Amanda Rollins is back and better than ever — and Kelli Giddish is spilling all the tea on her Law & Order: Special Victims Unit character’s highly anticipated return.
“I’m so thrilled to be back,” Giddish told Us Weekly exclusively ahead of her return during the show’s new episode, which premiered on Thursday, October 16.
“We’ve such great showrunners, such strong showrunners, but now, we’ve got Michele Fazekas. We’ve got girls running the show,” Giddish continued. “It just makes it the perfect time for the audience to get to see Benson and Rollins’ relationship continue to grow.”
She teased that there’s “so much more that we can explore” with Rollins — and what better time than right now?
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Giddish also praised Fazekas for her having “a huge appreciation” for Rollins and allowing the character to show how much she’s grown and changed.
“Of course, she realizes the importance of the Benson and Rollins relationship to us personally and to the audience,” the actress said of the showrunner. “I think she’s really running with that.”
The fourth installment in the NBC show’s history-making 27th season, titled “Clickbait,” ends with a scene that SVU viewers know all too well — Giddish’s Rollins and Mariska Hargitay’s Olivia Benon alone in the squadroom for their version of a girl chat. And, yes, Giddish and Hargitay were just as emotional filming it as we were watching it.
“There are a lot of random hugs. We’re just like, ‘Oh, thank God,’” Giddish said. “It’s been so lovely. Everybody on the crew says such kind words. They just exhale, and they’re like, ‘Oh, you’re back,’ That feels so good.”
Giddish noted that she also “treasures” the fans that share the “same sentiment” about her return.
“We’re all happy to be there. We’re all very curious. We’re all committed to telling these stories, and it’s a lot of fun,” she shared. “I know it’s really a heavy load — the subject matter, and portraying what evil people do to other people — but we, as a cast and crew, it’s just a solid group of people, and it’s just a lot of fun to be there.”
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Along with the show’s first-ever female showrunner (Us was shocked too), Giddish teased that she, Hargitay and Aimé Donna Kelly (Captain Renee Curry) are the “updated Charlie’s Angels” on set.
“It being three strong women, I think we welcome the trio and the comparison,” Giddish said, teasing a “super strong partnership” between Rollins and Curry in the near future.
“There’s mutual respect and she’s such a strong character on the show, a strong female,” Giddish added. (Kelly previously compared Giddish’s return to SVU as if “another family member has come back home,” during an interview with Us.)
As for Rollins and Carisi? Yes, there are more moments between Giddish and Peter Scanavino as well.
“It’s just so easy with Peter,” Giddish gushed. “Anything they throw at us, we’ve got great chemistry together, and we’re friends off screen as well. I think that that shows up in our work.”
Law & Order: SVU airs new episodes on NBC Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET.
