Actors Who Were on 'Law & Order: SVU' Before Making It Big

Actors Who Were on Law & Order: SVU Before Making It Big

From Amanda Seyfried to Sabrina Carpenter, see all the stars who appeared on 'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit' (which turns 25 in January!) before they got their big break

Alexandra Schonfeld

Published on November 23, 2023 05:00PM EST

Stars who were on SVU before they were famous, Sarah Hyland, Adam Driver, Amanda Seyfried — Sarah Hyland, Adam Driver and Amanda Seyfried. Photo:
NBC (3)

Since its premiere in 1999, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit has been a compelling watch for both the already-huge guest stars (Robin Williams! Angela Lansbury!) and the early-career acting turns from just-starting-out celebrities who went on to big careers. From Sabrina Carpenter's onscreen debut in a season 12 episode (years before landing the gig as the opening act on Taylor Swift's Eras Tour!) to Sarah Hyland and Hayden Panettiere's repeat appearances on the show, here's a look at the faces who would soon become familiar during their turns on the Chris Meloni- and Mariska Hargitay-led series.

01 of 11

Abigail Breslin

Before landing her breakout role in Little Miss Sunshine, a pint-sized actress Abigail Breslin appeared on SVU's season 6 premiere episode as Patty Branson — a young girl subject to multiple kidnapping attempts by a woman grieving her own lost child, who believes Patty is her biological daughter.

02 of 11

Adam Driver

Adam Driver appeared on a season 13 episode in 2012 — the same year his big break, Girls, first began airing. In the episode, Driver plays stalker-turned-suspect Jason Roberts.

03 of 11

Sarah Hyland

Sarah Hyland had already been a working actress in soap operas when she landed her first SVU episode in 2001 playing the role of Lily Ramsey, a young girl whose father is accused of abusing his children. She later returned for a season 10 episode as Jennifer Banks — a prep school student who admits to killing her best friend after suffering from sleep deprivation due to the abuse of pills she took to help her focus in the hyper-competitive environment.

04 of 11

Lili Reinhart

Before landing the role of Betty Cooper on Riverdale, one of Lili Reinhart's first-ever roles was on an 2011 episode of SVU in which she played sinister teen Courtney Lane.

05 of 11

Elle Fanning

On a 2006 episode of SVU, a young Elle Fanning (she hadn't even turned 10!), played a young girl named Eden who, following an adoption by a twisted set of parents, is found after miraculously surviving a car crash into the East River.

06 of 11

Haley Lu Richardson

Years before landing the role of Portia on White Lotus, Haley Lu Richardson appeared on a 2015 episode of SVU as a teenage girl who is abused by her uncle while in his office for a dental procedure.

07 of 11

Amanda Seyfried

In the same year Amanda Seyfried landed her first major film role as Karen Smith in Mean Girls, she also appeared as Tandi McCain in an episode of SVU. In the episode, Seyfried plays a teenage girl who, days after going missing, is found tied up at a construction site and says she's been attacked.

08 of 11

Sabrina Carpenter

Years before she was opening for Taylor Swift on the Eras Tour, Sabrina Carpenter made her onscreen debut on a season 12 episode of SVU as a young victim named Paula.

09 of 11

Ian Somerhalder

Before landing his breakout role on Lost and later Vampire Diaries, Ian Somerhalder appeared on a season 4 episode of SVU. Somerhalder's character, Charlie Baker, commits horrifying crimes with his brother Billy, played by Jason Ritter in one of his own early roles. It it is then discovered that, in addition to the crimes the detectives have been investigating, Charlie had also abused his brother.

10 of 11

Hayden Panettiere

Hayden Panettiere got her start in the 1990s, landing a recurring role on One Life to Live and later Guiding Light. In 2001, she landed her first of two episodes of SVU playing Ashley, the daughter of powerful and famous parents whose brother is killed in the first moments of the episode and later forms a strong bond with Olivia Benson as she starves for attention.

Years later she made another appearance on the show as a Angela Agnelli, a teenage girl who gets wrapped up in a web of lies after her best friend is killed — and then later kills the man who took advantage of them both.

11 of 11

Elizabeth Banks

After just a few years in the industry, Elizabeth Banks landed a role on season 3 of SVU in an episode that starts with finding the victim of a shooting and unfolds with many twists and turns about Banks' character, Jaina Jansen, and her family.