{"id":18067,"date":"2023-01-10T08:50:11","date_gmt":"2023-01-10T13:50:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev2.worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/worldscreen.com\/"},"modified":"2023-01-11T09:22:28","modified_gmt":"2023-01-11T14:22:28","slug":"law-order-organized-crimes-christopher-meloni","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/law-order-organized-crimes-christopher-meloni\/","title":{"rendered":"Law & Order: Organized Crime\u2019s Christopher Meloni"},"content":{"rendered":"

Christopher Meloni talks to <\/em>TV Drama about bringing his beloved <\/em>Law & Order: SVU character Elliot Stabler back in <\/em>Law & Order: Organized Crime.<\/em><\/p>\n

For 12 seasons, Christopher Meloni played seasoned detective Elliot Stabler alongside partner Olivia Benson (portrayed by Mariska Hargitay) in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit<\/em> (SVU<\/em>). The pair pursued suspects in sexually based offenses, which, in the famous words of the show\u2019s opening, the criminal justice system considers especially heinous. As Meloni tells TV Drama<\/em>, Dick Wolf, the creator of the Law & Order<\/em> franchise, contacted him with the idea of a new show, more serialized than SVU<\/em>, that would bring Stabler back. Law & Order: Organized Crime<\/em>, now in its third season, sees a highly agile and fit Stabler tracking down members of the underworld, corrupt cops and going undercover. In signature Wolf style, crossover episodes with SVU<\/em> feature Stabler and Benson working together again\u2014reigniting hopes among avid fans that the two may finally become romantically involved.<\/p>\n

\"***Image***\"TV DRAMA: <\/strong>How did Organized Crime<\/em> come about, and how did you become involved?
\nMELONI:<\/strong> I got a call out of the blue stating that Dick Wolf had an idea that he wanted to bounce off me\u2014a new show, a new way of telling the stories; it being serialized as opposed to episodic. In essence, the return of Elliot Stabler in a different unit.<\/p>\n

TV DRAMA: <\/strong>How\u2019s it been reprising the role of Elliot Stabler?
\nMELONI:<\/strong> It\u2019s been great! It\u2019s been fulfilling. Every day you get to work, solve problems or help refine things. I appreciate and enjoy the different dynamics of telling the story over time as opposed to one singular piece of entertainment. I\u2019ve done that before. This is something new in this role, and I\u2019m enjoying it.<\/p>\n

TV DRAMA: <\/strong>How is Stabler today different from the Stabler that left SVU<\/em>? Where are his head and his heart?
\nMELONI:<\/strong> Having lost his wife, he\u2019s still grappling and dealing with that. I think there is a lot of real estate to explore vis-\u00e0-vis losing your spouse. He has to deal with his feelings toward his ex-partner Benson. He has to deal with finding his place in this new world order of the NYPD and the new environment. He\u2019s had experiences overseas, and that has had an effect. One of the first things is how he dressed. He\u2019s a much sharper dresser because he\u2019s been influenced by the styles he saw overseas!<\/p>\n

TV DRAMA: <\/strong>Stabler had been living in Italy.
\nMELONI:<\/strong> Yes, that\u2019s right.<\/p>\n

TV DRAMA: <\/strong>And there is a physicality to Organized Crime<\/em> that is greater than it was on SVU<\/em>.
\nMELONI:<\/strong> I think that is what the more serialized storytelling allows\u2014you don\u2019t have to introduce and then resolve in 44 minutes. It gives you more time for more dynamic stunt pieces, more drama and physicality, as well as hopefully the storytelling and the intricacies of what the crime is, the strategy of what you are doing to bring the bad guys down. Yes, I\u2019ve been doing a lot of stunts!<\/p>\n

TV DRAMA: <\/strong>Do you enjoy that? Is there choreography involved?
\nMELONI:<\/strong> Oh yes, basically what we do is dance steps. Your distancing has to be correct; your timing has to be correct\u2014how you move with one person or multiple people if you are being attacked by multiple people. It\u2019s all tight choreography with professionals, the stunt people and yourself. I happen to like that. I find it a beautiful art and dance. So far, so good.<\/p>\n

TV DRAMA: <\/strong>Besides being first on the call sheet, what extra responsibilities do you have as one of the executive producers on the show?
\nMELONI:<\/strong> We all have different talents or gifts. I think one of mine is being able to see a scene and help give it clarity or possibly a little more dynamism. That\u2019s really my role. I say the writers break the rocks, and I just sit there and polish them! I try to do it respectfully and with their blessing. I want them to engage, but I do have a point of view.\u00a0Sometimes, I don\u2019t understand the scene. Or I suggest, again, very respectfully, how I think the scene may serve the story better in the long run. That\u2019s where I put my two cents in. Every once in a while, I\u2019ll make a suggestion to the director. I\u2019m there to be another set of eyes\u2014a set of eyes that has done this role for a long time.<\/p>\n

TV DRAMA: <\/strong>Well, the writers don\u2019t act.
\nMELONI:<\/strong> Yes, it\u2019s just a different angle. That\u2019s why I\u2019m saying another set of eyes. Very often, things are written, and I\u2019ve written stuff, where, in my head and on the page, it was great. Then you hear it read, and you think, oh, something is missing. There\u2019s a punch missing or something\u2019s off about it. It is a collaborative endeavor, and I\u2019m part of that collaboration.<\/p>\n

TV DRAMA: <\/strong>The television landscape has become very competitive. We viewers have almost too much to choose from. Do shows need to be different today?
\nMELONI:<\/strong> For as many stories as there are out there, there are as many viewers to pick and choose what kind of story they like being told. I know what you\u2019re saying, and I agree; I\u2019m all over the landscape. Sometimes I like a great story, but they are telling it in their own unique fashion. That\u2019s great and very entertaining. Or you want something totally outside what you are used to. Some people want to come home, sit in front of the TV and see a good story being told. They don\u2019t want something too wacky or too much oh, what\u2019s happening? They don\u2019t want to be lost too much.<\/p>\n

TV DRAMA: <\/strong>And they like coming back to characters they love. I think the whole Law & Order<\/em> franchise offers that.
\nMELONI:<\/strong> Yes. I think that\u2019s the role this show plays, and my character supplies. Our marching orders were to tell stories in a little more cinematic fashion. And again, because we have the luxury of having eight episodes to tell a story, we have a little breathing room in how we unspool the story, but it still has to have dynamism and something provocative. Then, hopefully, you are following a character you enjoy, trust, or have feelings about because he\u2019s been in your den for 20 years.<\/p>\n

TV DRAMA: <\/strong>As an extension of that, to what do you attribute the worldwide popularity of Dick Wolf\u2019s Law & Order<\/em> franchise?
\nMELONI:<\/strong> I don\u2019t know. I find it fascinating, and I leave it at that. Dick Wolf has really hit on some kind of formula.<\/p>\n

TV DRAMA: <\/strong>Stabler displays strength and vulnerability. In the last episode of season two, he is awarded a Combat Cross medal, given for acts of extraordinary heroism. That was difficult for him to accept. Can you explain why? Will we see that side of him again?
\nMELONI:<\/strong> That was about a man coming to terms with the multifaceted aspects of his relationship with his father. We all come to terms with the dynamic with our parents. I think that\u2019s what that was all about and the power behind that whole storytelling. We haven\u2019t picked up that line in season three, but we can always return to it.<\/p>\n

TV DRAMA: <\/strong>Speak for a moment about your fellow cast members, from Ellen Burstyn, who plays your mom Bernadette, to everyone else. They\u2019re great.
\nMELONI:<\/strong> Yes, and they\u2019re great to work with. Ellen, I don\u2019t have the words. Some cast members are new. Working with Danielle Mon\u00e9 Truitt [Sergeant Ayanna Bell] has been fun. It\u2019s so nice to come back into the Law & Order\u00a0<\/em>world and have the themes to find the relationships that make up who we are to each other.<\/p>\n

TV DRAMA: <\/strong>Last but not least, working with Mariska Hargitay. Was that like getting back on a bike? The dynamic seems precisely the same.
\nMELONI:<\/strong> What you see is people who know each other, love each other, respect each other, have singularly unique relationships with each other off the screen, and I think that translates to on the screen. The fans help that along, their enthusiasm for what they know and yearn for. All that stuff is baked into the cake of when we get together.<\/p>\n

TV DRAMA: <\/strong>Will there be Bensler? Will Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler get together?
\nMELONI:<\/strong> I wish I could tell you, but then I\u2019d have to kill you!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The actor talks about about bringing his beloved Law & Order: SVU character Elliot Stabler back.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":289,"featured_media":18068,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[68,70],"tags":[5783,5785,2692,5784,134],"class_list":["post-18067","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-interviews","category-top-stories","tag-christopher-meloni","tag-elliot-stabler","tag-law-order","tag-law-order-organized-crime","tag-law-order-svu","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\nLaw & Order: Organized Crime\u2019s Christopher Meloni - TVDRAMA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/law-order-organized-crimes-christopher-meloni\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Law & Order: Organized Crime\u2019s Christopher Meloni - 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