‘Law & Order: SVU’ Casts Dylan Walsh in Mysterious New Role

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit will welcome Unforgettable veteran Dylan Walsh for a mysterious recurring role in season 20.

The actor will play John Conway, a self-made man and major beverage distributor who is respected by his community and looked up to by his children.

According to Deadline, “his story will unfold in the near future.”

This is not Walsh’s first role on the long-running NBC crime procedural, as he guest-starred in an episode of the series, which will tie Gunsmoke and the original Law & Order‘s record as the longest-running dramas with its 20th season.

Walsh is most prominently known for his starring roles on FX’s Nip/Tuck and on CBS/A&E’s Unforgettable. He recently co-starred on the CW dramedy Life Sentence. He is repped by Gersh and manager Bob McGowan.

SVU star Mariska Hargitay celebrated the beginning of production for season 20 Tuesday with a selfie with series creator Dick Wolf.

The casting news comes a few weeks after Hargitay revealed she would stay on the NBC series for its 21st season, and beyond.

“The joke with [then-showrunner] Warren Leight and I was season 16 was good, and we said season 17, we’re going to phone it in,” Hargitay said at a Paley Center panel honoring SVU in June. “That was our schtick on set, because we were so exhausted. And then season 17, we killed it. And then season 18 … we had a wobbly year. But season 19, I was like, ‘I’m sorry, did anyone see the show?’ [New showrunner Michael] Chernuchin, every single episode, he outdoes himself.”

“This f—ing guy is such a genius, and he listened to everything I said,” she added. “Our writers are so brilliant, and they usually have their own ideas. But he said, ‘This is my idea, but what do you want to do?’ I said, ‘I want to go into what it is like for a woman, like myself, who has three children, and that [difficult work-life balance].’ I have three children. Let me tell you something: It costs me every day. Do I quit the show, do I take my kid to school? What do I do? Either way I lose. And only working women understand that.”

Hargitay added at the time, though, that she’s in on SVU for the “long haul.”

One person you shouldn’t expect to see in season 20 is Sam Waterston’s Jack McCoy, who made one-episode appearance during the 19th season of the series.

At the end of June, TVLine reported that there are “no plans at this time” to bring back Sam Waterston’s legendary character for the upcoming season 20. However, the door is “always open” for him to come back.

Waterston’s appearance was the first time he played Jack since the main Law & Order ended in 2010 and was only his fourth appearance on SVU. He previously appeared in episodes in 2000, 2007 and 2010. He also played Jack in two episodes of Law & Order: Trial by Jury and two episodes of Homicide: Life on the Streets.

One reason why Waterston was open to returning last season was the chance to work with Chernuchin again, who he previously worked with on L&O.

Since Chernuchin said that SVU might “never end,” we’d say there’s time for Jack to make another cameo in a few years.

Season 20 of SVU will move to a new night and timeslot this fall, starting with a two-hour season premiere Thursday, Sept. 27 at 9 p.m. ET. The series will move to its regular time slot the following week on October 4, with a new episode starting at 10 p.m. ET.