The 1990s TV series that became Greta Gerwig’s biggest acting regret: “I’m really obsessed with it”
From a pioneering star of the ‘mumblecore’ genre to the first solo female director to helm a billion-dollar movie, Greta Gerwig has had quite the career.
In an industry where women have continually been shoved down the pecking order, she has flourished as an original creative voice. All three of her directorial efforts to date have been nominated for ‘Best Picture’ at the Oscars, and while she hasn’t won yet, I would be amazed if the coveted prize never found a way into her living room.
Alongside her various conquests on the big screen, Gerwig is no stranger to the box in people’s living rooms. She lent her voice to the character of Pony Merks on the adult animated sitcom China, IL, which ran for three seasons. She was one of many big names to have a one-off appearance in the sketch show Portlandia, and also played the lead character in a pilot episode for an uncommissioned spin-off of How I Met Your Mother.
However, one TV show that Gerwig absolutely adores sadly never came calling. Speaking to the Huffington Post, she expressed her love for this long-running series, and it’s not one you’ll be expecting.
“I’m like the only actor in New York who’s never ever been on any Law & Order,” she lamented, “I’ve auditioned for so many. The sad thing is, I love Law & Order. I’m really obsessed with it. And they always said to me, ‘You seem like you’re making fun of the material’.”
The history of the Law & Order franchise requires a PhD to keep track of. The original show, which was created by the improbably named producer, Dick Wolf, first aired on NBC in 1990, running till 2010, before it was revised in 2021 and remains on the air at the time of writing.
The first spin-off, Special Victims Unit, debuted in 1999 and currently holds the record for the longest-running primetime live-action series on American television, amassing dozens of awards and nominations therein, and if that still isn’t enough, there are also multiple other TV shows, movies, books, and video games all set in this wild, sprawling world.
The number of famous actors who have appeared on the various Law & Order shows is mind-boggling. A more baby-faced-than-usual Timothée Chalamet can be seen in a 2009 episode called ‘Pledge’, while Philip Seymour Hoffman was credited without his middle name on a 1991 episode called ‘The Violence of Summer’. Even the great Patti Smith couldn’t resist its pull, making her TV acting debut at the age of 64 in a 2011 episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent. If it’s good enough for the ‘Godmother of Punk’, then it’s good enough for me.
While she’s going to be incredibly busy over the next few years with her Netflix-backed versions of The Chronicles of Narnia, there’s still every chance we could see Gerwig crop up on an episode of Law & Order. Even if the main series does come to an end, there’ll still be at least two dozen spin-offs for her to have a go at; I wouldn’t worry if I were her.
