After playing not one, not two, but five different characters across the Law & Order franchise, it’s even more impressive to learn that Special Victims Unit icon Peter Scanavino can still remember his first line as the steadfast Sonny Carisi. But few can deny the SVU star’s introduction was iconic in part thanks to the dynamite mustache he was rocking at the time.
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Law & Order: Special Victims Unit returns Thursday, January 8 at 9/8c on NBC and next day on Peacock.
In a 2022 behind-the-scenes video among the Law & Order stars, Scanavino was happy to look back on the pantheon of different characters he’s played in and out of the squadroom, but couldn’t hide how much he cherishes his longtime role of detective turned A.D.A. Carisi.
“Well, I’ve done quite a few Law & Orders in the different iterations,” Scanavino reflected, confessing that he couldn’t remember his first lines from his appearances on the original Law & Order, Criminal Intent, Trial by Jury, or even his previous character on SVU because he was playing such a “different character” from the A.D.A. he’d one day come to play.
“But my first line as Carisi, I do remember,” Scanavino clarified with confidence. “And I think it was, ‘They shot at us right outside of the station, so they want us to know they’re crazy.'”
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Sure enough, Scanavino’s Season 16 arrival occurred in “Girls Disappeared” right after a group of perps swarmed the precinct with a flurry of bullets. Amid the chaos, Carisi still managed to bring pastries for his new squad room pals in an effort to make a good impression on his new boss, Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay), bringing “a bunch of zeppoles and a mustache” Carisi recalled with a grin.
Peter Scanavino reminisces over Carisi’s “awesome” mustache on SVU
While thinking back to that exciting first day as a member of the regular cast, Scanavino admitted his nerves led him to bring a charged energy to the set.
“What was happening that day, I was nervous ’cause I didn’t want to blow it, and I was making sure I knew my lines,” Scanavino said. “I kind of remember walking; it was like, ‘This is how a cop would walk.’ I don’t know, doing some character stuff and trying to really get into it in the way that you would when you’re really, really amped up.”
Still, Scanavino couldn’t help but shake his head at Carisi’s mustache, which was ditched in the following seasons. It’s a truly glorious facial feature, but Carisi looks humorously retro. “The mustache — yeah, that was awesome,” Scanavino relished. “I can’t believe they let me do that. Then we decided maybe that wasn’t the best idea.”
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Kelli Giddish also played a different character before Rollins on SVU
Similar to Scanavino, his on-screen wife and squad room colleague Kelli Giddish also appeared on SVU as a different character before settling in as Detective Amanda Rollins. Giddish made her first appearance in Season 8, Episode 12 of SVU (“Outside”) as Kara Bawson, an assault survivor.
Giddish couldn’t recall her first line as Kara, but she did remember connecting with Ice T behind the scenes of her Law & Order debut.
“I played a victim on SVU before I ever got cast as a detective. I do know that I worked with Ice-T for most of it,” Giddish recalled. While Giddish’s memory of playing Kara is murky, she’d never forget her first scene as Amanda Rollins, wherein she was keen to get to work alongside Captain Donald Cragen (Dann Florek).
“The very first scene I shot on SVU as a detective was me carrying a box of things and being a little eager beaver to say, ‘Hi, I’m here. I’m ready to learn. You know, I’ve heard a lot about you. Hey, I’m Detective Rollins!’ I think it went something like that.”
Rollins correctly guessed the gist of her Season 13 arrival at the 16th Precinct, where she continues to kick criminal butt to this day.
Mariska Hargitay could also still remember her first SVU line
When Hargitay was asked if she could remember the first words Olivia Benson said during her 1999 debut on SVU, she was dubious. “No. That was what, 62 years ago?” Hargitay quipped before giving it a real think.
“My first lines. Hold on, hold on, hold on. I do remember that scene,” Hargitay contemplated, then asked, “Did Chris Meloni remember his first lines? ‘Cause if he did, I’m gonna be so jealous.”
After the playful joke about her former partner, Hargitay thought about SVU’s 1999 premiere some more and got very close. “Is it possible that my first lines were my name?” Hargitay mused. “Somebody asked me who I was, or I came on a crime scene, and I said, ‘Olivia Benson’?”
Hargitay was right on the money — her first line in “Payback” was introducing herself and Stabler as sex crimes detectives. Upon discovering she was correct, Hargitay was in euphoric surprise at her uncanny recall.
“What?!” Hargitay exclaimed. Spending three decades solving crimes at the helm of the NBC nail-biter has clearly sharpened the SVU icon’s memory!
Law & Order: SVU returns on Thursday, January 8 with a two-hour crossover event on NBC. In the meantime, you can stream every episode of SVU on Peacock.
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