New Blood Refreshes 'Law & Order'

By Rick Porter, Zap2It.com | January 2, 2008

Jeremy Sisto of 'Law & Order'

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Jeremy Sisto, Linus Roache join long-running series

This is a story that's been written before, 18 times before in fact: "Law & Order" has undergone some cast changes. The show's creator, though, thinks this change might be more significant than some others.

"It was a decided desire to go in a new direction," creator/executive producer Dick Wolf says of the hiring of Jeremy Sisto and Linus Roache, who join the show for its 18th season beginning Wednesday (Jan. 2). "I consider these two changes the most significant since the fourth year of the show when [S. Epatha Merkerson] and Jill Hennessy came in. ...

"If you do the math, we've taken literally about 50 years out of the demo. And I think that's a significant more than refreshment of the show. I think it is the next generation of the show, quite literally."

Sisto ("Six Feet Under") plays Detective Cyrus Lupo, an NYPD intelligence veteran who in Wednesday's two-hour premiere returns home for personal reasons and stays on as Ed Green's (Jesse L. Martin) new partner in the homicide division. Roache ("RFK," "Batman Begins") is Michael Cutter, who has taken Jack McCoy's (Sam Waterston) place in the prosecutor's office now that McCoy has moved up to Manhattan district attorney.

They're the 23rd and 24th regulars to take their place in the show's six-person cast -- and also both veterans of "Kidnapped," the short-lived series that took "Law & Order's" traditional 10 p.m. Wednesday timeslot last season (a timeslot to which "L&O" returns this week). They shared significant screen time there, but given the way "Law & Order" is structured, the two actors move mostly in separate spheres.

"We get a little bit of crossover," Roache says. "But there is a nice little relationship building when we do cross over, in terms of him being a little bit of a wannabe lawyer."

The two actors are also getting used to a style of work in which the story comes first. "The audience finds joy out of trying to stay ahead of the plot and trying to figure it out. And, you know, being on the ride of the mystery," Sisto notes. "... There's a real necessity to be clear and to be, you know, the eyes of the audience and to allow the audience to feel that they are on this ride with you.

"So to be honest, too much character stuff just gets in the way of that ride. So yeah, it's fun. It's been a new kind of thing for me to do. And I've really enjoyed it."

After 18 years, "Law & Order" is a well-oiled machine. While Wolf won't say how many episodes the show was able to finish before the writers' strike took effect -- "Let's just say a lot" -- that efficiency could be a boon for the series, which will be airing amid a relatively barren landscape of scripted shows this winter.

"I think the strike is the worst thing that's happened to the community in 20 years, since the last strike," Wolf says. "Nobody ever wins a strike. This is a disaster for the television business much. ... And my sincerest hope is that people get their heads on straight, lock themselves in a room and come out with a deal. It's an absolute necessity.

"Having said all that, I'm not going to dissemble. I think that we have an enormous opportunity coming back in a season where there's going to be a dearth of original product."

Roache and Sisto are both aware of the show's history, and they say that legacy has helped keep them on their game during shooting.

"Responsibility is kind of inherent in many dimensions of the show, which is actually what I love about it and why I like it," Roache says. "You can't really get complacent in something like this. So yeah, stepping on and taking over chief prosecution for me from Sam was like, 'Wow, I'm stepping into some big shoes.' But I was also very, very happy and grateful that Sam was still there filling even bigger shoes for himself."

Adds Sisto: "Sometimes I feel like I'm at Disneyland and, you know, they have those cutouts you can put your face through. And [it's] like I'm putting my face through into 'Law & Order.' I watch back and I think it's so funny that I'm on this show that literally has spanned the life of my career. My first movie was about '88 and that's when the show started [1990, actually].

"So it's kind of like knowing somebody else's career, a fellow actor who's had a career the same time as you. And years down the road you finally get to work together. So it's been great."