LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT Star Octavio Pisano Previews His Guest Spot on ORGANIZED CRIME

When a young girl is kidnapped on the Thursday, May 5 episode of LAW & ORDER: ORGANIZED CRIME, “Lost One,” Captain Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and the SVU squad are tasked with finding her safely. But thanks to the case’s tie to the Brotherhood, Benson proposes SVU team up with OCCB to get the child home.

The hour is notable for SVU star Octavio Pisano, whose Detective Velasco is recruited to help with the joint squad mission—and also marks the first time Pisano has been able to play his character on another show in the larger LAW & ORDER universe.

“It’s actually quite challenging, because every show has its own pace and its own rhythm,” Pisano notes. “The OC has a little bit of a faster pace, and I had to catch up. But it was very rewarding; I enjoyed it very much.”

Though this is Velasco’s first encounter with the OCCB, he “and Stabler got along very well—they share a similar background in terms of the crimes [they’ve investigated] and that organized crime world,” Pisano points out. “His technical abilities will allow him to work very well together with Jet, who is played by Ainsley Seiger. And [Velasco] had to deal with kidnapped girls—[especially with] his backstory growing up in Mexico—so it makes him good for the job.”

But despite Stabler and Benson’s long partnership on SVU, Velasco isn’t aware of the duo’s entire history when he comes in to work this case. “I think it parallels my personal life as an actor: I’ve worked with both of them, Chris Meloni and Mariska, individually, but I’ve never been in the same room with both of them,” Pisano says. “Everything I know of them is from the outside perspective, as well as Velasco’s perspective on Benson and Stabler. It’s all what they say. But obviously, he’s not that close with Benson, yet, to the point where he can ask those questions.”

In “Lost One,” the bulk of Velasco’s storyline has him working with Jet, as the duo try and track down a vital clue to the missing girl’s whereabouts. “I think at first they might be skeptical of how each other works,” Pisano admits. “And I think Velasco has a lot of questions. Being that it was Jet’s home[base], she just asks him to catch up. He has to catch up.”

“Velasco, he obviously grew up in Mexico, and I think he’s very literal,” he continues with a laugh. “And so there’s a lot of dry humor, sarcasm that he doesn’t get. But that dynamic is very interesting.”

Outside of the ORGANIZED CRIME world, Pisano admits he’s “still grieving” the news that SVU boss Warren Leight is leaving the series.

“I actually found out today, even though he tweeted last night—I’m still processing,” Pisano says. “I saw him yesterday, he was at the last day of [filming]. I wish I would have known; I would have given him a big hug.”

“I’m just so grateful, because he’s really an actor’s writer,” he continues. “He has a love for the craft. He really respects actors and he understands everyone’s method is different. And he worked with me on backstory and motivation. He set up meetings with real detectives. He was always there, ready to collaborate. And I just hope whoever comes next is as involved and immersed as he was. He really cared. He had something in his heart for the show; he’s really invested in it. I’ve worked with a lot of showrunners, but he was unique to me. So I’m sad to see him go and I wish him the best.”

LAW & ORDER: ORGANIZED CRIME, Thursdays, 10/9c, NBC

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