Top 20 Best Law and Order SVU Cameos
Hey! Isn't that... For this list, we’ll be looking at famous actors that you either forgot or never knew once guest starred on this long running drama.
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00:00 - It's been a long time, Finn.
00:01 Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the top 20 best Law & Order SVU cameos.
00:08 - Now I'll always know where you are.
00:10 For this list, we're looking at famous actors that you either forgot or never knew once guest starred on this long-running drama.
00:17 Did Captain Olivia Benson lock better entries up behind bars? Let us know in the comments below.
00:22 Number 20, Jerry Lewis.
00:25 - He doesn't fit our profile, even if he wasn't too old. Our king was organized, he knew he could be.
00:29 Hardcore fans of SVU remember Detective John Munch, the wisecracking conspiracy theorist played by comedian Richard Belzer.
00:36 What they may not recall, however, was the season 8 episode where Munch's uncle shows up.
00:41 - You locked up my uncle.
00:42 The producers tapped famed comedian Jerry Lewis to play the familial role.
00:47 The episode, however, was far from funny.
00:50 Lewis portrays a beaten-down man whose mental health issues cause him to become unhoused.
00:55 He gets tangled up in an SVU investigation and ultimately kills the episode's bad guy by shoving him in front of a train.
01:01 Despite being known as the resident funnyman of the Rat Pack, Lewis put some impressive dramatic chops on display.
01:08 Number 19, Serena Williams.
01:11 - I got drunk, I got stupid.
01:13 Frat Boys breaking bad is a common theme on SVU, and that was at the center of the season 5 episode Brotherhood.
01:19 Benson and Stabler head to the campus of Wallace University to investigate the murder of a frat pledge master.
01:25 They soon discover that the victim ran websites where he posted videos of drunk women he'd exploited.
01:31 One of those women was a star player on the college basketball team.
01:35 When the detectives go to interview her and rule her out as a suspect,
01:39 we discover she's being played by Serena Williams.
01:41 - You think?
01:44 The actress did a great job making the realistic and harrowing material hit home.
01:48 Number 18, Angela Lansbury.
01:51 - You barged into my son's house in the middle of the night. You threatened him.
01:55 The season 6 episode Night may hold the record for the most impressive list of guest stars in a single episode.
02:01 During the episode, the SVU team discovers a link between multiple female refugees who appear to have all been assaulted by the same man.
02:09 Their investigation first takes them to the law office of Jason Whitaker,
02:13 a brash attorney played by a very young Bradley Cooper.
02:16 He then points them in the direction of an eccentric man named Gabriel.
02:20 The perpetrator turns out to be played by Alfred Molina.
02:23 Additionally, Gabriel's mother is portrayed by the indomitable Angela Lansbury,
02:28 who steals the whole episode.
02:30 She's a no-nonsense rich socialite who goes to war with Detective Stabler in an attempt to protect her son.
02:36 - Do you like your job, detective?
02:38 - Yes, ma'am.
02:41 - Then I suggest you stay away from my son.
02:46 Number 17. Pablo Schreiber.
02:48 - My apologies, ladies and gentlemen.
02:51 I'm moving slowly these days due to the brutal beating I received from Detective Benson.
02:55 Almost a decade before starring as Master Chief in the Paramount+ adaptation of Halo,
02:59 Pablo Schreiber was one of the most bone-shelling villains in SVU history.
03:04 Between seasons 14 and 15, Schreiber guest starred in eight episodes as William Lewis.
03:09 Traumatized by his childhood in Kentucky, Lewis grew up and became a prolific serial killer and kidnapper.
03:15 He and Benson play a year-long game of cat and mouse.
03:19 Over the course of his run, Lewis kidnaps Benson, is arrested,
03:23 represents himself at trial, and escapes from prison.
03:26 There are few actors who brought such menace to their performance.
03:29 - You became violent.
03:31 - I was trying to stay alive.
03:33 - We both know that's not what happened.
03:36 Wasn't I handcuffed?
03:38 So it's no surprise the show brought Schreiber back again and again until his character's death.
03:44 Number 16 - Leslie Caron
03:46 - Mrs. Damas.
03:47 - Miss Damas.
03:50 For two decades, Leslie Caron was a leading lady in big, classic Hollywood musicals.
03:55 Decades later, she won a primetime Emmy for her guest role on Law & Order SVU.
04:00 She appeared in an episode where a prominent lawyer gets away with assaulting a woman due to lack of evidence.
04:06 The SVU squad is motivated to check in with his other potential victims.
04:10 Eventually, they discover Caron's Lorraine, a woman who was assaulted by him years earlier.
04:15 She explains to the detectives the ways in which the trauma ruined her life.
04:20 Caron delivers an absolutely gut-wrenching performance that completely commands your attention.
04:25 Number 15 - John Ritter
04:28 Law & Order SVU often acts as a showcase for actors to play against type.
04:32 John Ritter is a prime example.
04:35 - What the hell is this?
04:36 He made a career in comedy, starring in sitcoms like Three's Company and voicing Clifford the Big Red Dog.
04:43 Despite being famous in Hollywood for his generosity and kindness,
04:46 Ritter brought the darkness to his guest appearance.
04:49 He played Richard Manning, a psychiatrist who discovers that his wife is having an affair.
04:54 The character retaliates by ensuring she'll never see her child grow up.
04:58 Ritter leans on his earnestness and feigns innocence right up until the last scene,
05:03 where he breaks on the stand.
05:05 - You only cried a little.
05:06 You only cried a little.
05:10 Number 14 - Whoopi Goldberg
05:12 Even two decades after the show's inception, SVU has continued to attract some of Hollywood's biggest names.
05:18 In its 17th season, this included Whoopi Goldberg,
05:22 who portrayed overwhelmed Department of Child Services supervisor Jeanette Grayson.
05:26 - And I had no idea how badly things had devolved.
05:29 I mean, I'm heartbroken for Keisha and how she suffered.
05:32 Dragged into the middle of an investigation when a malnourished girl is found locked in a dog cage,
05:37 Goldberg's morally corrupt character is both believable and provocative,
05:42 shedding light on the overwhelming number of cases handled by a single social worker.
05:46 - We get the dregs of humanity children raised by wolves.
05:51 Her emotional performance injected weight and credibility into the overall story.
05:56 Number 13 - Hilary Duff
05:59 Six years after Lizzie McGuire, former Disney star Hilary Duff landed on the wrong side of the law.
06:05 In a departure for the actress,
06:07 she guest starred as a missing baby's negligent, self-absorbed single mother.
06:11 - I just went back to sleep and the next morning when I woke up she was just...
06:16 She was gone.
06:22 She played an immature person with alcohol use disorder
06:25 who finds themselves ill-prepared to take care of another human being.
06:29 Ashley Walker was the perfect character to showcase the actress's range and versatility.
06:33 - You gotta know that I love my little girl.
06:36 Providing a compelling performance in an unusually dark role,
06:40 Duff definitely made the most of the opportunity,
06:42 standing out as one of the more memorable and unexpected celebrity cameos in the series.
06:46 Number 12 - Eric McCormack
06:49 - Oh, I don't like the look of this.
06:51 - Police make you nervous?
06:52 - No, ties.
06:53 ABU is strictly a no ties zone, my friend.
06:56 Eric McCormack was a staple of American prime time
06:59 thanks to his role as the eponymous Will in Will & Grace.
07:02 A few years after the show ended,
07:04 McCormack kept it in the NBC family by returning for a guest spot in season 11 of SVU.
07:10 In a shocking episode,
07:12 McCormack plays Vance Shepard,
07:13 a man in a relationship with a woman too young for him.
07:17 He ends up being arrested after she's found dead.
07:20 As it turns out, Vance never killed her.
07:22 He's actually just trying to take the fall for his daughter.
07:25 - Hey! I'm trying to confess here, will someone listen?
07:29 I did it, I- I did it! I killed Emily Keith!
07:33 When the ruse fails,
07:35 she murders Vance right in the middle of the SVU squad room.
07:38 McCormack's performance was absolutely stellar as he played the tragic character.
07:43 Number 11 - Ellen Burstyn
07:46 In season 10, we were all introduced to Stabler's mother Bernadette.
07:49 - Elliot.
07:50 - Hi, Mom.
07:53 At the time, Elliot was struggling with his daughter Kathleen's penchant
07:56 for acting out and committing crimes.
07:58 Ellen Burstyn's Bernadette is then brought in to help.
08:01 After Kathleen talks about her mental condition,
08:03 the matriarch confesses that she's been dealing with bipolar disorder for decades.
08:08 Burstyn's performance is absolutely astonishing.
08:11 Not only does she have great chemistry with Kathleen,
08:14 but her scenes with Stabler are absolutely electric.
08:17 - Was I a bad mother?
08:19 - No.
08:21 - Well then how come I haven't seen you for the last three years, huh?
08:26 In the end, Burstyn's role also netted her a Primetime Emmy Award.
08:30 She subsequently reprised the role of Mrs. Stabler in the SVU spinoff, Organized Crime.
08:34 Number 10 - Marsha Gay Harden
08:38 Marsha Gay Harden had a recurring role as undercover FBI agent Dana Lewis
08:42 in four separate seasons of SVU.
08:44 - You're being played.
08:46 Lewis met the SVU crew while infiltrating a cell of white supremacists.
08:51 She and the team mix it up during a number of chaotic episodes.
08:54 At one point, Lewis accidentally shoots Elliot.
08:57 - Oh my god, what happened?
08:58 - It ricocheted off the beam!
09:00 It's clear Harden and the cast had chemistry.
09:03 After all, they brought her back three more times after her first episode.
09:07 That chemistry took a dark turn, however, in the season 14 episode, Secrets Exhumed.
09:11 Much to Detective Benson's shock and dismay, it's revealed that Lewis is a murderer.
09:17 This twist brought her great series of appearances to a surprising head.
09:21 Number 9 - Hayden Panettiere
09:24 Hollywood only has so many talented celebrities.
09:28 So occasionally SVU doubles up.
09:30 Separated by a couple of years and predating her starring role in the superhero drama Heroes,
09:34 Hayden Panettiere scored two completely unrelated guest appearances on Law & Order Special Victims Unit.
09:40 - I wanted us to hang out today.
09:41 - We can, I'm working.
09:43 - But I won't get in your way, I promise.
09:45 Only 11 at the time of her first appearance,
09:48 Hayden is barely recognizable as the neglected, endearing daughter of famous musicians.
09:53 In season 6, the teenager dropped a provocative polar opposite performance
09:58 as a manipulative, adventurous student with a dark and shocking secret.
10:02 - I'm so sorry, I just want my life back.
10:06 Number 8 - Jeremy Irons
10:09 Landing a recurring part as Dr. Cap Jackson,
10:12 Jeremy Irons is introduced as a potential suspect in an assault.
10:16 However, he ends up assisting Detectives Stabler and Benson as an FBI consultant.
10:20 - So how do you think your daughter is gonna feel when she finds out you protected her attacker?
10:24 She gonna wake up and say, "Thank you, Danny."
10:27 - Don't you accuse me of not caring about Anne.
10:30 Nailing his role as a morally ambiguous,
10:32 guilt-ridden doctor grappling with a muddy past and conflict of interest,
10:36 Irons shows why he's a decorated stage and screen actor with an impressive collection of Academy,
10:41 Emmy, Tony and Golden Globe Awards.
10:43 - When she was 16, my daughter stopped speaking to me.
10:48 For 20 years, she hated me.
10:52 Number 7 - John Stamos
10:55 Best known for his role as hair-obsessed Jesse Katsopoulos in ABC's wholesome sitcom, Full House,
11:00 John Stamos might seem like a counterintuitive choice for a cameo in a crime drama.
11:05 - Baby, you're mature and sophisticated.
11:07 I love you.
11:09 - Okay, that's enough, Romeo.
11:11 But as charming con artist Ken Turner, Stamos is perfectly cast and an absolute blast.
11:17 - Dee Dee, he's Jasper's father.
11:19 Oh my God.
11:22 - Isn't that great?
11:23 Now I'm gonna have one with you.
11:26 Depicting a reproductive abuser, a term that sadly was not invented by SVU,
11:31 Turner pokes holes in condoms to improve the odds of scoring a pregnancy
11:36 and has successfully fathered over 20 children.
11:38 - You know you wanna bang your partner.
11:40 Watch your girl swollen with your child.
11:44 And why not, man?
11:45 She'd give you a beautiful baby.
11:47 Jeez, where are Danny Tanner's life lessons when you need them?
11:50 Number 6 - Martin Short
11:53 If the Special Victims Unit has put on the case, the time for jokes has truly passed.
11:58 So what could Saturday Night Live alum and successful comedian Martin Short possibly offer the show?
12:03 - What's your angle, you little vulture?
12:04 - I'm just trying to help.
12:05 - That woman is out of her mind with worry.
12:07 She doesn't need your help.
12:08 - I keep seeing a serial port and a computer cord.
12:12 Does that mean anything to you?
12:13 In the SVU episode "Pure", he was given the chance to explore new territory
12:17 and boy did he ever.
12:19 As a fake psychic with a history of assault who pretends to lend the detectives a helping hand,
12:24 Short is shockingly convincing and definitely creepy.
12:27 - Well, there is a problem with your husband.
12:30 - What about him?
12:34 - You don't have one.
12:38 Despite the character's repulsive background,
12:40 the actor's typical goofy charm remained surprisingly intact,
12:43 which only made his performance all the more unsettling.
12:46 - Where is she?
12:47 - I don't make up your mind if you want me to use my gift or not.
12:51 Number 5 - Jennifer Love Hewitt
12:53 Airing mere months after "Ghost Whisperer" went off the air,
12:57 SVU granted a quick return to the small screen for the accomplished actress.
13:01 - Vicky, drop the gun.
13:02 - Daya, I have to protect myself.
13:04 - I'm gonna protect you, Vicky.
13:05 I promise.
13:07 Guest starring in the season 12 episode "Behave",
13:10 Jennifer Love Hewitt was put through the wringer
13:12 as a victim who suffered multiple assaults by the same man over 15 years.
13:17 - Please, please forgive me.
13:19 Please, I swear to God.
13:20 They made me tell them it was you.
13:22 I'm sorry, please.
13:22 - I don't know who you think I am.
13:25 - Okay, okay.
13:26 Understandably terrified and reluctant to speak to the police,
13:29 Hewitt provides a raw and heart-wrenching performance
13:31 that brings her traumatized character Vicky Sayers to life
13:35 and raising the bar for guest stars on the show.
13:38 - Every day for 15 years, I have feared for my life.
13:42 Number 4.
13:43 Cynthia Nixon
13:45 Despite a starring role for six seasons on HBO,
13:48 Cynthia Nixon pulled off her most multifaceted performance on NBC's crime drama.
13:53 The "Sex and the City" actress starred on SVU
13:55 as a parent dealing with dissociative identity disorder.
13:58 - You!
13:58 - Sammy, put it back down.
14:01 - You!
14:03 - Get out of my face!
14:05 Jumping back and forth between five different personalities,
14:08 Nixon was clearly having a lot of fun portraying such an unpredictable suspect.
14:12 And the season 9 episode benefited greatly from the celebrity's presence.
14:16 - April is gone and she's never coming back.
14:20 Closing with a memorable twist and just an all-round awesome hour of television,
14:25 Nixon even earned a primetime Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series.
14:30 - I was good, wasn't I?
14:31 Number 3.
14:32 Chris "Ludacris" Bridges
14:34 Every once in a while, SVU has an episode where a detective's personal life gets wrapped up in a
14:39 case. In the season 7 episode "Venom," we learn a bit about Detective Tutuola's relationship with
14:45 his estranged son Ken. We also meet Ken's half-brother, Darius Parker.
14:50 - Look, Finn, I'm straight, man. I'm not like I used to be at all.
14:54 Played by rapper Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, this character is full of rage for his family.
14:59 Unlike Ken, Darius was not raised by his mother. His resentment and rough childhood lead him to a
15:05 life of crime. Bridges brings an incredible amount of pathos to the screen. He is the rare SVU villain
15:12 with whom the audience can easily empathize. - Look, I'm guilty of murder here, so
15:17 I'm not gonna make any excuses, alright? Number 2.
15:21 Carol Burnett
15:22 Hailed as television royalty, the star of The Carol Burnett Show broke new ground as the first
15:27 woman to host a variety show. In the grand scheme of things, a Law & Order guest appearance is merely
15:35 a footnote in Carol Burnett's storied legacy. But the actress does not seem to know the meaning of
15:40 forgettable. In "Ballerina," she plays a woman on a mission - a mission to murder her husbands.
15:56 Dominating the episode with a nuanced and ultimately chilling performance,
15:59 she steals the show as a serial killer with a disturbingly close relationship with her nephew.
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16:19 Number 1. Robin Williams
16:24 Even after making the leap to the big time, the late great Robin Williams was not above
16:28 returning to his roots on the small screen. As the comedian's only performance during 2008,
16:36 Williams stuck it to the man as an anti-authoritarian engineer who becomes a
16:40 nationwide sensation after successfully defending himself in court. Sensibly opting against casting
16:53 the impossible-to-hate actor as a simple one-dimensional villain, Williams' character
16:58 manages to be sympathetic and fascinating even as he weaves his web. And the accomplished actor's
17:03 magnetic charm helps sell some of the episode's wilder moments. Did you enjoy this video? Check
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