‘Law & Order SVU’ Actor Dean Winters Reveals Huge Purchase He Made After ‘Allstate’ Commercial Success

Law and Order: SVU alum Dean Winters has a resume most actors would rest easy with. Not only has he had roles on acclaimed series like Oz, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, 30 Rock, and Rescue Me, he’s also a recognizable spokesperson for Allstate insurance.

It’s the latter role that has reportedly given Winters the most success according to Page Six. While speaking to the outlet, Winters said that his role as Mayhem in the Allstate ads was the one that finally opened a route to his dreams.

“It took me a long time,” he tells Page Six. “I was born and raised in New York City and I’ve always wanted to own an apartment. So I just bought an apartment downtown. I’m calling it the house that Mayhem built.”

The role as Mayhem in the Allstate ads has brought Winters his highest-paying role, recognition with the general public, and the “comeback of the century” according to Page Six. His near-death experience in 2009 helps to put this successful turn into perspective.

“I was the color gray,” Winters told Page Six back in 2010. “I was afraid to go to St. Vincent’s, so I went to my doctor’s office on Central Park West, where I collapsed. I was turning black, and my whole head was swelling up.”

Winters then admitted that he technically died for 2 1/2 minutes while riding in the ambulance, with paramedics saving his life and leaving him to recover for three weeks in the ICU to treat a bacterial infection. As Page Six adds, Winters developed gangrene, lost two toes and half a thumb, and 10 operations that included a skin graft to “rebuild his right hand.”

Following his brush with death, Winters admits that “people in Los Angeles think I’m dead.” But it was Tina Fey that put him back to work when he was fit enough to do it on 30 Rock, leading to Mayhem appearing in his life.

Winters also made a return to Law & Order: SVU around that time, returning to his role as Brian Cassidy from season one of the series. He would stick around for three seasons and then return again for appearances in seasons 19 and 20. One of his more recent appearances was on the show’s historic 450th episode back in February.

Winters also roles in American Gods on Starz and will appear in the Netflix true crime movie Lost Girls in the near future.

American Gods airs on Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on Starz . Law & Order: SVU airs on Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET on NBC.