Ice-T Wasn’t Sure He Would’ve Liked Acting in ‘Law & Order SVU’ When He Was Younger
Law & Order SVU did a lot for Ice-T’s acting career when casting him on the show way back in 1999. But it was a good thing Ice-T was cast in his more mature years. If he was approached for the show when he was younger, he might’ve turned it down.
What Ice-T learned about himself doing ‘Law & Order SVU’
Ice-T is one of SVU‘s veterans, having been a part of the show from the beginning. Acting wasn’t anything new to Ice-T when he was first approached for the project. But the series’ creator Dick Wolf was concerned Ice-T would have issues with playing a police officer.
“When Dick Wolf put me on the show, he said, ‘Ice, you don’t like the cops, do you?’ I said, ‘Not all of ‘em. I ain’t got problems. Some of ‘em are cool.’ He said, ‘You admit we need ‘em.’ I said, ‘Yeah.’ He said, ‘Well, play the cop we need.’ So that’s what you’re really seeing. It’s kinda like, if I was a cop, that’s how I’d act,” Ice-T once told Vice.
This led to Ice-T playing his own take on a cop for 25 years. In a resurfaced interview with Black Film, the rapper opened up about how the role changed him over the years.
“How does it mold me as a person? It’s the most — how would I say it — [the most] consistent job I’ve ever had,” Ice-T said. “It’s the most normal [job I’ve had]. It’s like having a place you live [in], go to work, [it’s] part of that. You know, for a long time, [after] being a musician and having to travel all over the world, it’s [nice] being able to act in one place. It’s a great thing you know?”
The fact that he enjoyed the show’s consistency was also different from how his younger counterpart might’ve felt about SVU.
“I don’t know when I was really young I might not have liked it, it might have been too stagnant for me, but at this time in my life, I don’t mind being able to go home every night to the same place and have a home. As far as doing the job, how has it molded me? I think it’s made me a better actor,” he continued. “Like being able to act every day? It can’t do anything but help, so I think of being on SVU is like me having gone to the Harvard of acting.”
Why Ice-T doesn’t want to do anything else on ‘Law & Order SVU’ other than act
Ice-T’s co-star Mariska Hargitay hasn’t just acted on the hit television series. She’s directed a couple of episodes, fulfilling a long-held passion of hers. Ice-T was asked if he planned on perhaps following a similar path behind-the-scenes. But he wasn’t interested in doing anything other than acting on SVU.
“I don’t want to, not with this show. Mariska directs and acts, and it’s an unimaginable task. I take my hat off to her because it takes a lot of work to direct this show,” Ice-T said. “We start a week ahead of each episode, you finish a week afterwards, while you’re simultaneously working, and… Naw. I have other projects, I have a production company and do things outside of this show. I’ve got a talk show we’re doing, and other things we’re doing. This is separate. No, I’m cool with just acting.”
How long does Ice-T plan to be on ‘Law & Order SVU’?
Despite playing Fin for over two decades, Ice-T doesn’t see his SVU career stopping anytime soon. With the show maintaining strong ratings, Ice-T seems to plan on playing Fin until the show ends.
“I’m gonna stay on until the wheels fall off. Black people don’t jump off boats, especially when they’re still floating, you understand? We ain’t leaving,” he once said on The Tonight Show (via Parade).
