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Sisto Joins Force For 18th Year Of 'L&O'

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By FRAZIER MOORE, The Associated Press

Published: January 2, 2008

NEW YORK - When Jeremy Sisto got his first glimpse of the updated "Law & Order" opening, there he was, in a courthouse setting alongside his cast mates, just like so many who had come before him.

Sisto, 33, hums a few bars of the "L&O" theme and recalls with a laugh: "There I am, walking with the others, and I thought, 'What's HE doing there?!'"

Maybe it was just time. The actor has already played Jesus and Julius Caesar, a teen who fell for Alicia Silverstone in "Clueless" and a loutish husband in "Waitress."

Last season, he tracked down abductees on the short-lived drama "Kidnapped." And among his most memorable roles: Billy Chenowith, a gifted photographer and tormented manic-depressive on the HBO series "Six Feet Under."

Now he's joining "L&O" for its 18th season. He plays Detective Cyrus Lupo, new partner to Detective Ed Green (Jesse L. Martin).

Also joining the cast is Linus Roache as Chief Assistant District Attorney Michael Cutter, who succeeds Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston), the newly appointed district attorney. Fred Thompson, who for five seasons played District Attorney Arthur Branch, exited last spring to launch his Republican presidential bid.

S. Epatha Merkerson ( Lieutenant Van Buren) and Alana De La Garza (Assistant District Attorney Connie Rubirosa) remain on duty.

Bottom line: Sisto and Roache become the 23rd and 24th actors to fill the show's six slots for cops and prosecutors.

But "L&O" begins another season after surviving a near-death experience last May. NBC almost canceled the show, the victim of a sharp ratings drop. Having won a reprieve, it's now back in the chase to overtake "Gunsmoke" (20 years) as TV's most-enduring prime time drama. A two-hour season premiere begins at 9 tonight.

"It's classic 'Law & Order,' but it's been reinvigorated," Sisto says.

The premise: After working abroad for four years doing undercover intelligence, Lupo is summoned to New York when his brother is found dead. Lupo joins Green to crack the case.

Unlike many of Sisto's roles, Lupo is a somewhat understated personality. Sisto has a knack for stirring up a thunderstorm in his performances. But not here.

"It's a different kind of acting, this 'Law & Order' thing," he explains. "They want two partners who can play off each other well and are fun to watch, but depth of character is not necessary in this job. Too much character gets in the way of the story. This is a very specific gig."

Sisto fell under drama's spell growing up in Chicago, where his mom, an aspiring actress, brought him to her auditions.

"Then someone would say, 'Does your kid want to read for a part?' I did some plays and had a great time."

When he was 16, he landed his first film, the drama "Grand Canyon," playing the teenage son of Kevin Kline and Mary McDonnell.

"That got me a foot in, to come out and have a life in L.A. in this business," Sisto says. "It could very easily not have happened for me. To be an actor takes a lot of courage, but the way I did it takes less courage."

Since then, he has tackled dozens of roles that often took him to a furious or troubled place. Those are his favorites, he says - "the kind of roles where you feel like you've expressed something that's private and shared sides of yourself that are darker and you're less proud of.

"It's nice," he insists. "It's like having a good cry. Sometimes you NEED a good cry, you know? And if you happen to cry in front of the world, something about that is cleansing: 'Here's me at my ugliest and my weakest and most vulnerable, and it's OK - it happens to all of us.'

"I think it's good to put it out there for the audience," he says. "We've all had moments where we're sitting at a movie or watching a show, and we see it and feel understood for a moment; we feel a little less alone.

"I'm definitely craving some of that right now," he adds with a tight smile. "I'd love it if my character, Cyrus Lupo, had a breakdown. I tried to get 'em to write that: 'Maybe he could freak out!'" Sisto chortles and shakes his head. "It's not gonna happen!

"'Law & Order' is different," he cheerfully concedes. "For the viewer, it's that old friend. It brings up moral questions and the legal aspects of them. It's fun to pretend to be a detective for a little while and go through all the clues. You put it on and you just feel better."

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