Law & Order: SVU alum Kelli Giddish teases new Benson and Rollins dynamic in return to show

The actress also promises that fans haven’t seen the last of Rollins, who will be back for an episode that’s “totally out of the ordinary.”

Kelli Giddish is once again reporting for duty on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit — but not in the department that you might expect.

That’s right, Amanda Rollins is back and the former detective-turned-professor has landed an exciting new gig. While she’ll be reuniting with Mariska Hargitay’s Olivia Benson to work a case, Rollins will be flashing a sergeant badge and acting with a new sense of authority as a member of the NYPD Intelligence Bureau.

“This is a new phase for her,” Giddish tells Entertainment Weekly ahead of Thurs new episode. “I think a lot of things have changed.”

But there’s no need to worry, Rollins’ happy ending isn’t in any danger… probably.

“I don’t think she’s getting into trouble, but it is different now because she’s not a detective in the Special Victims Unit,” Giddish says, adding, “She’s a sergeant now. She knows her stuff and with the same dogged determination that she had for tracking down rapists, it’s this global environment that she’s got in her head now and how does it affect locally? She has that information and she’s giving it to all of the NYPD.”

Giddish, who exited the show in 2022 after 12 seasons, also confirms that this won’t be her only return to SVU this year. Fans can expect to see her again, for an episode that is “totally out of the ordinary,” she teases.

Benson and Rollins are set to reunite up for an action-packed case on tonight’s episode, titled “Divide and Conquer.” Get the full scoop from Giddish below.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: What made you decide to come back to the show?

Kelli Giddish: Well, it was home for such a long time and I so enjoy being invited back to go and play with all the people that I love. And the writers had a really good idea about making Rollins a sergeant at the NYPD Intelligence Bureau, which I thought was a really interesting way in.

What can you tease about what Rollins has been up to since getting married and leaving the department?

She’s not a professor anymore and she joined, like I said, the NYPD Intelligence Bureau. Their whole goal is to detect and disrupt criminal activity through the use of intelligence all throughout the world. Like Rollin says to Benson, “It’s kind of eavesdropping on the whole world.” Playing that aspect is something new for me and I think it’s perfect for Rollins. The episode was so much fun because it culminates in a huge chase scene that me and Mariska were in, to get one of the perpetrators, and it was just so much fun being back with her and running up and down stairs and just all day filming this action-packed chase scene. We both laughed a lot and it was good to be back.

What was it like sharing those scenes again with Mariska and getting right back into that chemistry?

It is just getting right back into the chemistry every time we film. It’s very natural and organic. She’s a great friend of mine and it’s comfortable and it’s empowering. I’m honored to play a part next to her and also honored to be her friend. I love going back to see Ice and it’s like, everybody there, I have such a good relationship with. It’s nothing but good times when I go back.

Everyone was so excited to see Rollins get a rare happily ever after. Should we be worried that her returns are going to complicate that ending?

Well, it is Rollins. [Laughs] No, she is happily married. She has a new baby, so she’s got three kids. I think her relationship with her mom is a little better and her relationship with Benson as always, it’s always developing. I think her having such a solid base with Carisi (Peter Scanavino) makes a huge difference in the choices that she feels like she’s able to make and how emboldened she feels to take her life into her hands and make some good, still interesting decisions.

I don’t think she’s getting into trouble, but it is different now because she’s not a detective in the Special Victims Unit. In this particular case that you’re going to follow, it’s some crime tourist and she reports to the scene of this robbery where a woman has also been raped. She meets Benson there, and throughout the episode, Benson is doggedly trying to get her rapist… You see [Rollins] wanting to help Benson get her case resolved, but also she’s really looking after the perpetrators. That’s what her number one job is now. So it’s a little bit of a different tact you see her playing with. So that was really interesting and different.

You’ve got a new badge and now you’re a sergeant. Should we expect that the promotion has changed Rollins?

No, ‘cause I still haven’t gotten used to it. [Laughs] I mean, oh God, can we go back? It’s like everyone is just so used to the way things are that no, it doesn’t change her right now. But it is interesting that she’s now talking to the NYPD brass. You see her up on these platforms giving information to the rest of the New York Police Department, and she’s got a very specialized outlook and very specialized information that’s very valuable to the rest of the police department. So that promotion makes sense with how much higher up she is within the police department.

And like you said, she has a new partner this time. So what was that relationship like?

That was great. John Clarence Stewart came to play Detective Corgan, and I didn’t know his work before, but of course I Googled him and I was like, ‘Oh, he was born in the same place that I was in real life.’ So that was kind of fun to meet him and know that we were born in the same exact town and there was an instant kismet from that, just personally. And then we got to play with the relationship throughout, this kind of complicated ride of finding our robbery crew.

What was it like to be establishing new chemistry even though you’re back in this familiar place?

She’s kind of put in some different situations, so having a new partner lent itself to the whole new environment, the whole new approach to things. So that was pretty easy.

This also isn’t your first time back, you also showed up for season 24 and 25. What’s the energy on set like when you pop back in?

I’m very welcomed back every single time and I’m like, ‘Alright, alright.’ It’s so nice. It feels great. And you come in and you get to see how everybody’s kids are and you get to catch up. And it’s a family there. There’s a lot of people that have been there for a very long time and a lot of people that work very hard to make this show what it is, so it’s just nice to come back and be a part of that.

Is this the last we’ll see of you or are you open to returning again?

Sure. I’m open to returning again. There’s another episode that I’m in the middle of filming now that’s going to air in November and it’s a very wild episode. So that’s been really fun so far. And it’s totally out of the ordinary, this episode. So that’s been different. It feels different and so it’s exciting to come back and do something totally out of the ordinary with an SVU episode.