Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (season 3) - Cast Changes and Returning Characters

Cast Changes and Returning Characters

All second season main cast members returned for the third season of the series. BD Wong returned to play forensic psychiatrist Dr. George Huang. He was originally contracted to appear in two episodes at the end of the second season and two episodes at the beginning of the third. As Wong puts it "They asked me to come and do four episodes as a kind of audition, to see if it worked, and after those four episodes they asked me to stay on." Wong credited the New York based show with giving him the opportunity to regularly act in theatre.

Four long time recurring cast members of SVU began appearing on the show in the third season. Robert John Burke began playing NYPD Internal Affairs Sergeant Ed Tucker in the episode "Counterfeit". He comes in when the Special Victims Unit is believed to be acting out of misconduct. The episode "Monogamy" first shows Peter Hermann playing Defense Attorney Trevor Langan. This role introduced Peter Hermann and Mariska Hargitay to each other and the two later married. Another recurring actor who first appeared in Season 3 was Joel de la Fuente in the episode "Surveillance". His character Ruben Morales with the Technical Assistance Response Unit was originally called "Burt Trevor" while Fuente was auditioning. This name ended up being used for a different technician character on the show. Finally, Judith Light joined the recurring cast in "Guilt" as Alex Cabot's strict and audacious boss, Bureau Chief ADA Elizabeth Donnelly. Light was already a fan of the program, saying "You can see when you watch a show like this, the level of professionalism going into it."