When a franchise is as sprawling asLaw & Order, it’s not unusual to see an actor play different roles in different series. The original show debuted in 1990, and since then, there have been several spinoffs, withLaw & Order: Special Victims Unitthe longest-running of them all.
BetweenLaw & Order,Law & Order: SVU, and the spinoff seriesConviction, one actor who currently stars inThe Bearplayed six different named characters. That is very unusual, even for New York-based actors who take on day-player roles in one of theLaw & Ordershows. For that many appearances, it’s more common for the characters to be unnamed first responders inLaw & Order.
Liza Colón-Zayas Played Six Different Characters In The Law & Order Franchise Over 20 Years
Colón-Zayas Appears In Three Different Series
Liza Colón-Zayas might be better known for her role asTina inThe Beartoday, but the New York-based actor has been working in theater since the 1990s. Many theater actors cut their teeth on television roles in theLaw & Orderfranchise because it has had so many shows filming in New York over the last 30 years.
So many theater actors have, in fact, worked in theLaw & Orderfranchise that a bit highlighting that wasused at the Tony Awards in 2016, showcasing several of the Tony nominees in the room who had appeared in the show.
Liza Colón-Zayas is one of the theater actors who picked up guest starring spots on the show in between jobs on stage. She is, however, unique because of the number of roles she played. Very few actors have returned to the shows more than three times.
Colón-Zayas played three different characters on the mainLaw & Orderfranchise between 2002 and 2022. She also appeared briefly in an episode of the spinoffConvictionwhen it aired its single season in 2006.
If those four different characters were not enough,Colón-Zayas also appeared as two different characters inLaw & Order: SVU.She appeared in a 2004 episode as one character, then returned to the series eight years later to play another, and three years later to reprise that role.
2002
2005
2022
2006
2004
2012
2015
Season 17, Episode 9 “Depravity Standard”
Dolores Rodriguez
Colón-Zayas has shown her versatility and her ability to disappear into these different roles over and over again.
Sterling K. Brown has mentioned before in theThis Is Usrewatch podcastThat Was UsthatLaw & Ordertypically has a rule that an actor can be hired as a new character three years after their last appearance. Because Colón-Zayas appeared across different franchise shows, however, that rule is a little looser here.
Liza Colón-Zayas Is Best Known For Her SVU Episodes
Colón-Zayas Appears In A Heartbreaking SVU Arc
Though Colón-Zayas plays five otherLaw & Ordercharacters, she is better known for her second character inSVU.As Dolores Rodriguez, Colón-Zayas appears in two episodes, continuing her character’s story three years apart.
“Manhattan Vigil” is often cited as one of the mostheartbreaking episodes ofSVU. It sees the SVU detectives take on the case of a missing child that is eerily similar to one from 13 years earlier.
After believing they are connected, they push hard to figure out who is kidnapping children with the help of a police officer who has been archiving all of the disappearances.
Colón-Zayas’The Bearcostars Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Jeremy Allen White both guest starred onLaw & Order: SVUin the past.
Colón-Zayas plays the role of the mother of the missing boy from 13 years earlier. She has never given up hope for her son, leading regular vigils and prayers near a mural of him, and her story is interspersed with the new kidnapping.
It gets a follow-up three years later with “Depravity Standard” when the kidnapper and murderer actually goes to trial. This is an unusual way forSVUto handle the story since the investigation and trial usually occur in the same episode.
Splitting the story up across three years is one reason theSVUaudience remembers Colón-Zayas so well. The other is that her portrayal of a grieving mother is shattering. The same talent that won her an Emmy inThe Bearis on display here.
The Law & Order Franchise Is Known For Using Actors In Multiple Roles
Many Series Regulars Have Played Multiple Roles
Colón-Zayas is far from the only actor to appear inLaw & Orderwho has played multiple roles.
While it’s more likely to see guest stars play multiple roles across the franchise due to the nature of different casting directors or audition processes, there are actually series regulars who have played multiple roles in the franchise - most of them fromLaw & Order: SVUbecause it’s been on the air for more than 20 years.
Diane Neal is known for her role as assistant district attorney Casey Novak. She was brought in duringSVUseason 5 as a replacement when Stephanie March’sAlex Cabot was first written outof the series. It was not Novak’s first time in the show, though. She actually played a suspect in the season 3 episode “Ridicule.”
Likewise, Tamara Tunie, who playsmedical examiner Melinda WarnerinSVU,Law & Order: Trial By Jury, andLaw & Order: Organized Crime, actually got her start in a different area of the franchise. She guest starred in an episode ofLaw & Orderas Caroline Bennett in 1996.
Kevin Kane has both of them beat, though.Kane played six different characters acrossLaw & OrderandLaw & Order: SVUbefore being cast asSVUregularDetective Terry Bruno.
2008
Season 13, Episode 16 “Child’s Welfare”
2016
2018
2023-
Series Regular Beginning Season 24, Episode 10 “Jumped In”
Detective Terry Bruno
Of course, most of the characters who have appeared as multiple characters appeared as guest stars long before they were cast as series regulars.
Colón-Zayas is one of the rare actors to appear in so many different shows as so many different characters for theLaw & Orderfranchise.
Law & Order
Cast
Law & Order is a procedural crime drama series that premiered in 1990, featuring New York City police detectives and prosecutors as they investigate and prosecute serious crimes. The show is known for its two-part approach, dividing between the crime-solving efforts of the detectives and the legal proceedings in court.
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is a television series that premiered in 1999. Set in the criminal justice system of New York City, it follows an elite team of detectives who investigate sexually-based offenses, focusing on their efforts to solve complex cases and seek justice for victims.
