'Law & Order: SVU' Kelli Giddish recalls unexpected encounter with costar Ice-T on first meeting

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit star Kelli Giddish remembers her first meeting with co-star Ice-T on set as a hectic start to her time on the long-running series.

Giddish, now 46, joined the show around 15 years ago after a busy schedule that included filming a movie in Los Angeles and working on a recurring role in The Good Wife. She said the overlapping projects made her first day on SVU particularly chaotic.

"I was living in LA and I had to wrap a film the night before [SVU], and I was also doing The Good Wife on my first day of filming SVU," Giddish told People. "So I got killed in the film that I was filming in LA on a Thursday night, and then I took the red eye [to New York]."

The actress remembered quickly cleaning up in her trailer before heading to the next set. "I show up to SVU and they're like, 'Your hair is still pink.'" she recounted.

Continuing, she told them, "'Sorry. Think we can just put it up?'"

She then went straight into filming and met Ice-T for their first scene. Giddish said she introduced herself in a lighthearted way and explained the situation.

"I was like, 'Hey, how are you? I thought I'd do this,'" Giddish recalled telling her costar while gesturing to what would've been her pink locks. "And he goes, 'You do you, boo.' And I go, 'Awesome. Love it,'" she said. "That relationship was set in stone right there: mutual respect and love."

Despite the hectic start, Giddish said the experience confirmed she would eventually move back to New York full-time, as the show is based there. She has remained with SVU for more than a decade, playing Sergeant Amanda Rollins.

Giddish briefly left the series in 2022 but later returned as a regular cast member.