Law & Order: SVU season 24 - Is Kelli Giddish returning to the show as Rollins?

Amanda Rollins, played by American actress Kelli Giddish, was hit with tragedy at the start of the ongoing season. She was shot and had to spend the remainder of her time dealing with the fallout and trauma. Kelli left the force to teach at Fordham University. She last appeared in the mid-season finale in December where she married Assistant DA Dominic Carisi.

According to Deadline, Kelli Giddish is returning to Law & Order: SVU season 24 as Rollins. She will also feature in one of the final episodes of Season 3 of OC's. But things will be different for Detective Amanda Rollins this time around since she will be pregnant when she returns.

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Kelli Giddish's career and filmography

Kelli Giddish made her debut in the 13th-season premiere episode of Law & Order: SVU as Detective Amanda Rollins. Her character first worked alongside Detective Olivia Benson. After being a series regular for more than a decade, she was written off on season 24, episode 9.

Detective Rollins then married ADA Dominick Carisi Jr. and resigned from the Special Victims Unit to accept an offer to teach at Fordham University. Kelli Giddish will return to the show shortly.

In a previous interview with TV Line, Kelli Giddish stated that she was honored to portray Detective Amanda Rollins for so many years.

"Playing Rollins has been one of the greatest joys and privileges of my life. I’ve been so fortunate to be a part of the Law & Order family for the last 12 years. There is simply no other character on TV like Rollins. She’s grown and changed, and I have as well. I started on this show when I was in my late 20s and I’m grateful I got to spend so many of my adult years with Rollins in my life."

Born on April 13, 1980, in Cumming, Georgia, Giddish's interest in acting began when her paternal grandfather took her to the Fox Theatre in Atlanta. Throughout her youth, she worked with a local drama teacher named Yatesy Harvey. The actress performed in countless plays and Yatesy's sleepover drama camps.

Kelli Giddish described Yatesy Harvey as:

"She just inspired a fierce curiosity and very high standards of what acting was and how much dedication it took and rehearsal and we would do plays every night."

Giddish went on to graduate from the University of Evansville in Indiana, where she majored in theater performance. After moving to New York City, she appeared in a Broadway play with Farrah Fawcett.

Kelli Giddish portrayed Diana Henry in the soap opera, All My Children. She then appeared in shows and films like Death in Love, Fox's reincarnation drama Past Life, Chase, The Good Wife, etc. But her massive break arrived when she was cast as Detective Amanda Rollins in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

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Law & Order: Special Victims Unit season 24 cast list and synopsis

The actors on the cast list for the latest season 24 of the show include:

• Ice-T as Sergeant Odafin "Fin" Tutuola
• Mariska Hargitay as Captain Olivia Benson
• Kelli Giddish as Senior Detective Amanda Rollins
• Octavio Pisano as Junior Detective Joe Velasco
• Peter Scanavino as Assistant District Attorney Dominick "Sonny" Carisi, Jr.
• Molly Burnett as Junior Detective Grace Muncy
• Terry Serpico as Chief Tommy McGrath
• Frances Turner as Attorney Elaine Samuels
• Betty Buckley as Trial Division Chief Assistant District Attorney Lorraine Maxwell
• Erin Anderson as Attorney April Andrews
• Charlotte Cabell as Jesse Murphy Rollins
• Ryan Buggle as Noah Porter-Benson

The show's official description reads:

"This hard-hitting and emotional series from NBC's 'Law & Order' brand chronicles the lives of the Special Victims Unit of the New York City Police Department, an elite squad of detectives who investigate crimes of s*xual assault, child abuse and domestic violence."

The NBC show's season 24 was launched on September 22, 2022. In terms of all-time episode count for a primetime scripted series, they rank fourth behind The Simpsons, Gunsmoke, and Lassie.