{"id":153301,"date":"2022-12-09T23:56:06","date_gmt":"2022-12-09T23:56:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/kelli-giddish-explains-rollins-law-and-order-svu-exit-interview\/"},"modified":"2022-12-09T23:56:06","modified_gmt":"2022-12-09T23:56:06","slug":"kelli-giddish-explains-rollins-law-and-order-svu-exit-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/kelli-giddish-explains-rollins-law-and-order-svu-exit-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"Kelli Giddish Explains Rollins’ ‘Law and Order: SVU’ Exit: Interview"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\tSPOILER ALERT: <\/strong>This story includes discussion of major plot points from the Dec. 8 \u201cLaw & Order: SVU\u201d episodes on NBC.<\/em><\/p>\n

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\tDetective Amanda Rollins wasn’t an easy character to say goodbye to Kelli Giddish. The actor made her final appearance on \u201cLaw & Order: SVU\u201d on Thursday night, with her character marrying Carisi (Peter Scanavino) and choosing to leave the squad for a teaching gig.<\/p>\n

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\tGiddish, who joined the series in 2011, announced her exit ahead of the Season 24 premiere and variety<\/em> confirmed at the time that the choice to leave the Dick Wolf series was not hers.<\/p>\n

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\tFollowing every final episode, she opened up about the tough exit, filming her final scenes and the possibility of seeing Rollins again in the future. Read the full Q&A below.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat an amazing final episode. How do you feel today?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\tThere is a finality to it that wasn’t there yesterday, so it feels different than it did before I saw it, which I wasn’t expecting! I kind of said my goodbyes on set. I had that closure, I thought. But last night, just so see how many people were watching and all the kind words I got about Rollins and the show, it was really something special.<\/p>\n

\n\tRollins has meant so much to so many people. What does she mean to you?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\tI started playing her in my late 20s, so I’ve played her in three decades of my life, which is nuts. It’s insane. This is a show unlike any other. Shows don’t last<\/em> 12 years, much less getting to play a character. With playing someone as multi-faceted as Rollins, I got to play all kinds of different things \u2014 down and out, on top, joyful, doubtful, scared, triumphant. I got to do the gambit.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat have you learned from Rollins?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\tSo much. It’s possible to grow, it’s possible to be hurt and to love again.<\/p>\n

\n\tLet’s go back a bit. Everyone was pretty shocked to hear that you were leaving. Can you share what happened, since you’ve never told your side of things?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\tMy side of things is just that it’s time in the Rollins storyline. I felt like where it was heading, and where it headed last night, just seemed the right place to leave it right now. I am so excited about things going on in my personal life and kind of the mirroring of what’s going on in my personal life and in Rollins’, there’s a lot of joy to be experienced.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen did you find out that you’d be leaving?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\tBefore the season started, this year. We worked on this storyline together, and I think the last episode culminated the beautiful Rollins and Benson relationship, and we got to see Carisi and Rollins get married, which was such a treat.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe wedding was so exciting. How did you react when you found out that was happening?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\tI was so happy, because I was like, \u201cThank God\u201d \u2014 because the fans are going to freak out if they don’t get it! Let’s give it to them.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tKelli Giddish as Detective Amanda Rollins and Mariska Hargitay as Captain Olivia Benson<\/span>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPeter Kramer\/NBC<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tYou and Mariska Hargitay are so close and had some really beautiful scenes in the finale. What was it like filming those?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\tIt was very emotional. We had a ton of fun because acting with my girl is just fun. There’s so much trust there, and you can play because we know each other so well. Nothing is set in stone, and if you want to try something, the writers are right there because they trust Mariska and I to kind of fine-tune the words of the script. It’s so much fun, there’s so much laughter and there were so many tears. It was a really beautiful experience.<\/p>\n

\n\tRollins will appear in an upcoming episode of \u201cOrganized Crime.\u201d what can you tell us about that part?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\tI don’t know what I can tell you about that! <\/p>\n

\n\tShe took a job in New York, so she won’t be far away. And she’s now married to Carisi, who is still part of the show. So is the door open to return?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\tThe door is un-shut. The world that Dick Wolf has created with all these shows now \u2014 I mean, the crossovers that happen, the people that come back. Chris Meloni was gone for 12 years and then his character came back. S. Epatha [Merkerson] is on \u201cChicago Med.\u201d These these characters are so beloved and so well-defined, because you get to see them day in and day out. We’re in people’s living rooms. So the audience loves these characters, they know us. Dick Wolf has got such a fertile universe that’s going on, that people can pop up in different places. That’s really a cool thing that he’s created.<\/p>\n

\n\tLastly, there was a big story in the LA Times<\/em> yesterday about showrunner David Graziano. What was your reaction to reading that, and what has your experience been with him?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\tIt was alarming to read. My experience has always been positive on the set for all 12 years that I was there.<\/p>\n

\n\tThis interview has been edited and condensed.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n