Law & Order Actors That Were On The Show Before Landing A Main Role

Esparza is far from the only actor on "Law & Order" to be brought back in a different role than the one he originally played. Such is the case for a number of actors — Kelli Giddish, Tamara Tunie, Ice-T, S. Epatha Merkerson, Peter Scanavino, Bebe Neuwirth, Diane Neal, Jerry Orbach, and Courtney B. Vance among them — all of whom would go from becoming drops in the "Law & Order" universe to beloved characters (via ScreenRant).

Giddish, who today plays Detective Amanda Rollins on "SVU," can also be seen as Dana Stipe in a 2007 episode of "Law & Order: Criminal Intent." She even landed a role that very same year as Kara Bawson on "SVU."

Four years later, Giddish would come to "SVU" as Detective Amanda Rollins. And while the role of Detective Rollins was initially meant to be a one-off, audiences loved her and NBC saw a spike in "SVU" ratings (via Showbiz CheatSheet). So, naturally, the producers decided to keep Rollins around a little longer, making her a series regular.

As it turns out, Giddish's success at "SVU" is many years in the making. "I had met him ['SVU' showrunner Warren Leight] when I was doing a play development conference when I was 18, and it's so crazy because the seeds you sow when you're trying to do acting ... but you don't know when they're going to come into fruition, and this one happened to really come into bloom" (via Discover Net).