The one Law & Order: SVU character that TVLine readers ask about the most is Det.
Terry Bruno, played by Kevin Kane. And we get it: A recurring role in the Bensonverse since Season 24, in addition to a few one-off appearances as different characters before that, has made Kane a full-time member of the squad (even if he technically remains a guest star). Add in Kane’s portrayal of his intriguing character — a cop who’s so rich he never has to work another day in his life, yet chooses to show up for the most grueling of cases? — and we understand why you all want to know more about the precinct’s Bronx transplant.
So we recently chatted with Kane, an Emmy winner from his time as an executive producer on Inside Amy Schumer, to find out what he could tell us about Bruno’s future with the squad. Little did we know that when the conversation turned to his work on Hulu’s Life & Beth, where he’s an actor and EP, that’s when things would get really interesting.PREV
Shōgun Star Talks About That Swimming Scene, Filmed in ‘Freezing’ Cold: ‘It’s Good to Be Uncomfortable’
Saturday Night Live: Ramy Youssef to Host March 30 Episode With Musical Guest Travis Scott
TVLINE | We’re going to talk about both SVU and Life & Beth, but we’re going to start with SVU, because I have a burning question: Do you decide whether Bruno wears his badge around his neck or on his hip? Who decides where characters wears badges?
KEVIN KANE | I think, initially, that was just given to me as a prop. It’s so funny you’re asking this, because it’s such a pain in the butt that I was like, “Can I graduate into a guy who has it on his hip?” Because they put your mic right on your chest, you know, so the chain keeps hitting it, and they’re like, “We got a little sound issue,” and you’re like, Oh.” But they stuck me that way, and so, now, I’m a chain guy.
In a recent episode, we saw Bruno playing bad cop to Velasco’s good cop. How much do you think he enjoys that kind of thing?
He comes to work because he sees that Benson is someone who believed in him when nobody else did, and somebody really wanting to be there to make a difference — because he doesn’t need the money — and I think he enjoys this group of people and being able to do work the way he wants to do work, you know? There’s a lot of that fun. And I think [showrunner] David Graziano likes to use the character as an outlet to have a little fun, too.
TVLINE | Bruno was a whistleblower when he was at Bronx SVU. We’ve definitely seen in the show, in general, that cops that do that kind of thing often get blowback. Will we see anything like that for him this season?
Maybe. I don’t know. I think your instincts are right, but I don’t know if I can say anything. I remember when they were introducing the character… we’d have like background police. Like, every time I’d walk to the scene, they’d look at me and go the other way, you know? [Laughs] There was a lot of that that didn’t necessarily get into the [final cut of the episodes], but I think that’s the intention. When you get people in trouble by telling the truth, or you end people’s careers, there’s going to be some lingering revenge out there to walk into. So, I think it could come back. [Laughs] Hint, hint.
TVLINE | Great job with that scene, by the way. That’s a hard needle to thread.
It’s funny because, “Matt”: Like, I think we even named the character Matt because all of the ladies in the Season 1 writer’s room, whenever they had a story about this awful boyfriend, like multiple of them, Matt was the name of the guy.
TVLINE | When I spoke with Amy before the season came out, she said she was game for a third season. Do you have any thoughts about where Matt might land if you guys do another round?
… You know, Amy and I have been working together 16, 17 years, and we just felt like Season 2 came so easy for us, the making of it, that we feel like we’re just starting to get our stride with the show. So, we would be very, very excited to tackle some of these million ideas we have for Season 3.
