Law & Order: SVU is never short on intensity with weekly doses of offenses that are – to quote the show’s opening narration – “especially heinous,” but the upcoming episode on February 27 in the 2025 TV schedule will showcase a more proactive victim than usual… for better or worse. The Perfect Couple‘s Donna Lynne Champlin plays Megan for the new case facing Mariska Hargitay‘s Benson, Ice-T’s Fin, and the rest of the SVU cast. She spoke with CinemaBlend about filming the episode as well as how it paid off that she wasn’t a fan of the show beforehand.
The Crazy Ex-Girlfriend alum’s episode is called “The Grid Plan,” and she plays a tourist who is attacked in Times Square and then involves herself in the investigation to get answers. Viewers will have to tune in to see how Benson and Co. react, but the Broadway actress and upcoming guest star shared how excited she was to get the script, telling me:
Holy cow! It was a straight offer, which was just so incredible. Because it’s a local show, I hadn’t even read the script, and I thought, ‘Oh, I’m probably a lawyer or some visiting P.I. or something.’ And I looked at the script and my character’s name is Megan, and it seemed like Megan is in every scene but two. I actually called my agent. I was like, ‘What’s the name of my character again? Because it’s not Megan.’ [laughs] ‘Megan’s in every scene!’
This installment of SVU isn’t Donna Lynne Champlin’s first role in the larger Law & Order franchise, but after her first performance on Law & Order was cut from the finished product, it’s no wonder she’s excited about getting such a meaty role on Mariska Hargitay’s series. The actress went on:
To my absolute joy, it’s a barn burner, as we say. I’m just so thrilled because as an actress, in theater I get to show a big range, but on film and television, I don’t really get to show a lot of range. I don’t get to use my muscles, and this episode, it’s like an Olympic sport. It’s so much fun as an actor. It was thrilling to do, and I just felt so tired at the end of the day, but such a good tired.
One-off guest stars don’t always have full arcs in an episode of any show; that doesn’t seem to be the case for Champlin as Megan on SVU. The actress of course didn’t spoil all the details for what fans can expect on NBC on Thursday, February 27 at 9 p.m. ET (or streaming next day with a Peacock subscription), but the promise of a “barn burner” certainly sets the stage.
With SVU currently airing Season 26 and Mariska Hargitay starring in more than 550 episodes and counting, had Donna Lynne Champlin watched the very long-running show before working heavily with the TV icon? I asked that very question, and she laughed before sharing a very valid reason for not tuning in:
I had not. I had never seen it. For me, maybe because I live in New York, to watch those stories of crime and trauma in the city that I live in, it’s hard for me. So I admittedly had never seen an episode of it. In a way, it was funny, because one of the series regulars caught me out. [laughs] And they were like, ‘You’ve never seen this show, have you?’ And I was like, ‘Oh my god, I haven’t! I’m so sorry.’
Considering that Law & Order: SVU has spent more than a quarter century telling heinous crime stories set in New York City, I for one can’t blame anybody from NYC for not wanting to watch on a weekly basis. And in this particular case, Champlin not being a fan going back to the pilot in 1999 paid off for her performance. She explained:
They were like, ‘No, actually, it’s really working in your favor, because there’s a definite episode story structure. And they’re like, ‘You’re doing things that make total sense, but that we haven’t seen people do here as a victim.’ And I was like, ‘Well, don’t tell me what it is. If you tell me what it is, it’ll be ruined.’ [laughs] So I still have no idea what they’re talking about, but I fessed up early on. It’s not because I haven’t heard it’s an amazing show. It’s just, as a New Yorker, I try to keep my trauma at a minimum.
Champlin, who also teased that her character shares some heavy scenes with Mariska Hargitay’s Benson, ultimately brings a new take to SVU due to her status as a newcomer to the NBC hit. I also can’t at all blame her for not wanting to watch a show full of crime and trauma set in her own city, and it turns out that she learned from an unexpected source just how traumatic SVU can get. She recounted:
It’s funny. I was chatting with makeup and hair, who are also phenomenal, by the way. I don’t really get a chance to get makeup that’s abrasions. I don’t get to do that. This is the first time I got arrested, the first time that I had abrasion makeup, cry makeup. They’re magicians in makeup and hair, and they were talking to me. They were like, ‘You really lucked out.’ I was like, ‘What are you talking about?’ And they’re like, ‘Well, your assault, in comparison to other assaults, the way it’s going to be shot… You lucked out. Sometimes the show is a lot more graphic than what your episode is.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, alright. That’s good to know.’ [laughs] They started telling me some storylines, and I was like, ‘Oh! I can see that I lucked out.’
Fortunately, the wait to see Donna Lynne Champlin’s episode of SVU with a different take than usual on a sexual assault victim is nearly over. Tune in to NBC on Thursday at 9 p.m. ET to find out how it all goes down, following the latest episode of Law & Order Season 24. For one last tease, take a look at the promo for “The Grid Plan” tomorrow night!
As always, you can stream every episode of Law & Order: SVU to date with a subscription to Peacock, as well as the newest episodes on Fridays after they air live. Donna Lynne Champlin will be flexing some different acting muscles than were needed in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend‘s very different genre, and she had nothing but good things to say about the experience. Check back with CinemaBlend following “The Grid Plan” for more from the guest star!
