Posted in: NBC, TV | Tagged: A Man In Full, interview, Josh Pais, Law & Order, law & order: special victims unit, Law & Order: SVU

Law & Order: Josh Pais Reflects on His Franchise History & Future

Josh Pais (A Man in Full) spoke with Bleeding Cool about his history with the Law & Order franchise, working on SVU, and if he would return.

Josh Pais is one of the most versatile character actors with a career spanning five decades. He got his start on television in 1988, and one of his first early film roles was the voice of Raphael in the 1990 live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. He also gained traction on in both film and television with appearances on Paramount's Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, CBS's Murphy Brown, NBC's Homicide: Life on the Street, and HBO's Sex and the City. The franchise he arguably left his biggest impact on would be NBC's original Law & Order, where he played multiple roles, most famously as assistant medical examiner Borak in 13 of 16 episodes as well as three original characters, with 2009 being his final appearance in the main series as Defense Attorney Mosely.

On Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, he played Defense Attorney Robert Sorensen in three episodes across the first three seasons and Deputy Commissioner Hank Abraham in seven episodes across seasons 15-17. That's not even diving into his two episodes on Criminal Intent as original characters. While promoting his Netflix limited series A Man in Full, Pais spoke to Bleeding Cool about his legacy in the franchise, whether he'll return in the revived main series or SVU, and what roles he still wants to play.

Josh Pais Reflects on His Law & Order History on the "Mothership" and SVU

You've done so much in the 'Law & Order' universe playing multiple characters, and I was wondering just as far as reflecting on your time on the original series, 'SVU,' 'Criminal Intent,' how has it been for you on those shows? Do you see yourself coming back anytime soon?

I started out in the first season of the "mothership," as they call it. That was the only show that was in New York at the time, other than soap operas, and nobody had any idea it was going to turn into something as epic as it has. On that show, I started as the medical examiner, and I did several seasons as that character. I had to play around with how to make a character whose script was mainly medical jargon, more interesting to the audience. As the medical examiner, I played with the concept that my character thought he was so much smarter than the detectives. I also played with the emotion that on some level, my character resented the detectives for getting all the attention in breaking a case. It was an underground element that I was playing with. It added a dimension to the scenes that could have been bland, such as "He died of this and this concussion and blah, blah, blah."

When I started doing 'SVU', as Commissioner Abraham, hierarchically I was more powerful than Mariska [Hargitay]'s character. That was fun to play with and an interesting dynamic with her. I was telling the writers things such as, "Let's give me something crazy. Let's shake it up a bit," and then they came up with this whole storyline of my character being involved in porn, and it ultimately was the demise of this guy that had all this power by being thrown in jail. In terms of me coming back, I would say it might be time because… my character's been in prison for a couple of years now.

Is there a type of role or genre you hope to do more that you don't feel like you've done enough or something on your acting bucket list you still want to do?

One thing that interests me with any characters is the question, "What does this guy not see in himself?" And as a result of not seeing that element in himself, he operates in a way that can generate interesting dynamics. That's always interesting. I was in 'Joker' (2019), and I've never done anything in that universe before. I'd like to dive into that arena some more. I'm also super fascinated with people who are surviving on the streets of New York. A film or series that explores the homeless, would be something I'd like to work on. It's an important issue in the world at large. I'd also like to play someone who's hopelessly in love.

A Man in Full, which also stars Jeff Daniels, Diane Lane, Tom Pelphrey, Aml Ameen, Chanté Adams, Jon Michael Hill, Sarah Jones, William Jackson Harper, and Lucy Liu, is available to stream on Netflix.

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