now, absolutely no disrespect to anyone.
“I don’t DO sausage on my breakfast sandwich!”
DOINK DOINK. bonus points for putting that sound effect in our heads so perfectly.
What stuck out most from this article? L&O needs to work on their lighting.
oh my goodness
So does this mean that Piper, Alex and Larry are the only ones who have never appeared in the L&O franchise? Or I’m just too lazy to look it up myself in imdb.
But most of all: I applaud your dedication. Those 3 days in lock up were for the good of all oitnb-kind.
And then Slate stole your article idea:
http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2014/07/01/orange_is_the_new_black_and_law_order_actors_on_both_shows_video.html?wpisrc=hpsponsoredd2
This list is amazing! And Pornstache was also in a 2007 SVU episode, ‘Haystack,’ before his William Lewis days on the show.
I think the best thing about how short the memory of L&O is is that meanwhile Richard Belzer/Munch is the same character with the same/mostly the same history through three different shows (Homicide: Life on the Streets, L&O, and L&O: SVU).
Law and Order is the best spotting game. EVERYONE’s been on there.
Laura Gomez played Selena Cruz on L&O: SVU, season 16. Episode was released few months after this article.
On the other hand, it’s amazing how a lot of the stories on OITNB coincide with the stories from SVU. I’m not a fan of L&O or CI to recall the other faces.
Laura Gomez plays a sex trafficker named Selena (first papering in episode 1 of season 16)in svu that was stolen from her mother in Mexico when she was little then came to work for the traffickers. She was given a chance to change her ways but later resurfaced again trafficking women.
Samira Wiley who pays Poussey on OITNB also appeared in an episode of svu called perverted justice (season 16 episode 21). Samira plays a young adult who claims her mother made her falsely accuse her father of sexually assaulting her when she was a young girl but by the end of the episode we never she starts doubting herself and can’t remember what the truth is.
Great list!! One that I noticed was missing though.. Also from OITNB, Crazy Eyes’ love interest Maureen Kukudio, played by actress Emily Althaus. She was in Law & Order SVU: Season 16 Episode 23.
If you even read these comments…………..Hello, there! I absolutely loved this article. I am at HUGE fan of both OITNB & Law and Order: SVU, and as I was binge watching SVU recently on Netflix, I couldn’t help but to notice how many familiar faces were popping up on the screen. I figured they were all just actors from different shows/movies I must have seen before…then it hit me…each and every facel recognized was from OITNB! So then I got curious. I wanted to know just how many orange characters had actually appeared on Law and order. Like I said before, I’m a huge fan of SVU, but I don’t particularly care for the other L&0’s. So, when I began my search I had no idea there were this many orange characters that have appeared throughout all the L&O’s… holy cow! That being said, I’d like to tip my hat to you, my friend, I know screening through countless episodes throughout several different series just to place a character had to be ridiculosly time consuming, and tedious as hell. So, as I previously stated, great job & excellent content. I found everything I was looking for in one place, which doesn’t happen often, so… Bravo! I do, however, have some character info to add… if that’s alright by you.
(1) Laura Gómez did appear somewhere in the Law & Order Series. IMDB just got it wrong about where. She appeared on two Law & Order: SVU episodes. The first being season 16, episode 1: “Girls Disappeared” as Selena, an employee of a pimp named Angel, helping him traffic young girls for prostitution. Benson convinces Selena to testify against her boss, Angel, in exchange for the promise that Benson would do everything she could to bring Selena’s estranged young son back to the states from Mexico…. which she does at the end of s16 ep 1; only for Selena to go right back to trafficking prostitutes later in the same season in episode 15: “Undercover Mother” also as Selena
(2) John Magaro: portrays Vince Mucio aka Lorna Morello’s pen-pal turned husband on OITNB. He appears on Law & Order:SVU Season 17, episode 4:”Institutional Fail” as A really crappy, overworked Department of Children’s Services caseworker, Keith Musio. This is also the episode that Jessica Pimental aka Ruiz guest stars in. They both guest star alongside Whoopi Goldberg, who portrays Janette Grayson, Keith Musio’s DCS supervisor. Both Musio and Grayson end up behind bars when their carelessness and neglect of the cases they handle subsequently lead to the death of a child in the system.
Cruella is Disney’s upcoming film. So Cruella is a cruel lady in The Hundred and one Dalmatians movie who is fond of the fur of dalmatians puppies. The director is of this upcoming film is Craig Gillespie and the screenplay is written by Aline Brosh McKenna, Jez Butterworth, Dana Fox, Kelly
https://imyblogi.com/cruella-2021-movie/
Blanca is shown in season 16 episode 23: surrendering Noah and in a few episodes prior as Selena.she was apart of a sex ring
Cal (OITNB) was also in season 16 as Tommy, the boyfriend of Sonny’s sister who was raped by his Parol Officer
I like your content
Pacific Rim is a science fiction action film. The first movie is released in 2013. And soon there will be the third installment of this movie. Steven S. DeKnight (in his feature-film directorial and writing debut), and written by DeKnight, Emily Carmichael, Kira Snyder, and T.S. Nowlin.
https://imyblogi.com/pacific-rim-3/
Aquaman 2 is coming in 2022 but we are so excited and need to understand each and everything about part 2 of the movie. This film is distributed by Warner bros pictures and it’s the sixth film within the DC Extended Universe. The director of this film is James wan. And you what it’s DC’s first movie ever which crosses 1.10 billion. Warner Bros confirms that the sequel is coming in 2022https://implicitinfo.com/aquaman-2-release-date-cast-plot-trailer/
Thanks for sharing this article it was quite insightful.
Hoping to see more articles. Meanwhile, refer
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