Peter Scanavino Teases His Character’s Future in ‘Law & Order: SVU’

When Law & Order: SVU returns with its midseason premiere next Thursday, ADA Sonny Carisi’s (Peter Scanavino) traumatic experience from the “Cornered” episode won’t just be passed over as he struggles to deal with it. Fans will recall that Carisi found himself in a hostage situation in the midseason finale, which he survived; however, he hasn’t been the same mentally and emotionally.

With the next episode fast approaching, Scanavino previewed his character’s future, particularly how the harrowing experience would affect him. The actor told TV Insider:

“He’s back at work. He’s kind of going through the motions, but he doesn’t have a lot of life to him. And I think a lot of the places that he found sustenance and meaning in his life are not there anymore. So he’s kind of lost while he’s going through the motions. He’s kind of adrift.”

Things clearly aren’t looking so good for Carisi in the upcoming SVU episode, as he feels insecure “because he doesn’t know when he’s going to have these kinds of flashbacks or failings or when it’s going to hit him.” Scanavino also mentioned one major problem affecting his character, saying:

“He’s not feeling the most confident at the moment, and that’s his big issue, I think. He knows he’s weakened, and he knows he’s going through something, and he doesn’t know how to deal with it, and he’s just trying to put one foot in front of the other, but sometimes he’s not on solid footing.”

Peter Scanavino Has More ‘Law & Order’ Roles Coming Up

There’s an upcoming crossover between Law & Order and the SVU series, which will see Carisi cross paths with DA Nicholas Baxter (Tony Goldwyn). Speaking about the encounter as regards the Carisi-Baxter dynamic, Scanavino said:

“Well, it’s interesting. It’s funny when you are meeting somebody for the first time, but clearly, your characters have had conversations, so you’re trying to key into that. But he was a perfectly, totally lovely guy and really great actor. I’d obviously known Tony Goldwyn before, and it was just great to meet him on screen and off.”

Furthermore, fans will see Scanavino once more in another Law & Order spin-off; Organized Crime, and he was able to tease a bit about his role, including what to expect from the Carisi-Stabler dynamic, saying:

“The Carisi-Stabler dynamic is kind of interesting because I’ve been on that show a few times now, and it seems like I’m the go-to guy for the Los Santos case, but I feel like I always go, “There’s a problem.” And then [Christopher Meloni] goes, “What?” and then they go fix it. I’m the person that brings up the problems in the case to everybody.”

Law & Order: SVU returns on Thursday, January 16, on NBC.

Your changes have been saved