Kelli Giddish Looks So Different With Dark Brown Hair on SVU
For one episode of Law & Order: SVU, Kelli Giddish ditched her signature blonde hair for a new look. Here's why.
Captain Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and Detective Amanda Rollins (Kelli Giddish) have always had that a-blonde-and-a-brunette-BFFs thing going on, but Rollins actually looks pretty great with dark hair, too.
She wore a dark brunette wig while on a case in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 13, Episode 19 ("Street Revenge"), and she looks like an entirely different person. If you want to check it out, find the episode on Peacock and scroll to 17 minutes in; it's a short scene.
Why Kelli Giddish wore a brown wig on SVU Season 13, Episode 19
In the episode, a rapist is terrorizing Manhattan's SoHo neighborhood, and a small group of costumed vigilantes calling themselves the "Justice League of New York" start patrolling the streets at night to catch him. With the public in an outrage over the rapist not being caught, an activist group organizes a "Slut Walk" to reclaim the streets.
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Amid all of this, Rollins dresses up in an attractive outfit and walks through SoHo at night, hoping to catch the attention of the rapist. She wears a dark wig because that seems to be the perpetrator's preferred type. Instead, she finds two members of the "Justice League" wounded after an encounter with the criminal, and the investigation proceeds from there, with Rollins back to blonde.
Ice T looks different with a wig on, too
Speaking of hair transformations: For a 2022 Saturday Night Live episode, Ice T wore a blonde wig to play a Targaryen in a House of the Dragon sketch. It's shockingly funny, and makes us wish Detective Fin Tutuola would go undercover more often.
How Kelli Giddsh became an integral part of SVU
Though not a main character anymore, Rollins still makes the occasional appearance in the Law & Order universe, and many fans can't imagine the show entirely without her...or before her.
On how she got involved with SVU, Giddish told Smashing Interviews magazine, "I had a meeting with someone in the Dick Wolf Productions arena, and then they pulled me out to come screen test. I was living in Los Angeles at the time. I had just finished a show called Chase. It was on for a season, and I was the lead on that. It was such a great time, and I was figuring out what I wanted to do next."
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"I got a call that Chris Meloni was leaving the show, and they were looking for maybe a male and a female to step in his shoes at Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," she continued. "I said, 'Oh, that sounds pretty interesting.' I’d lived in New York, and I loved New York, so I came out here to screen test. I did the screen test with Mariska with Dick Wolf watching."
