The cast of Law & Order: SVU: Then and now

Kelli Giddish (Amanda Rollins)

Given how much New York life is at the heart of Law & Order: SVU, it’s always interesting to see Kelli Giddish’s Amanda Rollins onscreen. This character hails from Atlanta, Ga., and she brings a bit of southern sensibility to her dealings with northern criminals. Giddish too has brought a special charm to the show since she joined the cast in season 13.

Before SVU, Giddish played Di Henry in All My Children and even had one-off roles in Law & Order: Criminal Intent and a season 7 episode of SVU as different minor characters. Since becoming a series regular, she reprised the role of Amanda Rollins on Chicago Fire and Chicago P.D. Her other TV gigs include Without a Trace, Past Life, Chase, and The Good Wife. She eventually left SVU in 2023 after over a decade, but she came back for a crossover between SVU and Organized Crime, which helped us catch up with her character. Aside from that brief return to Law & Order, her last onscreen appearance was narrating the TV movie The Brief Tragedy of Ernest Carter in 2019.

Giddish was married to Lawrence Faulborn from 2015 to 2018. They share two sons, and both her pregnancies were written into SVU. She later married Beau Richards in 2021 and gave birth to her third child in 2023.

Adam Beach (Chester Lake)

Adam Beach had a relatively brief tenure on Law & Order: SVU, appearing in only 21 episodes as Detective Chester Lake beginning in season 8. Still, he left quite the impression: His character was the first Native American detective in the long-running franchise, which is memorable enough in its own right. But Beach also ended up exiting the show in an explosive way after his character killed another detective.

Before SVU, you may have spotted him in Smoke Signals (1998), Joe Dirt (2001), Windtalkers (2002), and Flags of Our Fathers (2006). He also earned a Golden Globe nomination while filming SVU for the historical TV movie Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (2007).

After leaving the Special Victims Unit, Beach starred in big films like Cowboys and Aliens (2011), Suicide Squad (2016), and The Power of the Dog (2021), all while extending his television acting cred with roles in Hawaii Five-0, Hell on Wheels, Drunk History, and Nancy Drew. Most recently, he starred in the movie Hey, Viktor (2023).

Beach has been married to Summer Tiger since 2015. He has been married twice before and has three children.

Michelle Hurd (Monique Jeffries)

If you weren’t watching Law & Order: SVU from the beginning, you might have missed Michelle Hurd’s Monique Jeffries. Her character partnered with Richard Belzer’s John Munch during her short tenure but ultimately faded away after season 2.

Before SVU, Hurd was a Broadway actress who appeared in numerous television shows and TV movies throughout the ‘90s. Dick Wolf reportedly cast her as Monique Jeffries based on her powerful performance as an FBI informant in the original Law & Order. Since parting with the franchise, Hurd took on more prominent roles in shows like The Glades, Blindspot, ER, and Gossip Girl. She eventually established herself as a genre queen thanks to parts in Daredevil, Ash vs. Evil Dead, and Star Trek: Picard.

Hurd has been married to actor Garret Dillahunt since 2007.