The Law & Order revival is adding a notable name for a big role.
Emmy award-winner Camryn Manheim is confirmed to be starring on the Season 21 revival of the mothership series, playing Lt. Kate Dixon, the new leader of the main homicide detectives.
This fills out the police half of the revival series with only two more roles on the attorney side to fill in.
Some big shoes to fill in the Lieutenant job
One of the biggest shoes to fill on the Law & Order revival will be the lieutenant position.
When the series premiered in 1990, the roles were easily set. The cop half had two detectives answering to a lieutenant while the lawyer side was two ADA answering to the main D.A.
For the first three seasons of Law & Order, that lieutenant was Donald Cragen (Dann Florek), who maintained a steely relationship with his detectives. At the end of Season 3, Cragen was transferred to the Anti-Corruption Task Force.
Cragen later returned as the head of the Special Victims Unit in 1999, which he would play for 15 seasons and guest appearances after his retirement.
Season 4 thus began the run of Anita Van Buren (S. Epatha Merkerson), who would continue in the role for the rest of the show’s run until it was canceled at the end of Season 20.
While there had been hopes of Van Buren returning, Merkerson has been busy with her starring role on NBC’s hit Chicago Med. This now paves the way for the lieutenant slot to be taken by Camryn Manheim.
Who is Camryn Manheim?
After work in various TV shows and stage productions, Camryn Manheim shot up to stardom with her role as feisty lawyer Ellenor Frutt on the ABC drama The Practice.
Known for her quirky style (such as multiple earrings), Ellenor was a fan favorite for the show’s 8 season run. It also earned Manheim a Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Emmy (with her memorable acceptance speech of “this is for all the fat girls!”)
Since The Practice ended, Manheim has been busy with roles on CBS’s Ghost Whisperer and Person of Interest.
Manheim does have experience with the mothership Law & Order. She had a small role in Season 1’s Life Choice then used her real-life ASL skills in Season 3’s Benevolence. Her most notable role was as a negligent foster mother in Season 4’s Nurture.
Her character of Kate Dixon will be the commander of Anthony Anderson reprising his role as Detective Kevin Bernard and Jeffrey Donovan as a yet-unnamed detective.
Hugh Dancy will be playing an unnamed ADA. Reportedly, Sam Waterston is in talks to return as D.A. Jack McCoy, but nothing is confirmed yet.
With the cop side now fleshed out and filming has already begun, the road to the return of Law & Order is underway for fans to get excited.
Law & Order Season 21 premieres Thursday, February 24 at 8/7c on NBC.