“I was fairly nervous. I haven’t done this kind of work since ‘ER’,” Tierney says of her “Law & Order” return after co-starring in a 1991 episode.
It’s been 33 years since Maura Tierney landed one of her first major acting gigs in a one-episode stint on Law & Order back in 1991. Although the E.R. alum says that, as she prepares to re-join the show for season 24 in a series regular role, she didn’t recognize any familiar faces among the iconic crime procedural’s ever-evolving cast or crew, one thing has remained the same over the last three decades.
“Dude, the crime is murder,” Tierney tells Entertainment Weekly when asked what kinds of cases her character, Lieutenant Jessica Grady, confronts this season after joining Detective Vincent Riley (Reid Scott), Detective Jalen Shaw (Mehcad Brooks), and District Attorney Nicholas Baxter (Tony Goldwyn). “But, there are extenuating circumstances around the murder!”
Like, for example, murder with a socio-technological message relevant to contemporary times, Tierney adds. Take episode 2, for which franchise icon Mariska Hargitay makes a temporary jump from SVU to the main series to assist Grady with a particularly oddball death.
“We’re exploring an A.I. dating app, where the app goes beyond hooking you up with someone else, and basically it’s about creating an A.I. partner or boyfriend. That technology is here. People do have A.I. friends,” teases Tierney. “That episode studies the complexities of when A.I. becomes a little too intimate.”
Although she admits she was “fairly nervous” to board a show with such a historic pop culture imprint, Tierney didn’t have trouble forming a connection with the Law & Order legacy and its cast. Tierney says she immediately clicked with Scott and Brooks over their mutual sense of humor, and calls her time with Hargitay “a blast” on set.
“It was funny to me because I read the script and I was like, ‘Oh, I get to call her Liv,’ which was very exciting and funny,” Tierney says, referencing Hargitay’s Capt. Olivia Benson. While she enjoyed working with Hargitay herself, she promises that there’s tension brewing between their characters, which was equally as fun to dive into. “We don’t really get along, our characters. They get into a disagreement about how a certain legal matter should be handled, so it was fun to get into it with her a little bit,” she adds, noting that Grady and Benson are definitely “not besties” — at least on episode 2.
Maura Tierney describes her new Law & Order character, Grady, as someone who is “tough, and very, very, very smart.” She emphasizes Grady’s strong gut instincts and her expectation that others take her seriously when she speaks.
Tierney is careful not to assign negative traits to Grady, sensing that Law & Order will explore her character’s complexities beyond the surface. She hints that viewers will see how Grady’s home life impacts her work and decisions in the field.
“They’re trying to adjust the show a little bit this season, make it more active and personal,” Tierney explains. While she’s not ready to reveal all of Grady’s secrets, she acknowledges that Grady’s less-than-charming personality, with her hyper-focus on detail, serves her well in her role, even if it doesn’t make her particularly likable. “We’re going to have a sense of humor about her, but she’s a strict boss who doesn’t care much if the detectives like her.”
Reflecting on her career and the significance of this role, Tierney notes, “I don’t think I’ve played a character like that before.” For her, the chance to portray someone like Grady is a rare opportunity that only comes along once every few decades.
