Law & Order - Casting and Characters

Casting and Characters

Main article: List of Law & Order characters See also: List of Law & Order cast members

For the 1988 pilot, George Dzundza and Chris Noth were cast as the original detectives, Sergeant Max Greevey and Mike Logan. Among others, Dzundza was up against Jerry Orbach, who had just recently become available due to his The Law & Harry McGraw series being cancelled, for the role, and the producers felt that Dzundza would be a perfect senior police officer as he was someone the producers felt they could see themselves riding along with in a police cruiser. Noth and Michael Madsen were candidates for the role of Logan. Madsen initially was considered the perfect choice for the role, but, in a final reading, it was felt that Madsen's acting mannerisms were repetitive, and Noth received the role instead. Rounding out the police cast, Dann Florek was cast as Captain Donald Cragen.

On the prosecutor's side, Michael Moriarty was Dick Wolf's choice to play Chief Assistant District Attorney Ben Stone. The network, however, preferred James Naughton, but, in the end, Wolf's choice would prevail, and Moriarty received the role. As his ADA, Richard Brooks and Eriq La Salle were being considered for the role of Paul Robinette. The network favored La Salle but, once again, the producers' choice prevailed, and Brooks received the role. As their boss, Roy Thinnes was cast as District Attorney Alfred Wentworth.

Nearly two years passed between the pilot and production of the series. The producers held options on Dzundza, Noth, Moriarty, and Brooks. Each was paid holding money for the additional year and brought back. Florek also returned. Thinnes, however, was starring in Dark Shadows and declined to return. In his place, the producers tapped Steven Hill to play District Attorney Adam Schiff, a character loosely based on real-life Manhattan DA Robert Morgenthau. Hill brought prestige and experience to the show and, as such, the producers allowed Hill to give insight on the direction he thought the character should go.

Dzundza was disappointed when he realized that the show would be more of an ensemble show rather than a show starring him. Though the cast liked his portrayal of Greevey, they increasingly felt uncomfortable around Dzundza, who was also under stress due to the constant commute between New York City and his home in Los Angeles. Dzundza quit after only one season on the show and his character was written out as having been killed in the line of duty. Dzundza was replaced on the show by Paul Sorvino as Detective Sergeant Phil Cerreta, who was considered more even tempered than either Greevey or Logan. Sorvino was initially excited about the role, but would leave after twenty-nine episodes, citing the exhausting schedule demanded by the filming of the show, a need to broaden his horizons, and the desire to preserve his vocal cords for singing opera as reasons for leaving the show; to give Sorvino the out, Sergeant Cerreta was written out by having been shot in the line of duty and being transferred out of the precinct.

Also introduced on a recurring basis Season 2 was Carolyn McCormick as Dr. Elizabeth Olivet, a police psychiatrist brought in on a case-by-case basis. NBC had been pushing for the producers to add female characters to the all male cast. She was added to the opening credits as "also starring" in seasons three and four but, despite the attempts of the producers to include her in as many episodes as possible, it was found to be difficult to incorporate her into the show due to the format leaning heavy on the police and prosecutors. She was removed from the credits in Season 5. McCormick stayed with the show on a recurring basis, but believed that the character had become less profound and complex, and that her role had been reduced mostly to "psychobabble." She left to star in Cracker after Season 8. After the cancellation of Cracker, she returned beginning in Season 13 and has appeared occasionally since.

Jerry Orbach was initially hesitant about starring in an hour-long drama after witnessing the exhausting effect it had on his friend David Janssen on The Fugitive, but changed his mind as he got older. He had twice before auditioned for the role of the senior detective (1988, 1991). When Dzundza and Sorvino were picked instead of him, he made a guest appearance as a defense lawyer in Season 2 episode "The Wages of Love" while returning to his recurring role on Murder, She Wrote where his Harry McGraw character had originated. While there, Orbach heard Sorvino raving about the quality of the show and how Sorvino believed he had found a winning series to do. After Sorvino's departure during the third season, Orbach decided to audition a third time and was given the role of Detective Lennie Briscoe.

By the end of Season 3, network executives still felt the show did not have enough female characters. On the orders of Warren Littlefield, new female characters had to be added to the cast or the show would face possible cancellation on its relegated Friday night time slot. Wolf realized that, since there were only six characters on the show, someone had to be fired. He chose Florek and Brooks, and later said it was the hardest two phone calls he had ever made. Though producers initially claimed the firings, especially Brooks, who was said not to get along with Moriarty, were for other reasons, Wolf confirmed that the firings were on the orders of Littlefield. To replace Florek, S. Epatha Merkerson was cast as new squad leader Lieutenant Anita Van Buren, as Captain Cragen was given a position at the Internal Affairs Bureau (and a recurring role for the next several years). Jill Hennessy replaced Brooks as Assistant District Attorney Claire Kincaid, and the Paul Robinette character became a race-baiting defense attorney.

Meanwhile, Moriarty's behavior both on and off the set became problematic for Wolf. After a public statement in which Moriarty called Attorney General Janet Reno a "psychopathic Nazi" for her efforts to censor television violence, Moriarty engaged in a verbal confrontation with Reno at a dinner in Washington, D.C. Wolf asked Moriarty to tone down his comments, and Moriarty responded by quitting the show the next week, and the final storyline for Ben Stone involved him resigning over his guilt that a woman he compelled to testify against a Russian mobster was murdered by his cohorts. To replace Moriarty, Sam Waterston was Wolf's first choice to join the cast as Executive Assistant District Attorney Jack McCoy, a character markedly different from Moriarty's Stone in that McCoy was conceived as more emotionally stable and having more sex appeal than Stone.

Wolf fired Noth when his contract ended at the end of Season 5 because he felt that Briscoe and Logan were too alike and the writers were having trouble finding ways to write them since they agreed on everything. Noth had been disgruntled with the show since the firings of Florek and Brooks, and remained embittered against Wolf, who he felt was not a friend to his actors. The decision to fire Noth was extremely controversial with fans and critics alike, who felt that Noth's absence left a void on the show that was never filled. Perhaps due to the bad blood, the final story line for Detective Logan involved him being sent to work on Staten Island in a domestic violence crimes unit as punishment for his punching of a city councilmember who had orchestrated the murder of a homosexual colleague. Noth was replaced by Benjamin Bratt as Detective Rey Curtis, who was hired in an attempt to find an actor even sexier than Noth to join the cast.

Hennessy chose not to renew her three-year contract at the end of Season 6 to pursue other projects, and Claire Kincaid was killed in a drunk driving accident. She was replaced by Carey Lowell as Assistant District Attorney Jamie Ross. Lowell remained with the show for two seasons until the end of Season 8, when she left the show to spend more time with her daughter. Lowell, whose character resigned to become a law professor and eventually returned to law practice, was replaced by Angie Harmon as Assistant District Attorney Abbie Carmichael, who was conceived as being much louder and outspoken than any of her predecessors. Harmon auditioned with eighty-five other women, including Vanessa Williams, for the role, and was picked after Wolf heard her Texan accent.

Bratt left the series at the end of Season 9, stating it was an amicable departure and he expected to eventually return for guest appearances. His character, who had a wife who was suffering from multiple sclerosis, was written out as having left the force in order to take care of her in her final days. He was replaced by Jesse L. Martin as Detective Ed Green, who was conceived of as more of a loose cannon in the mold of Logan than Bratt's Curtis had been. In 2000, Hill announced he was leaving the series at the end of Season 10. Hill, who was the last remaining member of the original cast, said his departure was mutual with the producers. He was replaced by Dianne Wiest as Interim District Attorney Nora Lewin and no mention was made of whatever happened to Adam Schiff afterward. The following year, Harmon departed the show after three seasons (as Abbie Carmichael was called on to serve the U.S. Attorney's office) and was replaced by Elisabeth Röhm as Assistant District Attorney Serena Southerlyn. After two seasons, Wiest left the show at the end of the Season 12 and was replaced by retiring U.S. Senator Fred Thompson as District Attorney Arthur Branch, whose character was conceived of as being much more right leaning than his predecessors in the DA's office, and was a direct reaction to the September 11 attacks. No mention was made of what happened to Nora Lewin, either, although it was implied she did not run for reelection.

After twelve years on Law & Order, Orbach announced in 2004 that he was leaving the show for the third Law & Order spin-off, Law & Order: Trial by Jury, and Lennie Briscoe was written off as having retired from the NYPD full-time. At the time, Orbach would not state the reason for his departure. In December of the same year, however, Orbach revealed he had prostate cancer and Wolf said the role on Trial by Jury was designed to be less taxing than his role on the original series. Orbach was only able to film two episodes of Trial by Jury before succumbing to his cancer on December 28, 2004. Orbach was replaced on Law & Order by Dennis Farina as Detective Joe Fontana.

Season 15 would also see the departure of Röhm mid-season. Röhm's final scene on the show sparked controversy within the fanbase, as Southerlyn asked Branch if she was being fired because she was homosexual, a fact never cited until then. Wolf said Röhm's departure was unexpected, and she exited the show in January 2005. Her replacement was Annie Parisse as Assistant District Attorney Alexandra Borgia. Later that season, Martin departed early for the season to film Rent. During his absence, he was temporarily replaced by Michael Imperioli as Detective Nick Falco and Ed Green was written out of the series as having been shot in the line of duty and recovering from his injury. Parisse left the series at the end of Season 16 when Borgia was killed, and Farina announced shortly afterward that he was leaving Law & Order to pursue other projects.

By this point, NBC executives believed the franchise was beginning to show its age as ratings for the show had dropped 15 percent from the previous season and 30 percent over the previous three seasons. Farina had never been popular with fans when he replaced Orbach, and it was felt that the cast just did not seem to mesh well together. In an effort to revitalize the show, Wolf brought in Alana de la Garza as Assistant District Attorney Connie Rubirosa to replace Parisse. Martin's Green was promoted to senior detective, replacing Farina, and his new partner was Detective Nina Cassady, played by Milena Govich, who had worked with Wolf on the short-lived series Conviction, and served as the show's first female detective. Govich proved to be even more unpopular with fans than her predecessor, however, and she only stayed with the show one season and was replaced the next year by Jeremy Sisto as Detective Cyrus Lupo (with the explanation being that Detective Cassady was only working with the precinct on a temporary basis with a promotion to full-time only if she earned it). Around the same time, Thompson announced he would leave the show to seek the 2008 Republican presidential nomination. Waterston's McCoy was promoted to Interim District Attorney (later made full District Attorney) and Linus Roache joined the cast as Executive Assistant District Attorney Michael Cutter. Sisto in particular received praise for his portrayal of Lupo, with critics saying he was an improvement over Govich. Ken Tucker sees the relationship between McCoy and Cutter as "a nicely overstated case of oedipal conflict. McCoy sees in Cutter his younger, more impetuous self, while Cutter sees an aging father figure he wants to vanquish by proving he's smarter and more daring than the old coot. It makes for some superfine debates over points of law that also carry personal, emotional weight for the protagonists, an approach the Law & Order mothership has rarely taken over the years." Other critics said the line-up was the best in years, with the chemistry finally seeming just right after years of cast members who did not seem to fit well in the cast.

Despite critics' praise, the line-up was short-lived. Martin announced he would leave the show near the end of the season to pursue other endeavors and Detective Green was written out as having to resign from the force due to unscrupulus actions. He was replaced by Anthony Anderson as Detective Kevin Bernard. In 2010, Merkerson announced that she would leave the show at the conclusion of Season 20. However, the cancellation of the show rendered this moot.