As Corey Cott settles in as Detective Jake Griffin on Season 27 of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, die-hard fans may already know that he’s not exactly an SVU newcomer. Cott is one of many actors to go from a dynamite SVU guest star to a full-fledged member of the squad.

Law & Order: SVU has long been a beacon for memorable guest appearances, but some performances serve as just a taste of what they’d bring to the squad room later on. Case in point: Peter Scanavino played four different roles across the franchise before Sonny Carisi’s official SVU introduction, while Kelli Giddish played a Season 8 character before her Season 13 arrival as Amanda Rollins. Like these SVU icons, Cott landed a guest role on SVU nearly a decade before joining Benson’s squad in Season 27, and he’s hit the ground running.

Cott’s very first SVU appearance was a far cry from the heroic role he’s donned as Detective Jake Griffin on Season 27 of the NBC nail-biter. Learn all about the star’s Law & Order debut back in 2017, below.

Corey Cott’s first SVU episode in Season 18 was a nail-biter

Back when Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) was still a Lieutenant, her squad got a call from a house party where a heavily intoxicated woman named Janie was reported to have been raped by one of her peers, Ellis Griffin. After a British tourist witnessed the assault, which took place near a dumpster while Janie was unconscious, he called the cops, and Ellis was taken into custody. During his interrogation, Ellis claimed the entire exchange was consensual, despite the bystander finding Janie passed out.

To make matters worse, Benson soon learned that Ellis’ father was Patrick Griffin, her first-ever partner in the NYPD. That’s right — there was a time before Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni). Patrick had looked out for Benson, taught her a lot during their time in the 5-5 together. The SVU’s arrest made it quite an awkward reunion between Patrick and Benson, especially as Patrick assumed there had been a mistake.

But the evidence was overwhelming. Not only did the British tourist see the assault, but Janie identified a photo of Ellis as a man she kissed the night before. She claimed to kiss him willingly, but had felt guilty and didn’t want anything further after a recent break-up. Janie told investigators she didn’t consent to sex, leading the investigation to catapult into an explosive he-said-she-said.

Some witnesses claimed that Ellis was nice upfront while secretly sexually aggressive, while others said he’d never do such a thing. Other party guests claimed Janie was all over Ellis, creating a mind-boggling tapestry for the detectives. Janie had blacked out and couldn’t recall granting consent, but her hazy memory meant she couldn’t verify that she hadn’t given consent, either, giving A.D.A. Rafael Barba (Raul Esparza) a treacherous prosecution to navigate.

Patrick begged Benson to make Ellis’ arrest go away, saying it would destroy his only son’s life.  After Benson turned down this request, Patrick tried to leverage a rookie mistake she made in her first year on the force to force her hand. Ellis had made one mistake, just like her, Patrick argued. Benson assured Patrick that nothing was going to be brushed under the rug as the trial continued.

Despite the overwhelming evidence against him, Ellis claimed innocence, leading his father to get creative during the trial. Benson was shocked after learning Patrick coerced a new last-minute witness onto the stand in an effort to stir reasonable doubt among the jury, but his efforts were in vain.

Upon seeing the corrupt strides his father had taken to help him avoid jail time, Ellis broke down and confessed his guilt to the shock of the entire courtroom. Afterward, Ellis pleaded guilty, receiving 24 months in prison, a short sentence that left many viewers with a sick feeling in their stomach.

Corey Cott’s acting career includes SVU, Broadway, and more

Corey Cott has built a versatile portfolio across stage and television, first making waves for his performances in Broadway productions like Newsies, Gigi, and the Tony-winning musical Bandstand, which was filmed live and released in 2018.

After stealing hearts on stage, Cott went on to appear in several must-see television projects, such as Z: The Beginning of Everything, Law & Order, Filthy Rich, The Equalizer, and The Good Fight. Cott even made his way to Dick Wolf’s One Chicago universe, guest starring in Chicago Med Season 8, Episode 11 (“It Is What It Is, Until It Isn’t”).

Nowadays, Cott stars as Detective Jake Griffin on Season 27 of Law & Order: SVU, and we can’t wait to see what he brings to the squad room. Don’t miss the return of Law & Order Thursdays on January 8 on NBC.