As many episodes of “Law & Order” as there have been, along with the spin-offs over the years, I can understand why trying to get a role on the shows was and still is the thing to do as a burgeoning actor. Even if you’re not a major character (aka, victim, criminal or attorney), you can still get a check from playing something small (a witness, someone who knows the whereabouts of a criminal, the dead body found in the beginning of the show). So many actors and actresses got their start on the show, along with “Criminal Intent” and “Special Victims Unit,” or appeared on it before hitting it big, and we’ve found some of the black ones here:
Samuel L. Jackson
By 1991, Samuel L. Jackson had been in quite a few movies already, even if his parts were small (including Do The Right Thing and Coming To America). In an attempt to build up his resume, Jackson nabbed a role on “Law & Order” in season one as attorney Louis Taggert. He represented a young man (Phillip Seymour Hoffman in his first on-screen role) accused of participating in the gang rape of a TV reporter.
Laverne Cox
Cox, who has been elevated to superstar, Time-covering status thanks to her role as Sophia on “Orange is the New Black,” has been on both “Law & Order” and “SVU,” but she first debuted on the franchise in 2008. On “SVU,” she played Candace on the episode “Closet” in season nine. The premise for the episode is as followed: “After a gay man is murdered, the prime suspect is a star professional football quarterback who turns out to his partner. The quarterback is ‘outed’ in the media during the investigation, and he becomes a beating victim himself.”
Lorraine Touissant
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Fellow “OITNB” star (and villain Vee) Lorraine Touissant had a recurring role on “Law & Order” from 1990-2003 as Shambala Green. Her character was a “spicy-tongued” legal aid attorney who often went head-to-head with ADA Benjamin Stone, defending the shady people Stone was trying to take down.
Zoe Saldana
A young and pre-Avatar Saldana appeared on both “Law & Order” and “SVU” back in the day. In her role on the latter show, she played Gabrielle, the daughter of a murder suspect in the episode “Criminal” from season five in 2004.
Viola Davis
Before she had her own primetime show, Viola Davis had roles on both “Law & Order: SVU” and “Criminal Intent” in 2002. She had a recurring role on “SVU” from 2003-2008 as Donna Emmett…a defense attorney. Say it with me folks, “Hoooow to get awaaaay with muuuurder.”
Idris Elba
Back in 2001, before he played Stringer Bell on “The Wire,” Elba played Lonnie Liston in the episode “3 Dawg Night” from season 12. The premise: “A hip-hop star goes on trial for the murder of a nightclub patron who accused him of being a sellout.” Elba’s character was a nightclub worker who was present at the time of the shooting.
Kerry Washington
In that same “3 Dawg Night” episode, Washington played Allie Lawrence, an actress who went to the club with her rapper boyfriend and his friends when the violent shooting occurred. And yes, she was still rocking the curly “Save The Last Dance” hair.
Chandra Wilson
Just as Viola Davis played an attorney on “Law & Order” before playing one on “How To Get Away With Murder,” Wilson played a nurse on “SVU” before getting to play a doctor on “Grey’s Anatomy.” But in her first appearance in “Cradle To Grave” from season two of “Law & Order” in 1992, she played a babysitter who has to deal with the aftermath of her client’s child freezing to death.
Isaiah Washington
In the episode “Out of Control” from 1991, Washington didn’t get to play someone saving a life like he did on “Grey’s.” Instead, he was college student Derek Hardy, accused of sexually assaulting a young woman during a college fraternity party. Washington would also appear on the short-lived “Law & Order: LA” in 2011.
Khandi Alexander
In the episode “Paranoia,” Alexander, who we know nowadays as Mama Pope on “Scandal,” played Sergeant Karen Smythe on SVU in 2001 during season two.
