Sarah Paulson Played Two Unforgettable Characters on Law & Order and SVU
Sarah Paulson has always been a certified scene-stealer. In fact, before becoming a TV juggernaut, the award-winning actress delivered the chills first on Law & Order and again on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
How to Watch
Law & Order returns Thursday, January 8 at 8/7c on NBC and next day on Peacock.
The American Horror Story and Run icon has been charming audiences for decades, but like many glimmering stars before her, she got her start on the NBC nail-biter, a longtime magnet for dynamite guest stars. In 1994, Paulson delivered a grand-slam debut performance on Law & Order, a goosebump-inducing early indicator of Paulson’s talent for playing gripping characters. Decades later — long after spearheading a prolific entertainment career marked by magnetic performances — Paulson returned to the franchise on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in a role that serves as a cheeky homage to her Law & Order origins.
Now an Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actress boasting a portfolio jam-packed with must-watch hits, Paulson proved her on-screen finesse from the get-go with her jaw-dropping Law & Order performances.
Law & Order is Sarah Paulson’s first-ever acting credit
In 1994, Paulson joined Law & Order‘s glimmering pantheon of guest stars after hopping aboard Law & Order Season 5, Episode 4 (“Family Values”). Paulson played Maggie Conner, an emotionally troubled 17-year-old who was roped in as an accomplice in the shocking murder of her mother, Laura. Maggie landed in hot water after becoming entangled in a jaw-dropping affair with her philanderous stepfather, Stephen Martell. Yes, you read that correctly, Paulson’s Law & Order debut was not only a gripping who-dunnit, but an incestuous who-dunwho.
What happened during Sarah Paulson’s Law & Order episode?
After being swooned by her conniving stepfather, Stephen Martell, Maggie fell obsessively in love with him, an affair that her mother eventually discovered. The shocking revelation led to an intense altercation and Martell accidentally murdered Laura, with Maggie witnessing her mother’s death. Knowing he’d be the squad’s primary suspect, Martell then manipulated Maggie into helping her cover up the murder.
The squad landed on Martell’s trail, and Maggie came clean about the affair in an effort to provide an alibi. But once Martell landed on the stand, he denied any romantic involvement with his stepdaughter and claimed that Maggie killed her own mother to have Martell to herself. Upon this shocking deception, Maggie realized she was being used and confessed to Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston) that her mother only discovered the affair thanks to Maggie finally telling her about it. After the subsequent screaming match, Maggie was coerced into becoming an accomplice.
After verifying her story with a sickeningly accurate account of the first time her stepfather made sexual advances toward her — in direct contrast with outright denial of their consensual affair — the squad realized she was telling the truth and was a tragic victim within the devastating reality. Maggie was granted lesser charges as an accessory, helping bring justice to the actual culprit.
When did Sarah Paulson guest star on Law & Order: SVU?
More than two decades after making audiences’ jaws drop on Law & Order, Paulson returned to the precinct in the smash spinoff Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in Season 11, Episode 12 (“Shadow”). Parricide is a bit of a theme between Paulson’s Law & Order appearances, but she delivered some double-trouble action to the squad room as Annabelle Gillette, a spoiled heiress who murdered both her mother and father in an effort to gain more of their inheritance.
Oh, and an Easter egg for Law & Order ride-or-dies: during the episode, viewers are treated to a slideshow of photos of a younger Anne, and these are befittingly photos of Paulson as Maggie Conner from her Law & Order debut.
Sarah Paulson played an entitled murderer on Law & Order: SVU
Guest Star Sarah Paulson: Woman Knows Who Murdered Her Parents | Law & Order: SVU | NBC
After wealthy NYPD donors, the Gillettes, are found dead in what appeared to be a murder-suicide, Detective Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni) soon realized they were actually looking at a double homicide. The detectives soon learned that Gillette’s daughter, Annabelle, had not only blown through her trust fund but had also built a reputation for being a high spender, dodging tax payments, and stealing from charitable organizations to make high donations to herself.
Annabelle became the squad’s primary suspect, and she delivered many headaches upon her arrest. During the trial, she dared to put a hit out on Benson, which inspired her and the SVU detectives to get creative in proving Annabelle’s guilt.
After orchestrating a “rescue” during her transport from Rikers to the courthouse, an undercover Fin (Ice T) managed to get Anne to confess to killing both of her parents upon the discovery that she was being edited out of their will. With this confession, Fin and the detectives revealed their ruse, arresting her all over again. In an explosion of fury, Annabelle said she had a way to kill them all, making Benson chuckle as the mask finally slipped.