“We needed someone who is, you know, extremely charming”

HIC's in there,Law & Order: SVU 15 September 2010 | 0 Comments

You found him, Neal!! Thanks to Danielle for the great interview/article! And thanks to Ian for being so photogenic…we really love the new picture!!

Henry Ian Cusick returns to dramatic television in the season premiere of ‘SVU’

September 15th, 2010 9:01 am PT

Henry Ian Cusick in ‘Law & Order: SVU’

Photo: (c) NBC, 2010

Evvverrrrybody loved Desmond Hume. His Dharma hatch fail safe key sold for a whopping $11,000 at the LOST auction in Los Angeles just last month. Fans proudly wear his face plastered on their chests, shouting to the world that he is their constant, too. But on September 22nd, the actor that portrayed the beloved time-traveling Scotsman, Henry Ian Cusick, will be taking on a much different role in Law & Order: SVU.

In the episode entitled “Bullseye,” Cusick guest stars as a suspect from a previous case that Detectives Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and Stabler (Christopher Meloni) need to call in to help crack a new one. Though the episode was not available for reviewing at press time, LA TV Insider Examiner wants to point out that because Cusick is playing a former suspect, his character will undoubtedly be shrouded in mystery which will serve to intrigue not only the audience but the other characters, as well. And because this is a network procedural, his character will probably also overstep his bounds and cross jurisdiction, getting just a bit too involved in the case…and the detectives investigating it. Which can only mean one thing: yet another guest star that SVU is prepping for an Emmy nomination!

Read about Mariska Hargitay’s Law & Order cross-over here.

“Very early on in the episode, you see Benson and my character Eric Webber, who is a graphic artist, you see them meet, and there is a bit of a flirtation, certainly from Eric’s point of view. He is sort of interested in Benson, and I think it becomes a bit of a rivalry between Stabler and Eric,” Cusick shared on a conference call about his role.

And for Cusick, there really was no question that he was going to pop back up on another great drama so soon after his long running, fan favorite series came to an end this past May.

“You know, I was looking to get back into TV as quickly as possible [but] I wanted to get away from Desmond,” he explained. “It just seemed like I was no longer Ian Cusick; I was Desmond. So I wanted to sort of shed that skin.”

And there is no doubt that Cusick saw SVU as one of the other great dramas into which he could sink his teeth: “When I met Neal, I was charmed by him, and his idea for the character, and basically just talking to him and the writing staff, I was sold really. It was as simple as that!”

“We needed someone who is, you know, extremely charming,” producer Neal Baer explained why they went with Cusick for this role. “Benson has had a number of men interested in her over these, gosh, twelve years, and I said we needed somebody who really has charm and can be kind of a counterpoint to Stabler in that he’s just as smart as Stabler.”

“I feel very honored even just when I met Neal and he told me about the part and the character; I got very excited about it,” Cusick continued. “Coming off a show like LOST, there were other offers, but it was hard to get excited about anything because, you know, LOST was such a great show. But I felt I had a little bit of input into this character, and also knowing who I was going to be working with.”

Cusick shares the season premiere with special guest star Joan Cusack, who was also just announced as the newest castmember of Showtime’s Shameless. Cusack (pay special attention to the spelling)’s role is of a mother who’s own child went missing about ten years prior and has since adopted another child. Cusick’s excitement was in working opposite her, as well, because though she is known for mostly comedic work, she takes a strong turn in a very serious, and at times dark, role.

But that is exactly what SVU is known for. In the past notable comedians like Martin Short and Robin Williams have showed off their dramatic chops and been well-rewarded through critical acclaim and Academy nominations for it. And this time around, both Cusack and Cusick, who was not Emmy nominated for his work in LOST‘s final season, might find themselves vying for the Outstanding Guest Actor/Actress statues.

Law & Order: SVU premieres on September 22nd with a two-hour special episode.