“Careful What You Wish For”: Maura Tierney Reveals the ‘Law & Order’ and ‘SVU’ Crossover’s Unexpected Connection to ‘ER’

No one can stop talking about the action-packed crossover event between Law & Order and its similarly successful spin-off, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, but who can blame them? Titled “Play with Fire Part 1 and Part 2,” the episode aired on Thursday, April 17, and in it, Maura Tierney, who joined the original show this season as Lt. Jessica Brady, finally got to be a badass –physically, for the first time. With the two-hour event now over and done with, the actress broke it down to Deadline, comparing a few details to her stint on ER, including one major unexpected connection.

Before the exciting Law & Order crossover, it had been a minute since Jessica “played that rough,” and she acknowledged so in the episode with that amusing line. Apparently, Tierney has always wanted to do stunts in the police procedural, which she further elaborated on and, at the same time, divulged how that connected to ER, where her character Abby Lockhart got beat up a few times “by an abusive husband.”

“It was so funny because I have said I want to do stunts. But then I was like, oh, careful what you wish for, because I fail. Mariska Hargitay is really good at it. But I was very tentative. We had to beat this guy up and my stunt double was actually my stunt double on ER, which is wild. I saw her, and I was like, ‘Oh my God, I’m so glad you’re here.’ I was feeling miserable with pretending to kick the guy in the back of the knee and I needed to use my stomach because, I don’t know, I was afraid to hurt another actor. He wasn’t a stunt man. It was fun, but I won’t say I excelled at it.”

Maura Tierney Looks Back on ‘Law & Order’ Season 24 So Far

Besides discussing Law & Order crossing paths with SVU, the Twisters star reflected on the original show’s twenty-fourth season, particularly how it has been since she came on board. Tierney first spoke about the difference in pacing with the other shows she has been attached to – of course, including ER, prompting her to describe Law & Order as fast-paced and more concentrated, saying:

“Well, it’s very different because the show is half law, half order. So, a lot of times, it’s really fast because they’ll pile all of the precinct scenes in one or two days. The pace is very quick on those given days, but then sometimes I won’t work a couple of times a week. So I have more free time than, say, when I was on ER. And the scenes are much more concentrated. The other day, I had three interrogations back to back. Or maybe four, I’m not sure. It can be hectic, but it’s fun.”

The Law & Order and SVU crossover event was broadcast on April 17 on NBC. Stay tuned to Collider for future crossover-related news.