"Law & Order: SVU" Season 13 was a year of changes for the elite squad of detectives known as the special victims unit. Longtime star Christopher Meloni left the series, his character Detective Stabler retired, and two new actors, Danny Pino (Detective Amaro) and Kelli Giddish (Detective Rollins) joined the cast. With a Season 14 secured, series star Ice-T and creator Dick Wolf are looking to the future.
"Maybe I can go to my house. I've never seen my house," Ice-T told The Huffington Post at the NBC upfront presentation in early May 2012. "I don't know if I have a car. I'd like to kiss a girl. I don't have any love life. I have nothing."
Ice said his character's son is the extent of what viewers know about Detective Fin Tutuola's personal life, but he understands the basics. "Fin is Ice-T if I was a cop," he said. "It's just, let's cut to the chase and let the people go that didn't do it and bust the ones that did."
Cast changes weren't the only twists behind the scenes of "SVU." Warren Leight was brought in as showrunner after Neal Baer left to work on CBS's "A Gifted Man." Dick Wolf, the man behind the "Law & Order" franchise, said the big changes made the series "significantly different."
"It went in a very different direction," Wolf told The Huffington Post. "Obviously with Chris not there, Kelli and Danny coming in, the dynamic completely changed. Warren Leight is the new showrunner and has a totally different rhythm than Neal."
Ice also welcomed the new "SVU" players. "Being on a television show is like being on a football or basketball team. New players will come in and you just got to put your arm around them and say, 'Let's keep winning,'" he said. "You can't sit back and say, 'Oh, it was better with such and such' ... The beauty of it is, everybody is an expert. Danny Pino was the star of 'Cold Case,' Kelli was the star of 'Chase.' They know what they fuck they're doing. Everybody starts to click."
Wolf said Season 14 will continue the feel of Season 13's new dynamic. Meanwhile, Ice had a message for longtime fans of the series.
"Thanks to the people that rode it out when Chris Meloni left," he said. "Boo to the people who said, 'Oh the show's going to be over, I'm not going to watch it anymore if Chris isn't there.' Well, Chris is going to be on 'True Blood' and that's his thing. In a way, when you tell us that, that disses Mariska, that disses everybody. That's not the right attitude to take. Chris has gone off to do better things, bigger things, but still, you still love us, don't you? Don't be so mean."
And when Meloni takes his bite out of "True Blood," Ice said he'll be "definitely" be watching.
"Chris and me are friends. When you work with somebody for 12 years, you're friends," Ice said. "If the shoe was on the other foot and I said, 'Man, I got to go make some movies. I've been doing this for 12 years, I'm going to make my move,' I would hope people back me on that, not have negative things to say."
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