Law & Order: SVU is the longest running live action series on American television, so it stands to reason that there are cast members who will come and go. Few stay gone for good in the franchise, however, and this was proven once again on May 15, when Deadline announced that Kelli Giddish would be coming back to SVU as a series regular.
Giddish, who plays Detective Amanda Rollins, will be promoted to the SVU main cast for season 27, after spending the last few years in a cameo capacity. The actress originally left the show in season 24 following her character's marriage to Sonny Carisi Jr. (Peter Scanavino). The exit did not last very long, however, as Rollins returned for the season 24 finale and a pair of season 25 episodes.
Rollins' tenure as a university professor was short-lived, and before we knew it, the character was serving the NYPD as a sergeant in the intelligence section. It's no coincidence that Rollins' screen time increased to even more episodes in season 26. It's obvious that SVU is itching to make her a central character again, which is interesting given the circumstances in which she was written off.
Giddish previously left over contract disputes
Kelli Giddish voiced a desire to challenge herself as an actress and pursue different kinds of roles, but Variety claimed that her decision to leave was at least partially informed by her contract negotiations with NBC. The outlet determined that an agreement could not be reached between Giddish and NBC, and the network voiced a desire to "freshen up" the procedural drama with new faces. It looks like the situation has changed.
The timing of Giddish's return is also interesting given the recent cast shake ups that SVU has been experiencing. NBC confirmed that Juliana Martinez and Octavio Pisano will be leaving the show after the season 26 finale. These massive cuts were informed by the network's desire to scale down costs for their long-running titles.
NBC will be implementing different measures to ensure that episode budgets stay low, with the most notable being the reduction of cast appearances and the writing off of those deemed expendable. It's a game plan being applied to the original Law & Order show, as well as the One Chicago franchise, but SVU actually has it better than most of its peers.
The SVU veteran is 'honored' to come back
Deadline revealed that SVU's episode costs are surprisingly low given how long the show has been on, and therefore it will be not fall victim to as many cost-cutting measures. We anticipated, or rather we hoped, that Martinez and Pisano would be the only actors written off the show for budget reasons, but we really did not expect the cast to get better with the promotion of Giddish.
"I worked with all those people for so long, and it’s a character I love to play," the actress told the Hollywood Reporter in October. "I'm honored that they keep inviting me back. It’s hard to say no when I arrive on set and there’s instant chemistry with everybody from the A camera operator to Mariska." SVU season 27 already sounded intriguing, but now we have another reason to be excited.