Peter Scanavino’s ADA Dominick Carisi on “Law & Order: SVU” is starting the new year off by needing a little help from his friends.
In the Jan. 16 episode, “First Light,” Carisi grapples with his lingering trauma after being held hostage in the fall 2024 finale. When the suspect in this week’s case changes his plea, Carisi struggles to move forward.
Scanavino didn’t go out of his way to prepare for his character’s emotional journey and instead treats it like his real life.
“I’ve got a lot of responsibilities in my regular life, as well as on the show,” he tells TODAY.com in an interview. “So, everything is just kind of chaotic, and I think that mirrors a lot of what’s happening with the show, where you don’t have a lot of time to just kind of sit and slow things down and reflect on what’s going on.”
In the fall finale, Carisi spent the majority of the episode held hostage at his local bodega by two men. One of those two men shot and killed the store’s cashier, and the other sexually assaulted a female customer in the store.
The case in the upcoming episode is focused on a woman who receives a video showing events from a night she can’t remember, which leads to some surprising revelations and decisions that trigger Carisi as he tries to do his job.
“Things keep happening, and whatever you’ve been dealing with, emotionally or personally, you just have to bring that into your responsibilities because the world keeps moving, whether you like it or not, and you have to find a way to deal with that,” he explains.
One of Carisi’s most important relationships is with his former boss-turned-peer, Capt. Olivia Benson, who’s portrayed by Mariska Hargitay.
Scanavino describes Carisi and Benson’s relationship as “very trusting and respectful.” The bond between the two is so strong that it translates off-screen as well.
He says he’s received “a lot of good advice” from Hargitay, including some that’s “very personal,” but there’s one bit of parenting wisdom from the mom of three that has stuck with him.
“She gave a very good parenting piece of advice to me and my wife, which was, don’t threaten a punishment to your children that you’re not willing to carry out,” he says.
“If you say, ‘One more time, we’re going to go home,’ don’t say that unless you’re really prepared to do it,” he explains. “And I think that’s been a very good lesson and rule to have as a parent.”
Scanavino has been married to Lisha Bai for 13 years, but on screen his character is married to Amanda Rollins (Kelli Giddish), who will appear in Thursday’s episode. It was announced in September 2024 that Giddish would be reprising Rollins on “SVU” again in Season 26, after a few other guest appearances since leaving the full-time role in 2022.
Scanavino describes the Carisi/Rollins relationship, aka “Rollisi,” as “still very solid,” but like with any relationship, “you deal with issues and things as they come up.”
“When we used to see each other every day, it was — you kind of have a more casual relationship,” he says about Giddish, “but now it’s kind of more, ‘What’s going on in your life? How are the kids?’”
He adds the first day is “just more of a catching up.”
“Then we kind of fall right back into how we were on the show, which was really, really, really close friends,” he says.
Just because Carisi has Rollins to help him through this especially difficult time, it doesn’t mean Carisi’s trauma will be “wrapped up in one episode.”
“I think it’s definitely going to pop up in different episodes in different ways,” Scanavino says.
“I think he’s carrying around a lot of anger about what happened in that deli and also how the case is going to progress in the future,” he adds.
One thing that will happen in the future is a visit from the district attorney, Nicholas Baxter (Tony Goldwyn), who will cross over from “Law & Order” for a guest appearance on “SVU” in a later episode.
A promo from earlier this month showed Carisi and Benson in a scene with Baxter.
Scanavino describes Goldwyn as “a great guy.”
“It’s interesting, when you just know people by reputation, and you actually get to meet them, and all of a sudden you’re just talking and hanging out, it’s always nice when that happens,” he says.
“I always love the kind of crossover stuff to blend the worlds,” he explains. “It feels like it anchors everything: our show, their show. So it was cool. It was a nice little treat.”
“Law & Order: SVU” airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on NBC, following “Law & Order” at 8 p.m. Both shows stream the following day on Peacock.
