Law and Order SVU cast: Then and now

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is definitely a drama that has a special place in our hearts.

From the classic "dun-dun" sound that sparks the beginning of each episode, to Benson and Stabler's constant flirtationship, there's little not to love.

The series, which first aired in 1999 is now into its 24th season, and you can bet the cast has seen plenty of changes.

September 2023 also marks 24 years since the show first aired on TV, making this month a huge milestone for fans of the long-running detective series.

Ahead, let us take you back to the original SVU cast, and where they are now.

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Who could forget the early days of the ever-dapper Detective Elliot Stabler played by Christopher Meloni?

He was the sweet and caring father-of-five, who couldn't always quite shake the horror of the sexual assault cases he regularly dealt with in his job.

For 12 seasons, the beloved hot-head worked alongside partner Detective Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) to fight crime.

Sadly, Meloni left the crime drama abruptly in 2011, while filming the 12th season. Writers explained the loss of Stabler by claiming he had decided to retire from the police force following a self-defence shooting in the season.

After Meloni retired his badge on Law & Order: SVU after over a decade, the actor spoke about the real reason he left the show so suddenly.

During an interview with Men's Health in August 2021, Meloni revealed that he left the series due to some sticky issues with his contract negotiation.

The actor said they could not come to an agreement over the number of episodes he would star in.

"My thought was: Instead of 22 episodes, bring me back for nine episodes, or bring me back for 18 episodes. They literally came to me on a Thursday night and said, 'This is the deal. We want the answer by tomorrow. It's our way or no way,'" he revealed.

Meloni said he told the show creators: "I don't want to f--- around with you guys. This is what I want. If you can't do it, that's fine. Let's figure out my exit."

In a 2020 interview with the New York Post, Meloni said there wasn't any bad blood – and he even returned to the franchise in the spin off Law & Order: Organised Crime.

"I left with zero animosity," he added.

"But I did leave clearly and open-eyed in going forward and finding new adventures. I was like, 'That's what I want to do, keep moving forward'."

These days, Meloni is looking a little more... buff. And he's up to new things.

Most importantly, he's living a "Zaddy" life now. Aka, the world has realised (and/or remembered) he's super hot.

In an interview with People, the 62-year-old responded to claims he was now an "international sex symbol"

"It's a gas. It's fun. I don't know, has anyone else been crowned 'Zaddy'?" he asked.

"Once it's bestowed upon you, you have to just ride that horse as long as you can," he joked.

Ever since the release of his own spin-off series, Law & Order: Organised Crime, Meloni's new muscles have been a hot topic of conversation.

But it wasn't until July 2022 that he truly sent viewers into a tizz, with his cheeky ad for Peloton.

In the now-viral video clip for the stationary bike company, a butt-naked Meloni is seen doing his full workout and wind-down routine – from lifting weights to huffing through squats to zoning in through meditation.

Of course, his privates are blurred out.

"People think the way I workout is strange," he says coyly in the clip, a statement which has prompted many equally cheeky replies in the comments.

He also enjoys a cheeky relationship with former co-star Mariska Hargitay on social media.

Meloni has been married for 27 years to production designer Sherman Williams – yet it's his former on-screen star you'll spot on his Instagram grid more often.

Meloni and longtime bestie Mariska Hargitay have maintained a strong friendship, despite his choice to leave SVU, and her choice to stay on.

The pair are often seen catching up every week or so, and even delighted fans by walking the Emmys red carpet together in 2022.

These days Meloni spends much of his time acting and focusing on his family with Williams, which includes their two children, Sophia, 22, and Dante, 19.

Hargitay, however, recently made fun of Meloni on Instagram, which has left fans in stitches.

Taking to Instagram in April 2023, Hargitay appeared to poke fun at Meloni's bald head.

"Rapunzel, Rapunzel let down your hair… #WhatHair #SmirksForDays #KingOfTheCastle #ICanSeeMyMeloniFromHere #SpyingStabler #CrossoverComing #SVUOC #RoomWithAView," Hargitay captioned this photo, which shows Meloni looking down at the camera through a window.

Many of Hargitay's 2.7 million followers were quick to laugh at her joke, with one commenting: "This is golden. Caption Queen!"

A second fan wrote: "not what hair 💀😭."

Read on to see what Hargitay is up to now.

Mariska Hargitay debuted as Detective Olivia Benson when she was just 35. She's since held the role for a total of 23 years.

Hargitay's character is the heart of the show, with Benson a passionate New York City special victims detective, who is always keen to find the baddie and hold them to account.

These days Hargitay is married, and very much still on the Law & Order: SVU scene, of course.

At 59, Hargitay is yet to let her famous role go and is still found regularly fighting crime on the NBC series. She is the only original season one cast member left, with Ice-T (Fin Tutuola) the next long-lasting cast mate, having joined in season two.

In her personal life, Hargitay has been married to her actor husband Peter Hermann since 2004, and the pair share three children: August, 16, Amaya, 11 and Andrew, 10.

Rapper Ice-T is one of the only original cast members still standing today, having portrayed NYPD Detective Odafin (aka Fin) Tutuola since season two.

Tutuola became Detective Munch's partner after Michelle Hurd's character left the show.

While Ice-T was on SVU, he started his own reality show, Ice Loves Coco, with his model wife Coco Austin.

The E! Network show followed the couple, along with their pet bulldog Spartacus, as they made their way through the Hollywood social scene.

At 65, Ice-T is still married to Austin, and is acting in SVU, where his character has now been promoted to "sergeant".

Dann Florek first played the stoic Polica Captain known as Donald Cragen in 1990 on the OG Law and Order.

It was in 1999 that he reprised his role for SVU, this time playing the captain of the Special Victims Unit.

In 2013, Florek officially left the series after appearing in over 300 episodes. Like many other departures, Donald Cragen was written off as having to retire, due to the NYPD's strict retirement age rule.

At 72, Florek has scaled back his acting work, though he did make a notable appearance in the new Organised Crime series with Christopher Meloni this year.

Florek has been married to his wife, Karen Florek since 1983, and though they don't have any children of their own, they do have a suite of rescue dogs who are always living with them, as they work to bring them to safe and happy new homes.

Prior to his long-running stint in SVU, Florek appeared in films like The Flinstones (1994), Hard Rain (1998) with Morgan Freeman and Christian Slater and Angel Heart (1997).

It might come as a surprise that Richard Belzer's ice-cool character John Munch had a popular life before he appeared on SVU.

Belzer introduced Detective Munch to audiences on NBC's Homicide: Life on the Street in 1993, where Munch was an offbeat detective known for his one-liners.

The show ended in 1999, and so Belzer was offered to reprise his role on SVU, where he was afforded a similar gig, with the same epic one-liners.

While a series regular on the crime series, Belzer also got the chance to take his Munch outside of the Law and Order franchise. Over the years, he made cameos on a number of separate shows as Munch, including The Wire, 30 Rock, The X-Files, and Arrested Development.

In 2013, Belzer announced his sad departure from SVU.

In February 2023, Richard Belzer died aged 78 in his home in Southern France.

The beloved actor starred in the show for 15 seasons as Detective John Munch. He also starred in Homicide: Life on the Street for seven seasons.

Belzer had a long and diverse career including as a comedian.

Read the full story here.

Michelle Hurd played Detective Monique Jeffries for just two of SVU's early seasons.

Jeffries was Detective Munch's partner. In season two, when Hurd's character revealed she had sex with a former rape suspect, she was taken off active duty.

But in the real world, Hurd left the show in 2000.

Since her time on SVU, Hurd has appeared on several TV shows, including Hawaii Five-0, The Glades, Blindspot and most recently, Star Trek: Picards.

She is now 56 and married to her husband Garret Dillahunt, who is also an actor. They wed in 2007.

Sadly, Hurd made headlines in 2014 when she revealed that comedian Bill Cosby was inappropriate with her when she was a stand-in on The Cosby Show.

She took to Facebook to make the allegations, writing that she "dodged a bullet" when she decided not to accept Cosby's offer to visit his home, after he had orchestrated a series of inappropriate advances towards her.

Stephanie March joined SVU in its second season as Assistant District Attorney Alexandra Cabot.

Cabot worked closely with the SVU unit, trying suspects that the detectives arrested.

March officially left the show after three seasons in 2003.

Per the SVU storyline, her character actually ended up faking her own death and then entering the Witness Protection Program.

Now 48, March has had a number of other roles outside of the SVU world, including in film.

March appeared both in Mr and Mrs Smith with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie and The Invention of Lying with Will Smith, and most recently took on a role in the superhero drama, Naomi.

March is also married to her husband Dan Benton, whom she wed in 2017.