25 Law & Order Guest Stars We Forgot About
The Law & Order franchise is one of the most successful on television. The original series ran from 1990 to 2010 and resumed telecasts in 2022. It spawned six spinoffs with varying degrees of success.
Given the franchise’s longevity, it’s not surprising that television and movie stars either started their careers or made early-career appearances on the various iterations of the crime drama series. The original Law & Order has run for 23 seasons and was renewed for a 24th in March. Its spinoff, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, has aired since 1999. Each series has won six Primetime Emmys.
Many of the actors who appeared in the series early in their careers would go on to receive Academy Awards or Emmy Awards for their performances. Today’s most noteworthy stars got their start on a Law & Order episode.
Pedro Pascal
Star of Narcos, The Last Of Us, and The Mandalorian, Pedro Pascal is one of many household names that first appeared in Law & Order.
Law & Order Criminal Intent’s “Weeping Willow” (2006), the original Law & Order series in “Tango” (2008), and in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, in “Smoked,” which aired in 2011.
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Philip Seymour Hoffman guest-starred in the 1991 episode of Law & Order titled “The Violence of Summer” as Steven Hanauer, a man facing assault trial.
Hoffman would go on to win an Oscar for playing the title character in Capote in 2006. He lost his long battle with drug addiction in 2014.
Sarah Paulson
Sarah Paulson has burnished her acting career with a Primetime Emmy (American Crime Story) and appearances on the series American Horror Story and the films The Post and 12 Years a Slave.
She first appeared on screen in the 1994 Law & Order episode “Family Values.” Paulson plays a girl who is tried for the murder of her mother.
Idris Elba
British star Idris Elba has rolled up impressive acting credentials in the BBC crime series Luther and the cable television series The Wire, as well as in action/adventure movies like Thor: Ragnarok.
He appeared in the Law & Order episode “3 Dawg Night” in 2001. The episode is about a man shot and killed at the club where a famous rapper and his famous girlfriend were seen.
Sarah Hyland
Sarah Hyland is a daughter on the sitcom Modern Family, which has won 22 Primetime Emmys.
She was just 13 when she appeared in the Law & Order episode “The Dead Wives Club” in 2004. The episode was about the murder of a 9-11 widow who received a lucrative settlement after the death of her firefighter husband.
Ellen Pompeo
We know Ellen Pompeo as Dr. Meredith Grey in the long-running series Grey’s Anatomy. Before that acting credit, Pompeo appeared in a 1996 episode of Law & Order as a young girl whose mother and brother are murdered, and her father is a prime suspect.
Pompeo returned to Law & Order in 2000 as the sister of a murder victim and an alleged accomplice to the crime.
Jennifer Garner
Jennifer Garner soared into stardom in television prime time in the spy series Alias in 2001.
Before that breakthrough role, she appeared in the Law & Order episode “Aftershock” in 1996. The episode was noteworthy for fans of the series because Assistant District Attorney Claire Kincaid died in a car accident.
Kerry Washington, “3 Dawg Night,”, 2001
Primetime Emmy winner Kerry Washington has distinguished herself on television on Shonda Rhymes’ Scandal, and motion pictures such as Django Unchained, Ray, and The Last King of Scotland.
Washington appeared in the Law & Order episode “3 Dawg Night” in 2001, about a man shot and killed at the club where a famous rapper and his famous girlfriend were seen.
Zoe Saldana
Most people know Zoe Saldana from blockbusters like Guardians of the Galaxy, Avatar, and Star Trek.
Before she entered the Marvelverse, however, she was on Law & Order. In “Refuge: Part 2,” Saldana plays Belinca, a young woman involved with Colombian gansters.
She appeared in a Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode 2004 titled “Criminal,” playing Gabrielle Vega, the daughter of a murder suspect in an SVU episode.
Vera Farmiga
Vera Farmiga has appeared in notable films such as The Departed, Up in the Air, and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.
Before those parts, Farmiga landed a role in the Law & Order episode “Expert.” She played the daughter of a convicted murderer who goes on trial and is accused of attempting to kill an expert witness who testified in her father’s trial on his behalf.
Laverne Cox
Laverne Cox became the first openly transgender actor nominated for their role in the women’s prison series Orange Is the New Black.
In 2008, Cox appeared in the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode “Closet.” Cox played a gym manager who employs a murder suspect. That same year, Cox briefly appeared in the Law & Order episode “Sweetie.”
Claire Danes
Danes is a three-time Primetime Emmy-winning star who has appeared in series such as My So-Called Life, Homeland, and the Oscar-winning motion picture The Hours.
She first appeared on-screen in the Law & Order episode “Skin Deep” in 1992. Danes played Tracy Brandt, a suspect in the murder of a photographer.
Ty Burrell
Ty Burrell is another Modern Family actor who made an earlier-career appearance on Law & Order.
The two-time Primetime Emmy winner first appeared on Law & Order in 2000 in the episode “Turnstile Justice” and again in 2002 as a different character in “Execution.”
Jesse McCarthy
Jesse McCarthy began his career in theater and his television credits include Fear the Walking Dead. Most may recognize him as a pop artist who gained popularity in
McCarthy has appeared in the Law & Order series twice. The first time was in 2000 in the episode “Thin Ice.” Eight years later, he appeared in the episode “Babes” on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
Isaiah Washington
Isaiah Washington, another Grey’s Anatomy veteran, has big-screen credits, including Ghost Ship and Romeo Must Die.
He made one of his first on-screen appearances on Law & Order in 1991. Washington played Derek Hardy in the episode “Out of Control.”
Kate Walsh
Before appearing in Emily In Paris, The Umbrella Academy, and Grey’s Anatomy, Kate Walsh was in the 1997 Law & Order episode “Navy Blues.”
She played a Navy lieutenant who is the leading suspect after her lover, a fellow naval officer, is murdered.
Felicity Huffman
Felicity Huffman achieved fame on Desperate Housewives and infamy for hiring someone to take the SAT for her daughter to gain admission to an elite college.
Before that, Huffman appeared on Law & Order twice. She appeared as Diane Perkins in the 1992 episode “Helpless” and Hillary Colson in “Working Mom” in 1997.
Julianna Margulies
Three-time Primetime Emmy winner Julianna Margulies has become a well-known television actor, appearing on series such as The Sopranos, ER, and The Good Wife.
She appeared in the Law & Order episode “Conduct Unbecoming” in 1993 as a Navy lieutenant called as a witness to the investigation of a female naval officer who died during a hotel party. Like many L&O episodes, this one was based on an actual event — the Navy and Marine Corps Tailhook scandal.
Laura Linney
Laura Linney has distinguished herself on the big screen with movies such as Primal Fear, The Truman Show, and Love Actually, and in television series such as The Big C and Ozark.
The three-time Oscar nominee appeared in the 1994 Law & Order episode “Blue Bamboo” as the character Martha Bowen, a singer accused of murder.
Allison Janney
Allison Janney has had a celebrated career in television and motion pictures. She’s won seven Primetime Emmy awards, four of them for playing C.J. Cregg in the drama series The West Wing. She also won a best-supporting Oscar for portraying the mother of troubled ice skater Tonya Harding in the film I, Tonya.
Janney was in two Law & Order episodes earlier in her career. She appeared as a witness in an episode titled “Star Struck” in 1992 about a soap opera star beaten by an obsessed fan. Two years later, Janney played a witness to a mob hit who agrees to testify and then is killed in the episode “Old Friends.”
Emmy Rossum
Emmy Rossum is well-known to television viewers as the daughter of an alcoholic in the series Shameless. Before that star turn, she appeared in Mystic River, The Day After Tomorrow, and The Phantom of the Opera.
Her first credited role was in a 1997 Law & Order episode titled “Ritual.” She played the daughter of a man suspected of killing his wife’s uncle.
Amanda Peet
1995 proved to be an important year for Amanda Peet. She made her feature film debut in the movie Animal Room. That same year, Peet appeared in the Law & Order episode “Hot Pursuit,” about a wealthy young woman involved in a crime spree.
Peet appeared in a string of indie films before she vaulted to stardom in 2000, playing a loopy hit woman with a heart of gold in the comedy The Whole Nine Yards.
Chandra Wilson
We know Chandra Wilson from her role as Dr. Miranda Bailey on the long-running medical drama Grey’s Anatomy. She’s also appeared in the series The Sopranos, Sex and the City, and films such as Philadelphia.
Wilson appeared in one 1992 episode of Law & Order titled “Cradle to Grave,” about a baby found frozen to death in a hospital emergency room.
Edie Falco
Edie Falco had an early-career credit on Law & Order. She appeared as defense attorney Sally Bell in the 1993 episode “Mother Love.” She would reprise the role in the 1994, 1997, and 1998 episodes.
Falco is a four-time Primetime Emmy winner. She played the abused wife of gangster Tony Soprano in The Sopranos and the title character in the series Nurse Jackie.
Bradley Cooper
Bradley Cooper, a 12-time Oscar nominee, has appeared in such films as A Star is Born, American Sniper, Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle, and the Hangover films.
In 2005, he played a defense attorney defending a man accused of assaulting immigrants in the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode “Trial by Jury.
