Prominent Stars Who Departed from ‘Law & Order: Special Victims Unit’: Current Whereabouts of Christopher Meloni, BD Wong, and Others

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit has been a successful show since 1999, but not all of its main characters have remained throughout its lengthy run. In fact, the only original cast member from the first season still on the show is Mariska Hargitay, who began as detective Olivia Benson and has since become the captain of the Special Victims Unit. In 2014, she took over as the SVU leader, starting as a sergeant, then lieutenant, before finally becoming captain.

Ice-T (Odafin “Fin” Tutuola) and Peter Scanavino (Sonny Carisi) complete the cast, with Ice-T joining the show in 2000. Christopher Meloni, known for his portrayal of Detective Elliot Stabler, left SVU in 2011 after 12 seasons and went on to star in his own Law & Order spinoff, Organized Crime, which premiered in 2021.

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Scroll below to see what some of your favorite Law & Order: SVU alumni — including detectives, medical examiners and ADAs — have been up to since their departures:

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Major Stars Who Left ‘Law & Order: Special Victims Unit’: Where Are They Now? Christopher Meloni, BD Wong and More

Since 1999, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit has been going strong, but not all of its major characters have stayed throughout its long run. The only remaining original cast member from the show’s first season is Mariska Hargitay, who started as detective Olivia Benson and has since become the captain of the Special Victims Unit. In 2014, she replaced Donald Cragen (Dann Florek) as the SVU leader, transitioning from sergeant to lieutenant before making her way to captain.

The cast also includes Ice-T as Odafin "Fin" Tutuola, who joined the show in 2000, and Peter Scanavino as Sonny Carisi. A notable departure from the hit drama was Detective Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni), who left SVU in 2011 after 12 seasons. The actor went on to star in his own Law & Order spinoff, Organized Crime, which premiered in 2021.

Scroll below to see what some of your favorite Law & Order: SVU alumni — including detectives, medical examiners and ADAs — have been up to since their departures:

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Demore Barnes

Following his role as Christian Garland on Law & Order: SVU from 2019 to 2021, Barnes left the show after his character resigned due to his concerns about police misconduct. He later returned to reprise the role on Law & Order: Organized Crime in the same year. In March 2022, it was confirmed that Barnes would be making an appearance in an upcoming episode of the procedural series.

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Michelle Hurd

Hurd, originally a member of the SVU team as detective Monique Jeffries, partnered with Det. Jon Munch (Richard Belzer) for two seasons before departing the show in 2001. The New York native has enjoyed a lengthy TV career, appearing in shows such as Leap Years, ER, Gossip Girl, and 90210. From 2010 to 2013, she portrayed Colleen Manus on The Glades. In 2016, she had recurring roles on Daredevil and Ash vs Evil Dead before joining the cast of Blindspot from 2016 to 2019 as Shepherd. As of 2020, she was part of the Star Trek: Picard series. Hurd has been married to Garret Dillahunt since 2007.

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Adam Beach

During the period spanning from season 8 to season 9 (2007 to 2008), the actor, hailing from Canada, took on the role of detective Chester Lake. Lake transitioned from Brooklyn SVU to Manhattan SVU, where he was paired with Fin. Following this, he went on to land roles in Big Love in 2010 and Arctic Air from 2012 to 2014. The actor has also appeared in notable films such as Diablo, Suicide Squad, Hostiles and Juanita. His most recent role is as Chief E.O. McGinnis on The CW’s Nancy Drew. Beach tied the knot with Summer Tiger in 2015, marking his third marriage.

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Michaela McManus

In 2008, the talented actress from Rhode Island joined the series as the third ADA on SVU, playing the role of Kim Greylek. During the same time, she also appeared as Lindsey Strauss on One Tree Hill. After a season on SVU, she moved on to have a recurring role on The Vampire Diaries in 2010 and a role on Awake in 2012. Her work also includes appearances on Aquarius from 2015 to 2016, and a year later she joined the cast of SEAL Team as Alana Hayes. She also had a role on the short-lived series The Village in 2019. The actress has been happily married to Mike Daniels since 2011, and the couple has two sons.

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Christopher Meloni

Meloni portrayed Benson’s original partner and close friend, Elliot Stabler, for 12 seasons before exiting the show in 2011. In March 2020, Deadline announced that Meloni would star in a Dick Wolf spinoff series, reprising his role as a detective — with the storyline starting off from his previous show. Following his departure, Meloni made appearances on True Blood and took on lead roles in Surviving Jack and Underground. He also featured in two TV reboots of Wet Hot American Summer for Netflix, appearing in First Day of Camp in 2015 and Ten Years Later in 2017 as Gene. From 2017 to 2019, Meloni starred in Happy! and later appeared in The Handmaid’s Tale and Maxxx. The Washington, D.C., native has been married to Sherman Williams since 1995 and together they have a daughter named Sophia and a son named Dante.

Meloni reprised his role and returned to SVU in 2021 before launching his new spinoff, Law & Order: Organized Crime.

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Stephanie March

March's character ADA Alexandra Cabot was the first assistant district attorney assigned to the SVU team, appearing in 13 seasons from 2000 to 2012 and returning for one episode in 2018. Following her time on SVU, she appeared in Innocence in 2013 before landing a recurring role on Neon Joe, Werewolf Hunter in 2015. In 2017, she played Emma in Who We Are Now and two years later starred in The Social Ones, which she also co-executive produced. After 10 years of marriage, March divorced celebrity chef Bobby Flay in 2015. Two years later, she wed tech investor Dan Benton at their home in Katonah, New York.

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Diane Neal

The Virginia native has left a lasting impression as one of the actresses who played an assistant district attorney of the Sex Crimes Bureau on the show. Neal had a prominent role on the NBC series from 2003 to 2012, following a one-time appearance in 2001. She has also appeared on Power and had recurring roles on both NCIS and NCIS: New Orleans. In 2015, Neal appeared on The Following and in one episode of Blue Bloods. The following year, she made her directorial debut with Alphabet Boys.

In November 2019, Neal found herself in a controversial situation after reportedly calling her former co-star Hargitay a "total bitch" in court documents obtained by Page Six. According to the documents, she allegedly told her former campaign manager, Rachel Himsel, that the only SVU cast member she got along with was Ice-T and that the others were "awful people." These comments were shared in an email that is part of her ex-boyfriend JB Benn's lawsuit against her, following her own lawsuit against him for "sexually and physically abusing her." Neal later stated in December to Us that the remarks were "the funniest thing I’ve ever heard," and that when she and Hargitay spoke about the incident, Hargitay "just laughed."

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Richard Belzer

The Connecticut native, played the role of Detective John Munch for 15 seasons, most of them alongside Detective Fin Tutuola (Ice-T) as his partner. He portrayed the same character on the original Law & Order from 1996 to 2000. In 2013, he appeared in Santorini Blue, a movie which he also produced, and in 2015, he made a guest appearance on an episode of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Then, in 2016, he returned for an episode of SVU, after leaving the show in 2014, and also starred in The Comedian. Throughout his career, Belzer has authored 10 books, including Hit List: An In-Depth Investigation into the Mysterious Deaths of Witnesses to the JFK Assassination. He has been married to Harlee McBride since 1985 and was married two times before that.

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Dean Winters

Winters’ Brian Cassidy had a long run as a recurring character on the cop drama, from 1999 to 2019. Portraying Det. Brian Cassidy, he started as Munch’s partner and departed after season 1, only to return for an undercover assignment in season 13. After a significant hiatus from the show following 2014, he made a comeback in 2017 for a few episodes in later seasons. In the interim between his appearances on SVU, Winters made appearances on Brooklyn Nine-Nine for nine episodes and also had recurring roles on Divorce. In 2019, he played Daddy on Wayne and in 2020 portrayed Dean Bostick in Lost Girls. Additionally, he is set to star in Palmer, Street Justice, and Rites & Wrongs. Since 2010, Winters has also been known for his portrayal of Mayhem in recurring TV and radio ads for Allstate Insurance.

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Dann Florek

OG character Captain Cragen bid farewell to fans in 2015 after 16 seasons. Since departing from SVU, Florek has kept a relatively low profile in the acting world, making a brief appearance in one episode of Under the Dome in 2015 and taking on a starring role in 2018’s Disillusioned. He also joined The Front Page Broadway cast. The Michigan native married Karen Florek in 1983.

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BD Wong

Dr. George Huang, a psychiatrist and criminal profiler portrayed by Wong, joined SVU in 2001 and appeared in 230 episodes across 17 seasons. His departure from the show in 2015 marked the beginning of a busy period for the California native, who went on to star as Hugo Strange in Gotham from 2016 to 2019, followed by roles as Whiterose in Mr. Robot and Wally in 2020’s Awkwafina Is Nora From Queens. In addition, Wong played Dr. Wu in 2018's Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and is set to reprise the role in the 2021 sequel. He also married Richert Schnorr in 2018 and has two children from a previous relationship.

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Tamara Tunie

From 2000, Tunie portrayed Dr. Melinda Warner, the assertive medical examiner on the series. Despite not being afraid to push back, she often clashed with the detectives. After leaving the show in 2015, she made guest appearances in 2018 and 2019. Following her time on SVU, the Pennsylvania native transitioned to Blue Bloods with a recurring role from 2016 to 2018. She also featured in Dietland, Better Call Saul, and Black Earth Rising before taking on the role of Genevieve on Almost Family in 2019. News broke in 2015 that Tunie and her husband of 20 years, Gregory Generet, had separated, though no divorce papers had been filed.

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Danny Pino

Following his time on Cold Case from 2003 to 2010, Pino joined the cast of the NBC series as detective Nick Amaro in 2011, where he was partnered with Benson. After four seasons, he departed the show in 2015. Shortly thereafter, he landed a recurring role on Scandal in 2016 and also appeared on BrainDead that same year. From 2017 to 2018, he starred on Gone and portrayed Miguel Galindo from 2018 to 2019 on Mayans M.C. Pino, who hails from Florida, has been married to Lily Pino since 2002, and together they have two sons, Luca and Julian.

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Andy Karl

The Maryland native, Karl, portrayed Sergeant Mike Dodds for 15 episodes starting in 2015. As the second in command of the Special Victims Unit after Benson's promotion to lieutenant, he played a pivotal role. After leaving the show in 2016, the Tony-nominated actor returned to Broadway with Groundhog Day. The production ran from July to September 2016 in London and from April to September 2017 in New York City. Unfortunately, Karl sustained an injury during a press performance on April 14, 2017, leading to the delay of the show's opening day to April 17. In 2018, he took on the role of Edward Lewis in Pretty Woman: The Musical on Broadway, alongside his wife, Orfeh, who played his love interest’s BFF. His return to television came in 2019 with a guest role on Hooked, followed by appearances in Faraway Eyes and an episode of Prodigal Son in 2020.

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Robert John Burke

Making his SVU debut in 2002 as Captain Ed Tucker, a member of the Internal Affairs Bureau, the New York native became a recurring character until 2017, focused on bringing down dirty cops. His character later became romantically linked to Benson and appeared in a 2020 episode in which he died. In 2018, Burke portrayed Chief Bridges in BlacKkKlansman and featured in Boarding School and We Only Know So Much, among other films. In 2019, the actor took on the role of William Fairchild in Project Blue Book. Burke, who is married with two children, also serves as a volunteer firefighter when he’s not acting.

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Raúl Esparza

After portraying ADA Rafael Barba from 2012 to 2018, Esparza made a return for a single episode of the crime drama in 2020. Towards the conclusion of his tenure on the show, the Delaware native also took on roles on The Path and provided the voice for Ralph Stilton on BoJack Horseman. Additionally, he made an appearance on an episode of The Good Fight in 2020 following his performances in Off-Broadway productions of Roadshow and Seared.

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Philip Winchester

In 2018, fans were introduced to ADA Peter Stone, who replaced Rafael Barba. After two seasons on the show, he departed in 2019. Winchester previously appeared on Chicago Justice in 2017 and had a two-episode stint on Strike Back in 2018. He is also set to play Joey Kasinski in the upcoming film, Rogue. In 2008, the Montana native tied the knot with Megan Coughlin, and in 2015 they welcomed their first child.

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Molly Burnett

Burnett became part of the SVU team in 2022, portraying Detective Grace Muncy for season 24. However, her stint on the show was brief as her character was written off at the end of the season. She later returned to reprise her role in an episode of Organized Crime in May 2023 and is now gearing up to star in the upcoming thriller movie 'New Me'.

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Kelli Giddish

After 12 seasons, Giddish bid farewell to her role as Detective Amanda Rollins, announcing her departure from SVU in August 2022. "Playing Rollins has been one of the greatest joys and privileges of my life. I've been so fortunate to be a part of the Law & Order family for the last 12 years," she wrote via Instagram at the time.

In season 24, episode 9, Rollins said goodbye to Olivia, Fin, and her other friends before getting married to Sonny Carisi. She made one last appearance in the season finale before retiring from the force. SVU is Giddish’s most recent acting credit, and she and her husband welcomed their son, Oldie, in June 2023.

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Jamie Gray Hyder

Hyder starred as Detective Katriona “Kat” Tamin on SVU from 2019 to 2021. Her exit from the show was revealed simultaneously with her costar Barnes in September 2021. Hyder took to Instagram to share that the “decision was made above my pay grade and wouldn’t have been my choice.”

Since her time on SVU, Hyder has gone on to star in the 2021 Hallmark Christmas movie Sugar Plum Twist, as well as voice Shayera Hol in the 2022 animated movie Green Lantern: Beware My Power.