Kelli Giddish has maintained a close relationship with her co-star from the very beginning. the TV series "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit"« Ice-T, ever since he gave a positive response to a challenging situation during her first day of filming as Detective Amanda Rollins on the NBC series. .
As Giddish revealed in a new interview with People magazine, she filmed the death scene for the film in Los Angeles the night before costume fittings for the series were scheduled to take place. «The Good Wife» and debut as Rollins in TV series "« Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in New York City. She only had time for a "trailer shower" before an overnight flight across the country, and it turned out she couldn't completely wash the fake blood out of her hair.
«"I come to Sex Crimes Investigation Unit , "And they say, 'Your hair is still pink.' And I say, 'Sorry. Maybe we should just put it in a bun?'" she said with a laugh.
When Giddish met Ice-T on set, she joked about her pink hair. "I said, 'Hey, how are you? I thought I'd try it,'" she recalled. "And he said, 'Whatever you like.' And I said, 'Great. I like it.' That relationship was there from the start: mutual respect and love.".
Kelli Giddish and Ice-T in season 24 of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
Heidi Gutman/NBC
Giddish appeared as Rollins in the season 13 premiere of "« Law and order : Special Victims Unit" episode titled "Scorched Earth," which premiered on September 21, 2011 (though fans may remember she had a cameo role on another series a few years earlier). She left the main cast in season 24 but returned as a regular in the just-concluded season 27.
ATX TV Fest 2026 Photoshoot: Hotday Cast, SVU's Kelli Giddish, Boston Rob, and More.
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However, Giddish and Ice-T didn't appear on-screen together as much in season 27 due to budget constraints, as the latter explained in an interview with TMZ in November 2025.
«It’s just business. They brought Kelly back, and ultimately, because of the budget, they couldn’t keep both of us on full-time,» Ice-T said at the time. «They said, „Ice, we’ll have you back this year.“ So we could have brought her back—everyone wanted to see Kelly back. We had new cops and everything. But I’m not leaving the show. I’m more excited about Season 28. So this year, they said, „Ice, we’ll use you a little less.“ And I was fine with that. I understood.».
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit , Season 28, Fall 2026, NBC
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