by Kinney Littefield
O.C. Register
September 15, 1999

Series premiere of 'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'

• When: 9 p.m. Monday

• Channel: KNBC/4

Season premiere of 'Law & Order'

• When: 10 p.m. Wednesday

• Channel: KNBC/4

Two street-sharp, suspect-stalking, sexy hunks of tailoring in well-fitted suits. Two screen-scorching actors of great depth. Christopher Meloni and Jesse L. Martin are prime time's latest Wolf-men, producer Dick Wolf's newest recruits for his expanding "Law & Order" empire on NBC. Meloni: 37, ironic and implosive. Plays principal male ogle Det. Elliot Stabler on "Law & Order" spinoff "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," premiering Monday.

Stabler is shrewd and seasoned. Series serves up sex crimes. Also stars Mariska Hargitay as Meloni's partner Det. Olivia Benson plus "L&O" veteran Dann Florek, "Oz's" Dean Winters and Richard Belzer continuing his "Homicide" role of Det. John Munch.

The Meloni rap sheet: attended University of Colorado. Stage-trained. Best known as lethally seductive inmate Keller on HBO's graphic prison drama "Oz." Also Julia Roberts' spurned straight-arrow boyfriend in "Runaway Bride," vicious perp Jimmy Liery on "NYPD Blue" — plus a gig on short-lived series "Leaving L.A."

Martin: 30, suave yet explosive. Emotions out there on the surface. Plays Lennie Briscoe's (Jerry Orbach) gung-ho new partner Det. Eddie Green on venerable "Law & Order," starting its 10th season Wednesday. Replaces Benjamin Bratt as the main male heartthrob of the show.

The Martin rap sheet: Attended New York University. Honed chops on Shakespeare. Best known for recurring role as Ally McBeal's boyfriend Dr. Greg Butters. Original cast member of Broadway musical "Rent." Starred on Fox drama "413 Hope Street" and as the baseball-playing alien on "X-Files" episode, written/directed by David Duchovny.

In all, these are two dudes who'll lay down some serious "Law" this season. We talked separately with the two new Wolf-whistles about their latest gigs.

So what sort of detective are you?

Martin: "Eddie Green is pretty complex. There's a lot of dichotomy working. He's a new detective, just out of training, and he's separated from his wife. He can be aggressive or callous and compassionate. He may be a little too aggressive for Briscoe's taste, but if anyone can hone him it's Lennie Briscoe.

"He's also a cosmopolitan guy. He has this cross-cultural knack — he can talk to anybody."

The talk can turn ruthless. In the season opener — a take on the horrific Columbine high school shootings written by executive producer Rene Balcer — we see Green maniacally try to harangue a wounded, terrified suspect into confessing multiple murder as he lies bleeding.

Stabler has a cooler head. On Monday's premiere of "SVU," he and Benson investigate the murder of a New York City cabbie whose penis is cut off — who is not who he appears. Benson gets emotionally involved — with good reason as we later discover. Stabler tries to keep her on course — with tragic results.

Meloni: "Stabler's a rock-solid family man with four kids, a detective that you would like as your best friend. He's got a lot on his plate, but he seems to carry everything off with aplomb.

"So I'm waiting to find the fissures."

Dick Wolf is legendary for keeping "Law & Order" story-centered, not character-driven. Isn't this frustrating for an actor?

Meloni: "Yeah, Dick likes to stay with the cut-and-dried police-drama stuff. But they gave me some assurance that we'll take the audience home with the detectives every once in a while."

In fact, Wolf has indicated that "SVU" will get a little more up-close and personal with its cops than "L&O" does.

Martin: "As Dick says, you get an eye-dropperful of these characters on 'Law & Order.' It's more intriguing that way.

"But I've been trying very hard to infuse humanity into this guy because I do believe there are real people out there doing police work."

"Law & Order" is known for frequent cast turnover — often with an eye to attracting young viewers with youthful new stars. Does that make you uneasy about maybe getting unseated?

Martin: "To be honest, I never thought of it as an issue — whether the young audience would get it or if I'm going to be successful as the new guy."

Or maybe you'll get your own Julia Roberts? (Bratt and Roberts are an item. Roberts did a steamy guest turn opposite Bratt on "L&O" last season.)

Martin: "Oh my God, I should be so lucky!"

If Martin sounds exuberant — "I'm not a 'glass half-full or half-empty guy; I'm just glad there's something in the glass" — it fits Green nicely. Green is both more volatile and warmer than the sardonic Stabler appears.

Still, both characters are classic dead-on Dick Wolf heroes.

Which should be a kick ...

Meloni: "Actually, it's a whole lot of fun to be the bad guy. You're beholden to fewer rules of conduct. Conversely though, it's quite a challenge to make the quote unquote hero multifaceted and flawed."

Martin: "We have some amazing stories to tell."

And you got hooked on acting because ...

Martin: "When I was growing up in Buffalo, they did free Shakespeare three summers in a row and gave us classes. Those characters knew how to be expressive — you just feel powerful.

"I like a lot of the clowns, from 'Two Gentlemen of Verona' and 'Twelfth Night.' "

Meloni: "I started studying acting seriously in New York. When things weren't going well — I didn't have good representation — I considered construction, although once I saw you had to work outside in February, that pretty much nixed that.

"I started in comedy and it took awhile for people to hire me as a villainous-type guy — and then all of a sudden I was this major villain. Alexa Fogel had cast me on 'NYPD Blue' and when Tom Fontana was looking to cast 'Oz,' she mentioned me."

Yes, "Oz" ...

Meloni: "When I first walked onto the 'Oz' set, the prison, it was like goosebumps. But it was actually one of the looser sets."

"Oz" recently concluded its second season run and will be back for a third season in January, although the pickup is not official yet.

Grim and gritty, "Oz" plunged Meloni and co-stars into a depraved mindset of murder, rape, mutilation, racial wars, twisted love affairs and Machiavellian alliances each week.

Meloni: "Of course on 'Oz,' you really had to have a safety valve at all times to play all that. So humor came into play a lot. And there was a lot of love. It's easier to have animosity on screen when you like each other right off. That way 'It's nothing personal baby' — just open communication."

So how was it playing an "X-Files" alien — and being directed by David Duchovny?

Martin: "He's an extremely intelligent person. He knows how to inspire you. Every day on set, I was kind of giggling, 'Wow, wow, I can't believe I'm standing here talking to aliens in the desert in the middle of the night.'

"David left a lot up to me. There was a point in the story where my alien character Josh was asked to sing by his fellow baseball players. Initially David wanted him to sound like he'd never sung before in his life. I know it sounds funny, but it was hard for me to sing poorly, and I told David 'If this alien wanted to be a singer, he'd do it well.' And he allowed me to do it."

Other upcoming projects?

Martin: "I have this film called 'Restaurant' (with Lauryn Hill) coming out in limited release in October.

"And I live in New York, which I love so much I should be on the board of tourism. There's some of the best theater in the world here, so I try to see as many shows as I can see. And I sleep a lot."

Meloni (in the middle of shooting episode 7 of "SVU" and sounding tired): "I just would love a weekend of sleep."

And the next season of "Oz"?

Meloni: "Well, the shooting could overlap somewhat. Dick Wolf and Tom Fontana are going to have to sit down and have some heart-to-heart talks."

OK, Dick Wolf is known to be a pretty tough-minded guy. What kind of notes did he give you about playing his kind of cop?

Martin: "The great thing is they've sort of allowed me to infuse whatever I can into my character. They have said take what you will and go forth — so Eddie is moving along gracefully into what he can be."

Meloni: "They really want to make sure that Stabler's humor comes out. Dick just wanted to make sure I didn't come off too intense. You know, sometimes when I get very focused, I think I'm just being very focused — and it does come off a little too intense."