Pop star Reneé Rapp reveals her dream role in Law & Order: SVU

Reneé Rapp has her sights set on a bold storyline if she ever appears in Law & Order: SVU. While promoting her new album Bite Me, the singer and actress shared that she would only return to acting for a role that breaks away from the show’s usual

“victim or killer-of-the-week” setup.

Speaking on NBC’s Today show, Rapp explained exactly what she wants to do on the long-running series:

“Let me tell ya. I would be — Mariska Hargitay’s lover. She would be gay, finally.”

She added that the role would allow her to play opposite Hargitay’s iconic character, Captain Olivia Benson.

Expanding on her idea, Rapp said,

“We just somehow get tangled in an undercover kind of miss[ion], probably with a drug empire.”

According to Deadline, she emphasized that her version of Benson’s story would bring a new dynamic to the series, which is now in its 26th season.

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Rapp’s vision for Olivia Benson

Rapp’s pitch centers on a storyline where Benson explores her sexuality. During her Today appearance, she recalled a previous episode where Benson’s orientation was briefly hinted at.

“There was an episode where they were talking about it and considering if she was gay,” she said. “I feel like Christopher Meloni’s character was like, ‘No, like, you’re a lesbian.’ And she was like, ‘Um, no.’ Liar.”

For Rapp, portraying Benson’s love interest would not only be a dream role but also a way to challenge established dynamics in Law & Order: SVU. She described her imagined plot as an undercover partnership that escalates into something more personal.

“She would be gay, finally,” Rapp repeated, underscoring how central this idea is to her vision.

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Connection to her acting career

Although known primarily as a pop artist, Rapp has a background in acting, with credits including The Sex Lives of College Girls and the Mean Girls movie musical. However, she has been on what Deadline calls an unofficial acting hiatus while focusing on her music career.

In a 2022 interview, Rapp explained how acting fits her larger ambitions.

“I can do music on the side, like, I can just hustle. And now I’ve just kept acting, because it keeps supporting the music,” she said at the time.

She also described her acting career as

“my way into tricking everyone that I warranted attention.”

Despite stepping back from acting, Rapp told Today that the opportunity to appear on Law & Order: SVU, particularly in the role she imagines, could draw her back to television.

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Law & Order: SVU and fan expectations

Rapp’s comments come as Law & Order: SVU continues to explore long-running storylines involving Captain Olivia Benson and her former partner, Detective Elliot Stabler, played by Christopher Meloni. In recent seasons, writers have teased fans with near-romantic moments between the two characters.

Meloni recently hinted at a return to the series, sharing behind-the-scenes photos with Hargitay and other cast members. Responding to a fan who urged Stabler to

“kiss [Benson] already,” he wrote on social media: “I’m f—ing trying.”

Rapp’s proposed storyline would offer a different take on Benson’s character arc, one that diverges from the Benson-Stabler dynamic while introducing a new relationship element. As she put it on Today:

“Let me tell ya. I would be — Mariska Hargitay’s lover.”

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Reneé Rapp says her dream role in Law & Order: SVU would be to play Olivia Benson’s lover, imagining an undercover mission that turns romantic. While she focuses on her music career, she admits that this storyline could bring her back to acting.