The Surprising Way Betty Buckley Got Her Role on 'SVU'
Law & Order: SVU’s trial division chief Lorraine Maxwell isn’t usually on the receiving end of deceit, but that's exactly where she finds herself in this week's Season 24 episode, “Bend the Law.”
The story begins with Maxwell and her newly introduced younger husband, Roger (Tom Irwin), celebrating their anniversary over breakfast—and things quickly turn dark when we learn that Roger isn’t the kind, attentive man he pretends to be when he has a mimosa in his hand. On the contrary, he’s the mastermind of a sex trafficking ring involving minors. (He’s also a mooch who gets an allowance from his wife, but one thing is certainly worse than the other.)
Related: An Essential Refresher Course on SVU's Lorraine Maxwell
“Part of the challenge was to reconcile inside my heart how she could have chosen [this] guy and been so oblivious to who he really is,” Betty Buckley, the Broadway legend who plays Maxwell, tells Parade. “And then the discovery of that façade is earth-shattering. It was tough to try to figure out how to be authentic within that reality.”
So how did she make sense of her character's marriage? “I think he’s a very attractive guy who made her feel that he really cared for her and that he really loved her, which obviously is not the case,” Buckley says. “When I was younger, I had relationships with really deceptive men. It’s like a morality tale and a warning in so many ways to be more vigilant about the company that you keep.”
Despite the arrest warrants and Lorraine’s outrage over her “lying husband’s” nefarious activities, a very cocky Roger still believes he’s going to get off easy because of his wife’s high-powered legal position. He even throws Maxwell’s abusive first marriage in her face during a volatile fight as if he has the upper hand. But, as fate would have it, he doesn’t.
The night before a public hearing that promises to muddy Maxwell’s name, Roger chokes on his dinner—and Maxwell stands and watches, only to call 911 after she knows it’s too late.
Lorraine Maxwell’s origin story
Buckley’s first role on Law & Order: SVU was as Attorney Walsh back in the aughts, but she returned for a second stint, as Lorraine Maxwell, in Season 23 (2021), after the pandemic-related shutdown. As she recalls, she wrote to SVU showrunner Warren Leight saying, “If it’s not too greedy of me, I’d like you to consider writing me a recurring role.” A few weeks later, she was in—and eventually, she came up with the premise for this week's episode.
Related: 15 Actors Who've Played Multiple Roles on SVU
“I pitched them this idea for Maxwell’s husband being involved in a trafficking ring and coming to Detective Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) for help in taking him down,” she says. “They took that idea, ran with it, and came back with the episode as it exists. It’s a terrific script.”
Diehard fans know that the episode ends with a conversation between Benson and Maxwell that's a callback to Season 24, Episode 4 ("The Steps We Cannot Take").
“That last scene echoes a scene in a previous episode where I support Olivia by kind of bending the rules," Buckley says. "She uses my same speech on me at that moment. We have this real warmth, a deep connection, and a chemistry—and we’re trying to set boundaries in our professional relationship. Basically, [we're] saying, ‘I will always support you, but in the end, I’m always going to be the professional.'"
In real life, Buckley stays in touch with Hargitay between episodes, usually over text. "I had a health scare last summer and Mariska and her children sent me fun, uplifting videos that meant the world to me," she says. "She’s such a caring friend.” (Also worth noting: Peter Scanavino, who plays Carisi, sends Buckley songs and artists he thinks she should check out.)
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“Whenever they call me to do an episode I’m just elated," Buckley says. "Because it’s always such a happy experience to be there."
Next, Mariska Hargitay Pens Tribute to SVU Crew As Filming Wraps
