When a franchise is as sprawling as Law & Order, it’s not unusual to see an actor play different roles in different series. The original show debuted in 1990, and since then, there have been several spinoffs, with Law & Order: Special Victims Unit the longest-running of them all.

Between Law & Order, Law & Order: SVU, and the spinoff series Conviction, one actor who currently stars in The Bear played six different named characters. That is very unusual, even for New York-based actors who take on day-player roles in one of the Law & Order shows. For that many appearances, it’s more common for the characters to be unnamed first responders in Law & Order.

Liza Colón-Zayas Played Six Different Characters In The Law & Order Franchise Over 20 Years

Colón-Zayas Appears In Three Different Series

Image via NBC
Liza Colón-Zayas might be better known for her role as Tina in The Bear today, but the New York-based actor has been working in theater since the 1990s. Many theater actors cut their teeth on television roles in the Law & Order franchise because it has had so many shows filming in New York over the last 30 years.

So many theater actors have, in fact, worked in the Law & Order franchise that a bit highlighting that was used at the Tony Awards in 2016, showcasing several of the Tony nominees in the room who had appeared in the show.

Liza Colón-Zayas is one of the theater actors who picked up guest starring spots on the show in between jobs on stage. She is, however, unique because of the number of roles she played. Very few actors have returned to the shows more than three times.

Colón-Zayas played three different characters on the main Law & Order franchise between 2002 and 2022. She also appeared briefly in an episode of the spinoff Conviction when it aired its single season in 2006.

If those four different characters were not enough, Colón-Zayas also appeared as two different characters in Law & Order: SVU. She appeared in a 2004 episode as one character, then returned to the series eight years later to play another, and three years later to reprise that role.

Law & Order Series
Year Of Appearance
Episode
Character

Law & Order
2002
Season 12, Episode 15 “Access Nation”
Sherry Velez

Law & Order
2005
Season 15, Episode 12 “Mammon”
Luisa

Law & Order
2022
Season 22, Episode 6 “Vicious Cycle”
Lara Vega

Conviction
2006
Season 1, Episode 3 “Breakup”
M.E. Muldoon

Law & Order: SVU
2004
Season 5, Episode 22 “Painless”
Cyndi

Law & Order: SVU
2012
Season 14, Episode 5 “Manhattan Vigil”
Dolores Rodriguez

Law & Order: SVU
2015
Season 17, Episode 9 “Depravity Standard”
Dolores Rodriguez

Colón-Zayas has shown her versatility and her ability to disappear into these different roles over and over again.

Sterling K. Brown has mentioned before in the This Is Us rewatch podcast That Was Us that Law & Order typically has a rule that an actor can be hired as a new character three years after their last appearance. Because Colón-Zayas appeared across different franchise shows, however, that rule is a little looser here.

Liza Colón-Zayas Is Best Known For Her SVU Episodes

Colón-Zayas Appears In A Heartbreaking SVU Arc

Though Colón-Zayas plays five other Law & Order characters, she is better known for her second character in SVU. As Dolores Rodriguez, Colón-Zayas appears in two episodes, continuing her character’s story three years apart.

“Manhattan Vigil” is often cited as one of the most heartbreaking episodes of SVU. It sees the SVU detectives take on the case of a missing child that is eerily similar to one from 13 years earlier.

After believing they are connected, they push hard to figure out who is kidnapping children with the help of a police officer who has been archiving all of the disappearances.

Colón-Zayas plays the role of the mother of the missing boy from 13 years earlier. She has never given up hope for her son, leading regular vigils and prayers near a mural of him, and her story is interspersed with the new kidnapping.

It gets a follow-up three years later with “Depravity Standard” when the kidnapper and murderer actually goes to trial. This is an unusual way for SVU to handle the story since the investigation and trial usually occur in the same episode.

Splitting the story up across three years is one reason the SVU audience remembers Colón-Zayas so well. The other is that her portrayal of a grieving mother is shattering. The same talent that won her an Emmy in The Bear is on display here.

The Law & Order Franchise Is Known For Using Actors In Multiple Roles

Many Series Regulars Have Played Multiple Roles

Colón-Zayas is far from the only actor to appear in Law & Order who has played multiple roles.

While it’s more likely to see guest stars play multiple roles across the franchise due to the nature of different casting directors or audition processes, there are actually series regulars who have played multiple roles in the franchise – most of them from Law & Order: SVU because it’s been on the air for more than 20 years.

Diane Neal is known for her role as assistant district attorney Casey Novak. She was brought in during SVU season 5 as a replacement when Stephanie March’s Alex Cabot was first written out of the series. It was not Novak’s first time in the show, though. She actually played a suspect in the season 3 episode “Ridicule.”

Likewise, Tamara Tunie, who plays medical examiner Melinda Warner in SVU, Law & Order: Trial By Jury, and Law & Order: Organized Crime, actually got her start in a different area of the franchise. She guest starred in an episode of Law & Order as Caroline Bennett in 1996.

Kevin Kane has both of them beat, though. Kane played six different characters across Law & Order and Law & Order: SVU before being cast as SVU regular Detective Terry Bruno.

Law & Order Series
Year
Kevin Kane Appearance
Character

Law & Order
2002
Season 12, Episode 15 “Access Nation”
Matt Preminger

Law & Order
2005
Season 16, Episode 7 “House Of Cards”
Uniform #1

Law & Order: SVU
2008
Season 9, Episode 14 “Inconceivable“
Scott Ryland

Law & Order: SVU
2012
Season 13, Episode 16 “Child’s Welfare”
Officer Greg Wilcox

Law & Order: SVU
2016
Season 17, Episode 14 “Nationwide Manhunt”
Major Bowman

Law & Order: SVU
2018
Season 20, Episode 9 “Mea Culpa”
Gary Kent

Law & Order: SVU
2023-
Series Regular Beginning Season 24, Episode 10 “Jumped In”
Detective Terry Bruno

Of course, most of the characters who have appeared as multiple characters appeared as guest stars long before they were cast as series regulars.

Colón-Zayas is one of the rare actors to appear in so many different shows as so many different characters for the Law & Order franchise.