'This Is Us' Star Joins 'Law & Order: Organized Crime' Season 2

This Is Us star Ron Cephas Jones is making the leap to another NBC series and will be joining Law [...]

By Stephen Andrew

This Is Us star Ron Cephas Jones is making the leap to another NBC series and will be joining Law & Order: Organized Crime for its upcoming Season 2. According to Deadline, Jones will be playing the recurring role of Congressman Leon Kilbride, "a born politician who fosters connections and always plays his cards right." He will not be the only new actor on Law & Order: Organized Crime, as Vinnie Jones (X-Men: The Last Stand), will be joining as well, playing Albi Briscu, "an Eastern European gangster who is the last remaining member of the organization from the old country."

Ron Cephas Jones has been a working actor for close to three decades, and has become most well-known lately for his role as William "Shakespeare" Hill on This Is Us. Hill is the biological father of Randall, played by Sterling K. Brown. Notably, both men have won Emmys for their roles on the critically acclaimed drama series. In addition to his upcoming stint on Law & Order: Organized Crime, Jones also previously appeared on the original Law & Order twice in the last '90s, as well as on Law & Order: Criminal Intent in 2006.

Organized Crime is the newest Law & Order series, spinning out of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and featuring the return of Christopher Meloni as Elliot Stabler, former SVU detective. In Season 1 of the new series, Stabler aimed to take down figures involved in large-scale crime, while also searching for his wife's killer. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Meloni discussed his return to the role and explained that he was not sorry for leaving SVU years earlier.

"I would have no problem admitting to it. But I was pleasantly surprised it played out as well as it did," he said. "Because, you know, that's not how life shakes out, right? You can have all the dreams you want, all the preconceived notions of how it's going to be. But I must say, the intervening decade was everything I could have hoped for."

Wolf also addressed Meloni's exit from the iconic series, saying that "since the day [Meloni] left" he wanted the actor back. Wolf continued, "Elliot Stabler is tough as nails, he has an infallible moral compass, and he is the cop we wish shows up if you ever need one." Wolf also very confidently insisted on Organized Crime, "This could really work."

Finally, Meloni admitted that — even though he has no regrets about exiting SVU — he loves wearing the badge again. "It felt great, a surprising sense of freedom," he said. "It was a very interesting feeling because I rarely get it. It was just kind of a weird sign that everything's right, and I was where I belonged."

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