‘Law & Order: SVU’ Star Ice-T Gives Season 22 Filming Update in New Video From Set

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit star Ice-T has given fans a Season 22 filming update in a new video from the show’s set. In a Twitter post on Thursday, Ice shared a video of himself donning a mask and giving fans a peek around the socially distant set. He explained that they are currently filming Episode 5 of the new season, and at the time were working on shooting “the live open.”

Ice-T then panned the camera around, showing off the production’s behind-the-scenes crew, as well as markers for where the actors stand during filming. As Ice showed off the set, he happened on actress Jamie Gray Hyder — who plays Officer Kat Azar Tamin on SVU — and pointed out that she was on her mark, ready for filming. Ice then introduced fans to SVU’s on-set “COVID guy,” whose job it is to make “sure people stay the appropriate distance apart.” He also makes sure that everyone keeps “their mask on.”

Ice also indicated that the “COVID guy” is responsible for checking everyone’s temperature. “That’s how we gettin’ five episodes in,” Ice said, adding, “Y’all be safe, too. COVID is real. Don’t get caught up out there.”

Law & Order: SVU restarted production in September after the pandemic forced it shut down in the spring. Ice-T later shared some minor details on the precautions the cast and production crew were taking in order to keep themselves safe from the spread of the virus. After being asked by a Twitter user if they would all be wearing masks in the scenes, he replied, “Not actually wearing masks in full scenes, or you’d never see us talk. But you will sometimes see us remove them, and we are social distancing in this first episode’s scenes.”

In June, series showrunner Warren Leight spoke with The Hollywood Reporter and confirmed that the new season of the show would tackle real-world topics like the pandemic and the widespread protests sparked by police brutality cases. “There are ways, we will find our way in to tell the story,” Leight stated. “Presumably our cops will still be trying to do the right thing but it’s going to be harder for them and they’re going to understand why it’s hard for them.”