Kelli Giddish on Her Latest ‘SVU’ Return and What’s Ahead for Rollins

[This story contains spoilers from the Oct. 17 episode of Law & Order: SVU , “Divide and Conquer.”]

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Kelli Giddish left Law & Order: SVU in December 2022, midway through its 24th season on NBC — but she hasn’t gone far.

The actress, who played Detective Amanda Rollins for 12 seasons of the crime drama, has reprised her role several times since then. And even when she’s not on screen, the character is still a part of the show’s world, as Rollins is married to ADA Sonny Carisi (Peter Scanavino). Thursday’s episode sees Rollins back with the NYPD as a sergeant in the department’s intelligence division, working a case that overlaps with her long-time colleague and friend Capt. Olivia Benson’s (Mariska Hargitay) Special Victims Unit.

“It’s like, ‘OK, let’s go,'” Giddish tells The Hollywood Reporter about returning to the SVU set with season 26 . “I worked with all those people for so long, and it’s a character I love to play. 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.”

In the show, Rollins left the SVU for a teaching job at Fordham, but — as shown in an episode late last season — it didn’t make for the best fit, and she departed that position as well. Thursday’s episode will be the first of several appearances on SVU for Giddish in the coming season, and she spoke with THR last week about Rollins’ new job and the potential to keep playing the role.

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Have the producers told you yet how many episodes you’ll be in this season?

[Showrunner] David Graziano called it a “bouquet.” I filmed the one that’s coming on [Thursday], and I’m filming one right now, which is very exciting, because it’s a very out of the ordinary episode. I know people say this all the time, but it’s a wild ride. I think the audience is going to be really into that one.

Can you tell me a little about that one?

[ Smiles ] No.

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And what was the pitch for this episode and her return to the force?

It’s about crime tourists, which I had never even heard of. But it’s a real thing where people come into a town, they do their crimes, they rob, and then they’re on a plane 48 hours later. I was like, “that sounds really smart.” So you have to be even smarter than them to catch them, which is, of course, alluring to me. Rollins is now a sergeant in a totally different division. I get to play up her curiosity and her desire to catch the bad guy, but in a totally different way, because now it’s not just rapists that she’s going after. It seemed like a natural progression for her.

What’s Rollins’ mindset in this new job? What is she getting out of it that she might not have been while she was away from the force?

When she was teaching, she was teaching the tools that people should use to get the bad guys. She missed just being the one to get the bad guys, and follow her instincts and her gut and use all of her experiences and everything to be on top of somebody and see what their next move is going to be. That kind of singular curiosity is something I’ve always loved about Rollins — maybe it’s led her into some not-good situations in the past, but I think it’s being put to good use now that she’s a little more mature.

But it’s also different, because her approach is different. You get to see that in this episode. With Benson, they’re kind of dividing and conquering. They both show up on the scene where [the suspects] could be. Rollins’ crew that she’s tracking, and also a woman has been raped. Their objectives are a little bit different. Benson is going to go after a rapist, and Rollins wants to get the bad guys. Sometimes [those goals] maybe aren’t always in sync, and that’s really interesting to play — it’s not all daisies with Benson.

Seeing Rollins in her new job and knowing you’re going to be in several episodes almost feels like the setup for another Law & Order series. Have you talked about that with the Wolf Entertainment folks?

The Wolf camp is definitely someone I’ve loved being in business with. They know how to make a solid, solid show. I really think this [intelligence bureau] is an awesome take, and a new thing that hasn’t been explored. Hearing the true stories of the people that are actually in these positions, it’s the most interesting stuff I’ve heard in a very long time. My interest is piqued.

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Law & Order: SVU season 26 drops episodes every Thursday night at 9 p.m. on NBC, followed by Fridays on Peacock.

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