Law & Order has showcased many actors coming and going throughout its run, which will continue with Season 26 this fall on the 2026 TV schedule. Among the large ensemble cast at one point was Jesse L. Martin, who starred in Seasons 10-18 in the breakout role of Detective Ed Green. He recently talked about how he landed it, with a little bit of inside info coming into play.
Martin was on the mothership drama from 1999 to 2008, and also appeared on SVU and Criminal Intent, making him one of the longest-running Law & Order actors, and Detective Green was only his second main television role, following the short-lived Fox drama 413 Hope St. in 1997. Law & Order came by word of mouth when he heard from an old friend that the cast was changing up following Benjamin Bratt’s departure as Junior Detective Rey Curtis. That news made Martin motivated to nab the opening spot himself, as he recalled to People. Here's how he said his buddy presented that info to him:
'I don't know what you wanna do with that information, but I know that that's a great gig and that you would love to do something like that, and I did hear your name pop up as a possibility.'
It seems like every celebrity wants a role on Law & Order, no matter what the role is (though it helps if it's more than just Corpse #1.) The fact that The Irrational star knew ahead of time that there was a rumored interest in him was probably pretty exciting and inspiring. However, despite the excitement, it still wasn’t easy to land the role, as Martin was recurring on Ally McBeal in Los Angeles at the time, while Law & Order was filming in New York. He was determined anyway, especially following a meeting with Dick Wolf:
I called my manager, and I asked him if he knew [producer] Dick Wolf, and he was like, ‘I don't know him, but I can call him.' Next thing you know, I was in Dick Wolf's office telling him basically that I wanted the job, and he was like, 'Well, you know, I don't know how you found out about this,' and I couldn't tell him.
While the meeting seemed to go well, there was just one more hurdle in the way. The Emmy-winning producer tasked Martin with a very important assignment, one that can usually make or break auditions, and that was a chemistry read with his potential partner:
He's like, 'Well, when you get back to New York, we'll put you in a room with Jerry Orbach and see how you go together.’
Chemistry reads are usually pretty important, as producers see how well actors work together and confirm whether what’s on paper can be perfectly translated to the screen. So it’s not so surprising that Wolf wanted Martin and Jerry Orbach, who portrayed Senior Detective Lennie Briscoe from Seasons 3-14, to get together. It is surprising, though, to hear that the chemistry test never even happened, because Martin ultimately won the role before he had the chance to be put in a room with Orbach:
I can't tell you this part, but one thing led to another, and we never even met in the room. Suddenly, I had the job, and I was just going back to New York to do the show.
I, for one, am so happy that things worked out because it’s hard to imagine Law & Order without Martin. Even though he has yet to return for the revival, I’m just glad that he was on the show in the first place. He has eight seasons under his belt, which is a lot, and while he’s busy with other projects, it’s always possible that we haven’t seen the last of Detective Green.
For now, fans can watch some of Martin’s seasons of Law & Order with a Peacock subscription.
