LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT 25th Anniversary: Stars and Guest Stars Recall Their First Days on Set

Prince Miller (Season 13, Episode 2, "Personal Fouls")—now Detective Jalen Shaw on LAW & ORDER
“You would not believe the story, but it's a true story. I get to set, I'm doing SVU. This had to be honestly 12 years ago, and I just wrapped on a show [I was] in on USA [Network] called NECESSARY ROUGHNESS. I just wrapped for the season. I came up, I was shooting LAW & ORDER, it was the first day, I was in hair and makeup—not so much hair, but makeup—and Mariska comes in. And she introduces herself and she's just this ball of light and positivity and just so welcoming. And we're laughing and joking and I’m just like, 'Wow, so cool to meet you. You've been such a staple around my house for so many years and my brother's your biggest fan.’ And she's like, ‘Okay, well give me his number, I'll call.’ A day or two later she called him and they talked for like five minutes.
But before all that, before she called him, before the conversation ended, this is what she did: She's about to leave because she's gotta go get ready herself. And she puts her hand on my shoulder and she goes, ‘You know, one day, you might make a great detective.’ I go, ‘Yeah, maybe one day, that'd be cool.’ And she's like, ‘Yeah, that'd be cool. ‘And she walked off. And I was like, ‘Yeah, that would be cool, wouldn’t it?’
I swear to God. And so I saw her again, a decade and some odd years later, and we're shooting the crossover [in 2022]. And I brought the story up to her and she goes, ‘Oh my God, I remember that.’ And I go, ‘I don't know what your relationship is with the universe, but you bend it to your will.’ So here I am and thank you.”(Photo credit: Screengrab/NBC)