"Colors" rapper Ice-T isn't the only famous face people recognize from Law & Order: SVU. The crime drama Law & Order is one the most popular, most recognized, and longest-running TV shows of all time. It first aired in September 1990, and its follow-up Law & Order: SVU came in 1999, nine years later. Arguably, many fans like Law & Order: SVU better than its predecessor. As of 2021, the show celebrated its 22nd season and most likely won't be going anywhere soon. This installment focuses on sexually-oriented crimes based in New York.
Viewers bite their fingernails as they watch fictionalized detectives in the NYPD attempt to solve the murders of victims of sexually charged acts. The crime series does pull inspiration from real-life events, but the writers on the show change details to create original scripts. Let's see which one of your favorite celebrities guest starred on this Emmy-award-winning series.
10 John Stamos
John Stamos has more tricks up his sleeve than being Uncle Jesse from Full House and promoting Dannon Oikos Greek yogurt. In season 12, he starred in an episode titled Bang. Stamos played an attorney named Ken Turner, who was a man that fathered over 20 children, and the detectives have to bring in an expert on reproductive abusers.
9 Hilary Duff
In season ten, beloved Disney star plays Ashlee Walker in the episode Selfish. Duff played a negligent mother, which is starkly different than that of her Lizzie McGuire character. In this episode, Walker's daughter passes away from measles as a result of her being around an unvaccinated child. This child's mom didn't want to vaccinate him for religious reasons, and Walker's family attempts to seek revenge.
8 Miranda Lambert
Country singer-songwriter and ex-wife of Blake Shelton, Miranda Lambert, played Lacy Ford in season 13's Father's Shadow. Ford is a rape victim of a TV producer with a lot of influence who forces her to claim that the sexual engagement was consensual. Ford wants to have a successful TV show audition, so she doesn't tell the truth about what happened to her.
7 Questlove
Questlove is drummer, front man, and one-half of the hip hop group The Roots. If you've ever watched The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, you've most likely seen him performing as a part of the in-house band because he's the musical director of the late-night show. His cameo in the show was interesting because he didn't have a speaking role. He appeared on the coroner's table with a gunshot wound to the head. The NY Daily News reported that it was always the musician's dream to play a dead body on Law & Order: SVU.
6 Mischa Barton
Mischa Barton went from playing a troubled teen on Fox's The O.C. to a pregnant woman who was a former prostitute in season 11's episode Savior. Her character Gladys Dalton agrees to testify against a murderous minister who leaves prayer cards at the crime scene. However, she finds out that she has his child, decides to skip town, and leaves her baby in the care of Detective Benson.
5 Serena Williams
Serena Williams doesn't only play well on the tennis court, but she played Chloe Spears in season five's Brotherhood. Spiers is a victim of a college fraternity who releases a sex tape of the star, but she's only a small piece in all of the immoral conduct of this fraternity. This episode was one of Williams' first acting roles, which aired in 2004.
4 Melissa Joan Hart
In season nine's Impulsive, Hart plays a high school teacher named Sarah Trent. Shane Mils is a male student with an STD who Trent becomes accused of raping. However, Trent flips the table and says that it was the other way around and that the Mils were sexually assaulting her.
3 Whoopi Goldberg
Whoopi Goldberg has acted in over 150 films and is known for being an EGOT winner. She also played Janette Grayson in season 17's Institutional Fail. Grayson is a burnout caseworker who encourages her employees to fabricate home visit records to get out of work. As a result, she wasn't aware of a young girl being abused by her family.
2 Norman Reedus
If the name "Norman Reedus" doesn't ring a bell, we're pretty sure that the name Daryl does. Reedus's most recognizable role is Daryl on The Walking Dead. However, he was in a Law & Order: SVU episode first in season seven's episode Influence alongside Brittany Snow. He plays Derek Lord, a changed rock star who tells Snow's character to go back on her medication after trying to take her own life. He uses his platform to discuss psychopharmacology, the use of medication to treat mental disorders.
1 Robin Williams
SVU celebrated its 200th episode in season nine, in which the late and great Robin Williams played Merritt Rook. Rook is an audio engineer and activist who opposes authority and abducts Detective Olivia Benson as the ultimate act of going against authority. Rook's story is sad and tragic. He expressed to doctors that his wife needed a C-section during the birth of his daughter, but the obstetrician didn't listen. As a result, his wife suffered from a placental abruption, bled out, and died right before his eyes. The police didn't charge the obstetrician, and Rook took matters into his own hands.