‘Law & Order: SVU’ Main Cast Member Originally Had Small Early Role on Show

Peter Scanavino is best known for playing Dominick Carisi Jr. on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, but like almost every actor who works in New York, he appeared in a small role on the show before he landed a main role on the series. In fact, Scanavino, 41, appeared in almost every Law & Order series before he joined SVU full-time. Carisi was also envisioned to be a smaller part, but executive producer Warren Light kept giving Scanavino more work on the show and he was eventually made a full-time castmember.

Scanavino first appeared in the Law & Order franchise in 2005, when he played a petty criminal in the Law & Order: Criminal Intent episode “Diamond Dogs.” He also played an unnamed character in the Law & Order: Trial by Jury 200 episode “Boys Will Be Boys.” His one appearance on the original Law & Order was as Jim Anderson in “Just a Girl in the World,” the second episode of the show’s final season in 2009. In 2013, he made his SVU debut as Johnny Dubcek, a janitor suspected of a crime, in “Monster’s Legacy.”

In the very next season, Scanavino was back on SVU, but this time as Carisisi, a new detective joining the Manhattan SVU. Over time, the character has developed close relationships with his co-workers, particularly Amanda Rollins (Kelli Giddish). Carisi’s interest in becoming an attorney was also introduced, and he fulfilled his dream at the start of Season 21. He is now the Assistant District Attorney who works with SVU.

Scanavino was originally slated to play Carisi in only three episodes. When he was cast in the part, it came as a surprise for the Denver-born actor. After all, he had just played a suspect in Season 14. “OK, I got a call to be a perp on the show in season 14 and that was great, just to get a job offer out of nowhere,” Scanavino told E! News in 2016. “I was like, ‘OK, done SVU, now I’ve done ’em all. So that’s it, it was great while it lasted, guess I can’t do that for a while.’ A year goes by and I get another call and [Leight] was like, ‘Do you want to come back on SVU?’ and I was like, ‘Do you remember that I was on this show last year?’ and he said, ‘Yeah, it’s fine. Do you want to do three episodes?’ I said, sure and that was fantastic, and then it turned into more and then this,” he said. “Now it’s a different world for me. It’s amazing.”

Scanavino’s position is hardly unique. Many other actors have played different parts on SVU. Before Diane Neal played A.D.A. Casey Novak, she played a lawyer suspected of raping a male stripper in Season 3’s “Ridicule.” Long before Kelli Giddish played Rollins, she starred as a rape victim in the Season 8 episode, “Outsider.” Law & Order: SVU airs Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET on NBC.