Kelli Giddish is ready for Rollins to step up on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
The actress talked of how her cop is adapting to a new romance amid motherhood while sharing her thoughts on working with Mariska Hargitay and the Law & Order crossover she’d love to participate in.
Rollins’ rise on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
A decade after beginning her role as Detective Amanda Rollins, Giddish is settling into the part amidst Rollins’ various struggles.
Rollins has definitely changed in her time on SVU, fighting through a gambling addiction and some failed romances. She’s also become a mother to two children while handling the sensitive cases the SVU deals with regularly.
This year has brought a new turn. After years of flirting, Rollins is finally in a relationship with Dominick Carisi (Peter Scanavino). The pair seem to be living together, although retaining a professional air on the job.
Fans saw a twist in Rollins’ story when a case had her reunite with Declan Murphy (Donal Logue), the father of her first child. He apologized for not keeping in touch with her after the birth and Rollins assured him it was okay.
Talking to the Today Show at a Law & Order press event, Rollins shared how she and Scanavino (who didn’t appear in the episode) felt about this blast from Rollins’ past.
“When Peter and I were talking about this script, he was like, ‘Oh, Murphy’s back, huh?’ I was like, ‘Yeah.’ He was like, ‘Anything happening?’ And I was like, ‘No, no nothing’s happening. But it was, it was a lot of fun actually to play and like those nonverbal moments where you’re just like, ‘Hi, welcome back,’ you know. That was a lot of fun to play. I love Donal so much.”
The couple’s relationship will become more prominent as Beverly D’Angelo will be guest-starring in an upcoming episode as Carisi’s mother. Naturally, this makes for a considerable upgrade in the pair’s new romance that Rollins will have to handle.
Giddish on the Rollins/Benson relationship
Giddish also talked about the bond between Rollins and Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay). As the only women on the squad, the pair naturally click and as mothers, each understands the challenges the others face.
“I really respect how the writers have treated this and how we’ve, how we’ve gone about it because it’s so earned. And it’s — they’re friends, and they love and support each other. And Rollins, certainly just from my perspective, Rollins has been hurt in the past — and very deeply and very badly — and so to see her trust and love, I think it’s really, you know, there’s a lot of rewards in that for any audience members watching that may have gone through the same thing. I think it’s a must now. You can’t have these two strong women, this kind of a friendship, and not have that be reflected in the show and in the scripts.”
Giddish did share one crossover she would love to have: A meeting between Rollins and Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni). While Rollins knows of Stabler, the pair have never met face-to-face, but Giddish is as eager as fans to have that happen.
“We should push for that. Twitter. Hashtag.”
Whether or not that crossover occurs, Giddish indicates there’s a lot more drama to come as Rollins continues moving from hard SVU cases to romance in the new season.
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 23 returns Thursday, February 24 at 9/8c on NBC.