‘Law & Order: SVU’: Jelani Alladin Reveals Why Carisi Is a ‘Stepping Stone to Benson’ for Hawkins

There’s a new ADA on Law & Order: SVU in Season 28, and Carisi (Peter Scanavino) doesn’t seem to be much of a fan. Benson (Mariska Hargitay) may have a different opinion, though, especially after Hawkins (Jelani Alladin) was the one to not only go along with her plan in the premiere to make sure that rapists were found guilty but even suggested an addition.

“It’s going to get juicy, and I think the fans are going to be very excited,” Alladin tells TV Insider of what’s coming up.

The newest addition to the series also knows “how iconic this moment is,” he shares. “For me, as a born and raised New Yorker whose family watched SVU religiously, watching that first episode last week was kind of actually shocking to me. I was sitting here in the corner of my apartment and emotional, like one-on-one with Mariska Hargitay? What?! Thank you, lucky stars.”

He also remembers his first time on the show — he, like others, guest starred as another character in the past — was as a perp in a Season 22 episode. “I remember the feeling inside my body that my work is not yet done here,” he admits. “I’ve always wanted to play a lawyer since I saw Viola Davis in How to Get Away with Murder. That was the driving force in my life for so many years of like, ‘OK, if I want to be on television, I want to be a badass lawyer like that.’ And what’s great about Hawkins being an ADA on this iconic franchise is that he’s new blood in so many ways. He’s unlike any ADA we’ve seen before. He is really, really hungry to win and really, really hungry to do it with a pizazz and style that’s fresh, clean, sleek, and cuts you to the core.”

Below, Jelani Alladin tells us more about Hawkins.

Carisi doesn’t seem to like Hawkins, at least in the premiere. But what does Hawkins think of Carisi?

Jelani Alladin: I think everyone needs to be trained by somebody. And oftentimes, look at life. We don’t get to decide who our parents are. We’re literally just brought into the world. And I think there’s actually great respect for Carisi. I have great respect for Peter as an actor. I think he’s phenomenal. After all these years, he’s still as passionate about every episode. And I also think that there’s a version of Hawkins that’s not threatened by him. I think it’s like, “You operate your way, I operate my way. And look, if you don’t think I’m cool and if you’re not into it, that’s on you. That’s not on me.” I think the boundaries that Hawkins has around work comes into play with this. It’s like, “SVU is not my life, bro. I have other things to do and I have a great life outside of work, but when I come to work, I’m going to be very serious about my work and I’m going to win. But I’m not trying to get into drama with you. In fact, if you let me in, we could actually be friends and we could actually make great team.” There’s a yin and yang quality to both of us and two very different approaches as we saw on the first episode, but justice will be served.

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Carisi says that there’s no way that Hawkins is sticking around SVU. Does Hawkins feel that way?

I think Hawkins’ guiding light in the world is to one day be president, president of the United States. I think he thinks that highly and that intentionally. Never say never. I think one of the most beautiful things about a character having such a high guiding light is that at any point that can be fractured and changed based on something that moves him in the world of SVU. And so I think Hawkins enters feeling like this is just a passing phrase, he’s just passing through. But who knows? He actually might land here and say, “Oh my gosh, something really important is happening here.” And I think, case by case, you might see that kind of affect him and change him to understand the depth of what being an ADA at SVU is all about.

Especially because the people that he’s going to be working with now, they are so passionate about this, this means so much to them that for him to see that has to come into play.

Right. There’s nothing more exciting than seeing somebody passionate about what they’re doing. There’s nothing more exciting because then you’re like, “Oh, I’m energized. I’m in it.” And I think the relationship between Hawkins and Benson and hopefully, I hope what will be a great relationship between Hawkins and Carisi, to be determined, is because these are all extremely passionate people. I think that’s what makes great characters on television personally. And so I think Hawkins has his eye on the prize, but the prize just might be here at SVU.

Yeah, because even though Benson is starting to question, how far have they actually come, and we see that in last week’s episode, even still, this job means so much to her. And he can see that because he’s the one that she goes to with her plan on how to get what they need to get those guilty verdicts. But because Hawkins is the one who suggests adding another charge, that made me wonder: Was he thinking of something similar but just hadn’t suggested because he was feeling out how this team works?

Absolutely. I absolutely think Hawkins is a brainiac. He lives in his brain and he’s so quick at deciphering, “OK, what’s a tactic, what’s a tactic, what’s a tactic?” But because you’re the new guy, you kind of come in, you’re under somebody, you don’t want to really tell how you speak your truth. That takes courage. And so I think we might go on a journey of him learning how to speak up and speak his mind and be like, “No, hey, I have this plan. What about it?” But I think he definitely, especially in that scene where he sees Carisi and Benson fighting in Benson’s office… the thing about hawks is they can see so far and from so far away. And so I feel like I’m bringing that kind of animal sense into Hawkins of like, “I see everything that’s happening here. I see every dynamic and I’m already three steps ahead of it, but I’m going to keep my mouth shut until the time is right.”

And then it’s like, “Oh, OK. She’s willing to do this, so now I can speak up.” So what did he think of Benson when they first met and how did that move change his opinion of her? Is he now going to be more apt to go to her and be like, “You know what? We can do this and this and this together.” And maybe Carisi gets kind of pushed out a bit?

I think there’s respect for Benson, great respect. And with great respect comes like, “Oh, no, that’s the person I really want to be working with.” And Carisi becomes a little bit of a stepping stone to Benson, the person who really is taking charge here. Not to say that Carisi doesn’t take charge, but in what we’ve seen so far in this season, we’re like, “Carisi, come on. Do you want to get justice or not?” And so I think you’re going to see Hawkins be an engine that moves everyone into action. And I hope it’s for good in the end.

Because it’s not like breaking the rules, even bending the law or anything. It’s just how much are you really willing to bend your moral compass maybe and what you can live with to get what you want, especially with some of these verdicts.

Correct. But at the end of the day, I think there’s a human radar within Hawkins that’s like, this person actually did it. Something should happen to them that he actually can’t let go of. And I think Benson feels the same way. It’s like this is a criminal act that has been done that will change someone’s life forever. Something must be done. And so there is actually a great compass for justice. Even in this Episode 2, you’ll see that there’s a whole conversation that the whole team has about, what is justice in this case? And that’s triggered by Hawkins.

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And especially I think as Hawkins spends more time with the victims and he sees how they were affected, then he’s probably more apt to do things like that, to be like, “What can I do to get justice for this person?”

Correct. Because his world is actually expanding, right? If you think about the Harvard of it all, the Ivy League rich kid who’s been privileged his entire life, his world, as he sees the world of SVU, he’s expanding and understanding, “Oh my God, there’s so much more and it’s so much more complicated than I thought.” And I think that’s actually what the beef is with Carisi. Carisi thinks I don’t see the world in full. I see the world through my little microscope. And I’m like, “You could be right. My field division could be a little small, but that’s why I need you friend to help me expand.” And that’s why I’m there. I think that’s why Hawkins takes this job to be like, teach me how to be a better lawyer. And why not go with the best who’s been around for 13 years?

Is anything coming up where we’re going to see Hawkins and Carisi on the same page?

Well, I think they’re always on the same page, right? I mean, they sit next to each other at that table and at the end of the day, they work for the people and the people must win. But I think it remains to be seen when and how they unite. But I look forward to the day that they do and I hope that they do because I think actually they could be a great team.

So far we’ve seen Hawkins with Carisi and Benson. What’s coming up with him and the rest of the squad and who are we going to see him mostly with?

I think right now his true tether is Carisi and Benson. And of course because of Carisi, we’ll see a lot of Rollins [Kelli Giddish], too. But I wonder where his friendships would lie. I think about Bruno [Kevin Kane] and Curry [Aime Donna Kelly] and Griffin [Corey Cott] and I’m like, I could see him being friends with them too. I could see him actually building community with the people at SVU because on top of being great at their job, I actually think that this current cast of characters are actually very empathetic people. And I think as much as Hawkins likes to armor up and suit up and pull up that tie, he’s a huge heart underneath there.

I’m really interested in the Hawkins and Rollins dynamic because Rollins is having fun messing with Carisi about Hawkins, but I do want to know what Hawkins and Rollins are like.

Right, right. I think you always have to respect your boss. I think Hawkins is never going to break any kind of — Even when Carisi yells at him after he does what he does, it’s like, “Oh no, that’s my boss. I have to be a good student.” I think he’s never going to break that code. And so akin to that, it’s like that’s the boss’s wife. I got to be nice to her. [Laughs] So I think there is greater love to be found in this entire elite squad. And I think Hawkins is just a catalyst for bonding, for rebinding connections, for finding a way for everyone to continue on invested in the law and doing what’s right.

We got a little glimpse of him off the clock because Benson went to Hawkins’ place at the end.

That party!

Yeah. So how much are we going to see him off the clock?

I hope we see him more. I would love to see that more. I would love to know what’s this guy’s gym routine? Does he do boxing? Does he take Carisi with him and be like, “Hey, let’s talk it out through a workout class or something.” I would love to see just how much his boundary of work and life kind of breaks. Because when I think about my friends who are actually true DAs and ADAs, like any other career in this world, at a certain point, that boundary has to fracture just a little bit and the two worlds start to blend. And so I wonder, Hawkins is a strong boundary right now, but I wonder if we start to break that in the future and we see him outside of his suit and tie. Could be. I don’t know.

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Are there any cases coming up that are going to be personal for Hawkins?

I think every case is personal for him, honestly. I think just because he’s so new to the world of SVU. I think Carisi at one point says, “Oh yeah, let’s hear from the guy who was just chasing purse snatchers six months ago.” And so that version of the law is very different than SVU, so it becomes personal instantly. So I think every case is going to be to heart for him.

Something that the Dick Wolf shows do in general is so well at the crossovers. So are we going to see you with any of the Law & Order cast at any point? Have you done anything yet?

I hope so, because Tony Goldwyn is a good friend of mine. I’ve known him since I was in high school. His daughter went to high school with me, Tessa. So we’ve known each other for a long time. And when I saw him at the Dun Dun Diner, he was like, “No way!” And I was like, “I’m here, bro!” And so I selfishly want to work with that team because they’re all such cool people that I’m like, “I want to work with those actors.” So I would love for a crossover to happen.

I’d be really interested to see how Hawkins acts in front of Baxter.

Me too. Me too. Because it’s kind of, a la Benson, I wonder is he afraid of Baxter or is he kind of like, “I see you too, and one day I’ll have your position, too.” How bold is this confidence with Hawkins? And I think that is really the question of the season: How bold is his confidence?

Law & Order: SVU, Thursdays, 9/8c, NBC