‘Law & Order: Organized Crime’ Villain Calls Work With Christopher Meloni the ‘Best Acting’ of His Life

Christopher Meloni can elevate a show just with his presence, especially when he plays Detective Elliot Stabler. Even a veteran actor like Vinnie Jones was in awe of the star while making Law & Order: Organized Crime this year. Jones, who stars as the Albanian mobster Albi Briscu, told Entertainment Tonight that Meloni helped bring out the “best acting” he has ever done. Jones gets one more chance to impress Law & Order fans in Thursday night’s episode, “Ashes to Ashes,” which will tie-up the Albanian mob story of Season 2.

Jones, who is best known for his roles in Snatch and Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels, called Meloni a “bloody fine actor,” adding, “I love his work and I loved working with him… It was such fresh air for me.” Jones singled out a scene in the third episode of Season 2, “The Outlaw Eddie Wagner,” in which an undercover Stabler followed Albi to a gay club. Albi then leads Stabler to a forest where they dig a grave for a man who Albi killed after threatening to out him.

“I think that was quite powerful,” Jones said of the scene, noting that it set the foundation for Stabler’s relationship with Albi as the season went on. Albi trusted Stabler not to reveal his secret to the other mobsters. “I thought that was some of the best acting that I did on the show,” Jones told ET. Meloni “brings out the best acting [in you],” he said.

While the first season of Organized Crime saw Stabler and the Organized Crime Control Bureau team take down Richard Wheatley (Dylan McDermott), Season 2 went in a very different direction by expanding a storyline that would usually end in a single episode of Law & Order in the past to half-a-season. Stabler began the season working undercover, embedded in the Albanian mob run by Jon Kosta (Michael Raymond-James) to stop the cocaine trade. It looked like everything was tied up in last week’s “High Planes Grifter,” but it reached an explosive ending to set up this week’s action-packed episode. During the chaos, Albi reunites with his wife, Flutura (Lolita Davidovich). “She says to him, ‘You saved me, so let me save you,’” Jones told ET. “It’s kind of like, ‘Oh, the big reveal.’ And it all falls into place.”

“Ashes to Ashes” is set to be Jones’ last Organized Crime episode, but he could be back if his character survives. Wheatley’s return in the first episode of Season 2 proved that no story is truly over in the young show. If there is more for Albi to do, Jones would be interested in returning. “They all know I want to be part of the family,” he told ET. “‘They said, ‘You won’t be going far.’ Going forward, I would love to be rotated in, you know what I mean?” Law & Order: Organized Crime airs on NBC Thursdays at 10 p.m., following Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. The show can also be streamed on Peacock and Hulu.