Tony Goldwyn may “still feel like the new guy” in the world Law and orderbut there are many reasons to celebrate after the show’s 500th episode.
The 63-year-old actor — who just this year began his tenure playing District Attorney Nicholas Baxter — tells PEOPLE that after filming the episode’s milestone, the cast had “a lot of fun” on set with creator Dick Wolf. And as he noted, he was the “newest character” among those present.
“It was funny, when I got to the seventh episode, I guess of 13, it was a short season this year because of the strike,” Goldwyn says of Season 23. “Reid Scott, who was the previous new guy at the beginning of the season, ‘Thank God that I’m not the new guy anymore’. But I still feel like the new guy.”
“But by the last few episodes, I’ve really felt like I’m getting used to it and it’s a wonderful group of people and a really wonderful collection of actors. Law and order always is,” he adds.
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Tony Goldwyn at the screening of “Ezra” at the SVA Theater on April 29, 2024 in New York City.
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty
Goldwyn also says that Wolf’s “formula” still “really works” after 30 years. “I keep loading it up with just really top-notch actors and really smart writing,” he explains.
“So it was a lot of fun and it created a very interesting character for me, one that I wasn’t sure what I was getting myself into,” he continues. “But it’s been a lot of fun so far and the last few episodes of the season are really very clever and surprising and it’s been great.”
According to TODAY, the 500th episode, titled “No Good Deed” and airing on Thursday, May 9, comes 34 years after the show first premiered in 1990.
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Goldwyn previously described taking on the role of Baxter back in March, saying that playing the prosecutor was “quite similar” to taking on his lead role as President Fitzgerald Grant III opposite Kerry Washington in Scandal. Both characters come from “political families” and even dress alike, he said.
“It’s funny, I wear a lot of blue suits and nice ties,” Goldwyn explained. “But just going into the system, the institution where I’m the executive director, there’s a lot of similarity and confrontation with being a person whose job it is to deal with intractable problems and sort of steer the ship. I was really surprised how similar it felt to playing Fitz.”
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Goldwyn then added that his Law and order the character “isn’t as troubled as Fitz,” and doesn’t seem to “have as much baggage.” The actor has officially joined the cast Law and order following the departure of Sam Waterston as prosecutor Jack McCoy after 19 seasons.
“It’s a very unique experience to step into something that’s such an institution and do it in a capacity where my character is now at the center of the story,” Goldwyn said. “To step into Sam’s shoes — I felt honored to be doing that, so it was great. I felt very excited and privileged.”
Law and order airs Thursdays at 8:00 PM ET on NBC.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education