All is fair in the Dick Wolf universe! On his first day as a writer, he was hooked! Hill Street BluesThe producer rose to stardom in the 1980s when he created Law & Order1990
Since then, multiple TV giants have helmed the company. Law & OrderThere are many spinoffs, including the long-running series Law & Order: Special Victims UnitThe 1999 premiere of the film ” was the first. Law & Order: Criminal Intent. Wolf then transported viewers from New York City into Chicago with the creation Chicago Fire2012 and its spinoffs Chicago P.D., Chicago Med Chicago Justice.
Just when fans thought Wolf couldn’t possibly have any more procedural drama ideas up his sleeves, he masterminded the FBI universe, which is made up of FBI, FBI: Most Wanted FBI: International.
Fans who have been watching Wolf’s series over the years may have noticed that he has a few favorites actors who have appeared on his series many times. Christopher Meloni. (This does not include the full-show crossovers that he does within One Chicago Universe. FBI realm.)
The Washington, D.C., native was an OG member Law & Order: SVU2011: Meloni was cast, but he departed. Meloni, in a surprising twist, was offered his own series. Law & Order: Organized CrimeIn 2021, he plays the same role as in 2021. SVU character, Detective Elliot Stabler.
“These two shows exist in the same universe, a fictional, very grounded universe. And we never forget that those other characters and those other stories exist,” Wolf told The WrapAfter Meloni and fans reunited with each other in April 2021, Mariska HargitayShe plays Detective Olivia Benson. SVU. “And when we tell a story about Stabler in Benson’s world or Benson in Stabler’s world and things happen that affect their characters, we don’t just forget about it.”
The executive producer continued: “So it’s both challenging and tantalizing from the point of view of story writing to make sure that you keep those things alive while the shows have their own identity, each of them.”
Meloni for his part, told Entertainment Weekly in March 2021 that Wolf made him an offer he couldn’t refuse, which led to him reprising the detective role and acting alongside Hargitay periodically on both shows.
“I was pleasantly surprised it played out as well as it did. Because, you know, that’s not how life shakes out, right?” he told the outlet. “You can have all the dreams you want, all the preconceived notions of how it’s going to be. But I must say, the intervening decade was everything I could have hoped for.”
Meloni isn’t the first actor to play the same role on multiple Wolf shows. Philip WinchesterFor example, the first time that the word “” was used in a search result was on Chicago P.D.Peter Stone before he made his journey to Law & Order: SVUIn 2018.
Actors like Jeremy Sisto Alana De La Garza It made an impression Law & OrderIn the early 2000s, before joining forces FBI It’s been more than a decade since the original episode. However, the two stars play completely different characters on the crime shows, and they aren’t alone in that category.
Scroll down to see which actors have taken their character from one franchise to another within the Wolf universe — and which stars have played more than on role for the showrunner:
