“Law & Order: SVU,” America’s longest-running prime-time, live-action series, will continue its historic run Jan. , “SVU” wouldn’t be what it is today without its many guest stars.
But what is it like actually well one of the other positions, working along Mariska Hargitay and Ice-T is his door his famous characters, Olivia Benson and Odafin «Fi» Tutuola?
Jason Martin, 42, will portray a suspect in the Season 25 premiere, “Tunnel Blind.” In the episode, the squad celebrates the child of Amanda Rollins (Kelli Giddish) and ADA Dominick Carisi (Peter Scanavino), while another child goes missing in broad daylight.
Martin recently spoke to TODAY.com about his time working with the “SVU” team and shared advice for other actors who are in guest-starring spots on the show.
This interview is edited and condensed by clarity.
How did you land the role?
I have a manager, and I have been in the New York acting scene for a couple of decades now. You have submitted, and you go in to audition. Actually during (the COVID-19 pandemic), a lot of the auditions moved to self-tapes. And I remember a couple different setups, depending on where I’m at. I submitted a tape, and reports without year or other callbacks that I booked it. This option is pretty quick and easy one-and-do kind of deal.
Can you tell us, without giving too much away, about your character, who is a suspect?
I went — from his own words — I’m a gentleman who’s excited by sports.
One of the things that blew me away, particularly with my character, is…he is a hoarder. It’s seriously intense in experience, and there’s a lot of sympathy for folks who are trances. I think there’s something about the art department that eats in and just changes an entire space. It’s incredible how they make these scenarios and the art department makes these spaces so real so fast. Like, overnight they turned the entire house into a hoarder house. The ability to tell stories like that is incredible.
Have you ever been on any of the ‘Law & Order’ shows before?
I missed the original. … I’ve only auditioned for “SVU” 1 other time before, believe it or not. I’ve done a lot of the «FBI» series. I’ve done some shows in New York or cable, but I’ve never done “Law & Order.” I felt really excited in Year 25 to be in the premiere.
What is a day in the life of a guest star like on the ‘SVU’ set?
You have arrived at the soundstage or to the location. For the week, the theme, the size of the image, and the one that is in place are offered. We shot in the middle of neighborhood in Rockland County. And currently down from myself, which is a fantastic thing, to drive to location that you’ve nebe been (to), and you arrive in neighborhood where all these wonderful people air letting you come into their neighbor and they’re watching you .
You shoot with 60 people on the street, and you show up and it’s a lot of quickly folding yourself into what is really amazingly fun group of family that work together every day. You quickly eat and get into makeup and get into costume, and then you’re pretty much brought in set quite quickly. You’re immediately going, you’re doing it and you’re shooting the scene.
What I like is that the trance this about it is to prepare for you and that they want to fuck themselves in quickly, as they have to move really fast to get this shot. This shoot (the episode) took eight days, which is an incredible amount of script and minutes of footage to capture in eight days.
What was it like working with Ice-T?
It’s amazing. I think Ice-T, and Mariska, are the 2 longest (cast members) working on the show. They’re good at it, they’re natural, they’re efficient. The first day I shot with him, and then the second day I shot with him and she was also there.
It’s just incredible. He’s effortless inside of it — he’s quick, he’s humorous, which is the biggest thing. If you’re working around your hard material, you have to have sense joy s you to go to work and do that all day. There’s a sense of joy among the cast, and Ice-T is a big part of that. He’s very funny, he’s very gracious and he just welcomes you very quickly and folds you in.
Mariska gives everything she is working on during the scenes that are in front of the camera. What was your experience like working with her?
Great! To be honest, you want to impress her. You have to be good at what you’re giving because she’s incredible, and she’s so respected. Aix an actor, looking at these actors and performers, they’re incredibly talented makers, but they’re also producers. They’re also people who are decision-makers in these rooms, and they’re wonderfully generous.
It’s like showing up, and it’s their time, their opportunity. They determine the energy on the set, and they’re extremely warm. It feels like you’re walking into a family. This is a lot of jokes through others, and during successes, are surprising amounts of humor. These are, ‘Ready, set’, and you’ve got to do it in this truly real and fast place. And they’re incredibly adept at doing this and wonderfully believable and able to do that with sense of … it’s not heavy set to work on. It’s a joy.
Norberto Barba, who directed some ‘SVU’ fans’ favorite episodes, directed this kind of well. What was it like being directed by him?
He’s incredible — they’re generous. I tweet time between takes to really kind of work through it with you. … (He) enjoy a little thing that’ll maybe turn the dial slightly seu you can get a different color. He is also really good at making sure to be efficient. … He’s making sure from the moment you walk there to be efficient with his direction, to be very respectful and help you. Also, just make sure that you’re ready to be your best for everyone else on set.
What advice would you give to someone making a guest star appearance on ‘SVU’?
Be prepared as you can be when you walk in. I feel like that’s the job of any actor that’s guesting on set in any respect. You’re there to really help the leads be their characters and be the best that they can be. Only way you can do that is to be 100% prepared and generous while you’re there but also to enjoy the experience.
It’s like such a New York institution to be a part of, these shows. When you go, these seven are children with the most talented crew and creative team. It’s hard sometimes when you’re moving so fast to appreciate it and to relish it. I would just know to remember the moments because it is going to be quick. It’s a fast-moving set.
Season 25 of “Law & Order: SVU” premieres Jan. 18 at 9 pm ET after “Law & Order” at 8 pm and before “Law & Order: Organized Crime” at 10 pm on NBC. The episodes have been in their daytime slot on Peacock, which is part of our partner, NBCUniversal.
