Kelli Giddish’s final “SVU” episode will be on Dec. 8, NBC confirmed on Tuesday. The exit for the actress, who has played Det. Amanda Rollins since 2011, was announced in August.
She is also set to appear in an upcoming episode of “Law & Order: Organized Crime,” which seems to indicate her character will not be killed off. Her storyline so far in Season 24 indicates she may walk away from police work altogether.
In the season opener, Rollins was shot in the stomach while trying to protect a sex trafficking victim. She recovered physically and returned to work after some time off, but her character has been plagued by panic attacks and dissociation from her work.
Giddish did not want to leave the series, but her character’s happy romance with Dominick Carisi Jr. (Peter Scanavino) was perhaps too sunny for the sex crimes procedural. David Graziano, who took over as showrunner from Warren Leight, was also a big fan of the “Rollisi” pairing, he told TheWrap before the season premiere.
In August, when the news of her departure first broke, Giddish said in a statement, “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.“
She thanked series lead Mariska Hargitay, who is also an executive producer, as well as series creator Dick Wolf, Leight, Wolf Entertaniment president Peter Jankowski, and NBC and Universal Television.
Deadline first reported this story.
