Entertainment

23 Celebrity Cameos From 'Law & Order: SVU' You Forgot About

by Megan Walsh

Virginia Sherwood/NBC

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit has become famous for its celebrity cameos: famous faces will be dropped into ripped-from-the-headlines stories that take wild turns in the space of a single episode. And with 20 seasons packed with upwards of 20 episodes each, there have been a lot of episodes to fill with familiar actors. But these 23 celebrity cameos from Law & Order: SVU are ones you may have forgotten about. No shade; there are too many to keep in your head all at once without earning an honorary doctorate in it.

Some cameos are practically iconic, so you won't find them on this list. Who could forget Marcia Gay Harden popping up repeatedly to work with Olivia Benson, or Cynthia Nixon's probably problematic United States of Tara turn? While the most studied Law & Order scholar might recall even the tiniest cameo, some of these could have slipped through your memory banks. And some of them weren't really celebrity cameos at the time they aired, because they happened before the actor in question broke out as a star. A few of these episodes were just working actors snagging a paycheck, though they would eventually hit the stratosphere in terms of stardom.

Without further ado, let's take this trip down memory lane together.

Bradley Cooper

Bradley Cooper appears in the Season 6 episode "Night" as a lawyer working for a wealthy, immoral family. Cooper's character is connected to the rape and murder of a woman when his money is found in her mouth. As per usual on Law & Order, that's only the start of the story — and I wouldn't dare spoil the end.

NBC/Hulu

Angela Lansbury, Et Al

"Night" is quite a star-studded affair, because in addition to Cooper's smarmy lawyer, the episode features Angela Lansbury as the matriarch of the wealthy family he's covering for. As a bonus, Alfred Molina plays her son, Rita Moreno briefly appears, and Bebe Neuwirth has a small role, too. Was this episode angling for an Oscar or something?

NBC/Hulu

Questlove

In 2013, Questlove told Us Weekly that it was his "fantasy to play a dead body on Law & Order." He got his wish in a Season 16 episode, where he can be glimpsed lying on a slab in the morgue. A dream come true.

NBC/YouTube

Serena Williams

Serena Williams shows up in the Season 5 episode "Brotherhood," which is all about hazing gone horrifically wrong in a frat house. When one frat member is killed, Williams' Chloe Spears is an initial suspect, though she was a victim herself. The dead frat boy had taken naked pictures of her and put them online — one of his many crimes.

NBC/Hulu

Ian Somerhalder

In the Season 4 episode "Dominance," Ian Somerhalder plays one part in a seriously dysfunctional family — to put it mildly. He's Charlie Baker, a serial rapist and murderer who manipulates and abuses both his father and brother.

NBC/Hulu

Jason Ritter

And his brother is played by Jason Ritter, marking the second cameo of the episode. But why have two cameos when you can have even more? Frank Langella also appears in the episode as Baker family patriarch Al.

NBC/Hulu

Meghann Fahy

Before The Bold Type, Meghann Fahy was in the Season 15 episode "Downloaded Child" as a woman grappling with her childhood sexual abuse. She comes into contact with Detective Benson when her kids end up in a dangerous situation, setting off an an episode-long deep dive into her complicated past.

NBC/Hulu

Martha Stewart

Martha Stewart isn't known for her acting abilities so much as her DIY empire, but she had a guest spot in Season 13's "Learning Curve." While talking to the Huffington Post, she said playing a dramatic role was both "invigorating and yet nerve-racking." Also in the episode? Tony Hale, Betty Gilpin, and Dylan Minnette. There's never just one cameo per episode on this show.

NBC/Hulu

Viola Davis

Viola Davis' role on Law & Order wasn't really a cameo; she had a recurring part as lawyer Donna Emmett from 2003 to 2008. Davis appeared in seven episodes in total, and it's always a surprise to catch her in a rerun, especially when you're so used to her kicking butt in the courtroom on How to Get Away With Murder. Think of it as Annalise Keating: The Early Years.

NBC/Hulu

Hayden Panettiere

Hayden Panettiere took part in two episodes of SVU playing two very different characters. In Season 2's "Abuse," she's a little girl being neglected by her very famous mother. Then in the Season 6 episode "Hooked," she plays a teenager who is secretly a sex worker, until her best friend and partner in crime loses her life.

NBC/Hulu

Sarah Hyland

Sarah Hyland is another actor who has doubled up on Law & Order roles. First, she appeared in Season 3's "Repression" as a very young girl. But her second cameo in Season 10's "Hothouse" is much more complicated. Her character is enrolled in a high-pressure boarding school that causes her to rely on pills to get by, essentially stop sleeping completely, and murder her more academically impressive roommate before coming up with an elaborate plan to hide what she did.

NBC/Hulu

Ann Dowd

Ann Dowd has both gals beat with her three episodes, each of which had her playing a separate character. She has the range, darlings. She appears in Season 2's "Victims," Season 4's "Soulless," and lastly the Season 10 episode "Lead." And each time the acting is so good you might not even think to connect the characters.

NBC/Hulu

Paul Wesley

Paul Wesley also joins the double episode club. In Season 2's "Wrong Is Right," he must not have settled on his stage name yet, because he's credited as Paul Wasilewski. In Season 7's "Ripped," he complicates things for Elliot Stabler because he's the son of one of Elliot's old friends — but he's also the perpetrator of a crime.

NBC/Hulu

The Countess

Luann de Lesseps herself appears in the Season 12 episode "Bully" as a partygoer who mistakes a splatter of blood for the most avant garde of art. It's the part she was born to play. And it proves that if you live in New York long enough, you get sucked into the Law & Order vortex sooner or later.

NBC/Hulu

Kate Mara

Kate Mara is a gymnast in Season 2's "Pixies" who provides Benson and Stabler with insider info when a fellow gymnast is discovered dead. She wears an adorable rainbow hoodie while delivering terrible news. And, fun fact: her sister Rooney is in the Season 7 episode "Fat."

NBC/Hulu

Zoe Saldana

In "Criminal" in Season 5, Zoe Saldana is the daughter of a convicted murderer who might actually be innocent after all. She supports her dad despite the fact that he's behind bars for a heinous crime, and she's eventually proven right. He was framed. Not that the truth necessarily helps her father; happy endings are a rarity on SVU.

NBC/Hulu

Elizabeth Banks

Elizabeth Banks' episode of Law & Order: SVU, Season 3's "Sacrifice," is a doozy. She plays a porn star with a seriously ill daughter who will stop at nothing to reach the height of fame. She needs to support her kid, but the situation spirals out of control fast.

NBC/Hulu

Mark-Paul Gosselaar

And Mark-Paul Gosselaar appears in the very same episode as Banks' husband. He's also in porn, and becomes the victim of a brutal attack that brings him into contact with Benson and Stabler. His wife's crime is temporarily pinned on him until the truth comes out.

NBC/Hulu

Sarah Paulson

Before she pulled a chameleon act on American Horror Story, Sarah Paulson played a character who would be right at home in her future series. Her heiress character in Season 11's "Shadow" is a master manipulator who crafts a web of lies to avoid being caught for the murder of her parents.

NBC/Hulu

Eric McCormack

Eric McCormack took a break from playing the much-beloved Will Truman on Will & Grace to pop over to Law & Order for the Season 11 episode "Sugar." He plays a murder suspect named Vance Shepard who is actually covering for someone he cares about — but ends up paying the price for it.

NBC/Hulu

Milo Ventimiglia

Milo Ventimiglia took part in one of SVU's most convoluted episodes, Season 5's "Escape." Oh, the problematic twists. His character claimed to have been abused by his stepfather, who subsequently went to jail before breaking out and taking Ventimiglia hostage to reveal the truth: he was actually assaulted by his cousin, and the stepdad was innocent the whole time. You know, because that's how that works.

NBC/Hulu

Amanda Seyfried

Amanda Seyfried plays the improbably named Tandi McCain in "Outcry" in Season 6. Like "Escape," this episode is one of shocking reveals, backtracking, and false accusations. Tandi is discovered hiding out in some new construction after being sexually assaulted, and her story changes numerous times over the course of the hour before the truth comes out. Her stepdad is also falsely accused, but it turns out her stepdad's boss was the one who raped her.

NBC/Hulu

Mischa Barton

Mischa Barton is the central figure of the Season 11 episode "Savior." She plays a young sex worker who is named Gladys for some inexplicable reason. She forms a bond with Benson (who wouldn't?) and eventually leaves her infant child in Benson's care for a time.

These 23 Law & Order: SVU cameos are just the tip of the iceberg, as evidenced by how many bonus guest spots managed to find their way into the same episode. It would probably be easier to count up which episodes of the show don't have any surprising celebrities in them, but then the resultant list would be tragically short. It's much more fun to revisit these familiar faces in old episodes.

NBC/Hulu
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