‘Law & Order: SVU’ Star Promoted to Series-Regular Ahead of Season 27
Captain Curry is here to stay. That’s the news coming down from Wolf Entertainment. According to Deadline, Aimé Donna Kelly has been officially upped to a series regular role ahead of Law & Order: Special Victim Unit’s historic Season 27. Kelly plays Captain Renee Curry on the long-running police procedural. The 27th Season will also feature the return of Kelli Giddish as Sgt. Amanda Rollins in a series regular role after department in Season 24. Mariska Hargitay returns as Captain Olivia Benson and Ice-T as Sgt. Odafin “Fin” Tutuola as the two longest-serving regular cast members. Along with this shakeup ahead of the new season comes SVU’s first-ever female showrunner, Michele Fazekas, who served as a writer and executive producer on the show from Seasons 3-7.
Captain Curry first appeared in Season 22, working for the Internal Affairs Bureau (IAB, or as some characters in-show call it, “The Rat Squad”). She moved to SVU as a more permanent presence in Season 25. Kelly’s upped stay will have her return to the series with Hargitay, Ice-T, Giddish, Peter Scanavino, and Kevin Kane. Not returning to Season 27 are Juliana Aiden Martinez and Octavio Pisano, who played Detectives Kate Silva and Joe Valasco respectively.
The Big Shakeup: All the Changes Coming to ‘Law & Order: SVU’ On and Off-Screen
Since beginning in 1999 as a spin-off to Law & Order, the series has seen its share of departures after both long and short stays. The series has also rotated out its fair share of showrunners, writers, and producers, as would be expected for a series that’s been on the air for nearly three straight decades. With Fazekas coming on board, she replaces showrunner David Graziano, who tookover for second-time showrunner Warren Leight. Earlier this year, it was also announced that Julie Martin, longtime writer and executive producer for the show is stepping away from SVU.
The news was announced at the same time that Norberto Barba was announced to be stepping away from duties as executive producer, but expected to stay on as a director. It’s no surprise that the show is facing changes both on and off-screen, with fans online citing that the show has felt hollow, with minimal personal moments and character building for even the regular characters. They can be moments of Captain Olivia Benson being a mom or having a girls night with Rollins. Those kind of moments were always the backbone and lists time and again feature episodes with those moments as fan-favorites. Fazekas is coming in with the perspective of the earlier days of the show where that balance was more prevelant all while the show still maintained it’s crime of the week procedural format. Fazekas, after giving fans episodes like “Fault” and “9-1-1” absolutely has the capabilities as a creative to come up with ideas that breathe life back into the show.
Law & Order: SVU Season 27 premieres this fall.