Peter Scanavino, known for his role as Detective-turned-ADA Carisi on “Law & Order: SVU,” recently appeared on “Squadroom,” SVU’s official podcast. The podcast, created by NBC and Dick Wolf’s Wolf Entertainment, is hosted by Anthony Roman and delves into the intricate world of SVU. During his appearance, Scanavino answered fan questions, including one about his favorite scenes to film with Mariska Hargitay. Here’s a closer look at what he had to say.
Roman asked Scanavino if fans would get to see more of Carisi’s family and learn about his background, a topic many fans are eager to explore. Carisi is a beloved character on the show, and viewers are always interested in learning more about his personal life and origins.
“I don’t know. I’m not in charge of that,” Scanavino responded. “The show is only 44 minutes to actually air, so our show, you have to have the plot, the storyline, and all the elements that move that forward and then whatever kind of character elements you can bring into that or even better, intertwine them into the story, you know, is great but the truth is you know you just don’t have the bandwidth for a lot of that. So I would love more Carisi backstory, but I don’t want to do it at the expense of a compelling episode.”
When asked about his favorite scene to film with Mariska Hargitay, who plays Captain Olivia Benson, Scanavino shared two memorable moments. The first involves Carisi’s first courtroom victory.
“I’ll say two. I like the scene in my, I can’t remember the name of the episode but it was my first kind of courtroom episode where I win, and you know I was really down,” Scanavino explained. He recounted how his character thought he was going to be fired when Benson entered the scene.
“She comes in and gives me a pep talk and just when we were filming it, it felt very, it was very quiet. It felt like it was two in the morning and it was very intimate in a way. Kind of building off of the relationship that Carisi and Benson have. It’s very supportive and mutually supportive,” Scanavino said.
Scanavino also highlighted another favorite scene with Hargitay, one in which she had no lines. “It was the episode where Mike Dodds dies and we come in and she was sleeping on Tucker’s shoulder, this was when they were together, and he just gave us like a, ‘Shh’ kind of motion and that felt like a vulnerable human scene of Captain Benson that you don’t get to see too often.”
Fans absolutely love Peter Scanavino as ADA Carisi, and they hope to see even more of him in future seasons of SVU.
