Law & Order Shocker: Reid Scott to Leave Show During Season 26

Jul 24, 2026 - 01:02

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Detective Vincent Riley is turning in his badge.

Law & Order star Reid Scott—who has portrayed New York City detective Riley since season 23—will be saying goodbye to the long-running NBC crime drama during the show's upcoming 26th season, E! News confirmed.

The Veep alum will reportedly wrap up his character's storyline at the top of the new season before exiting for good. Filling Scott's shoes will be newcomer James Badge Dale, whose character details have not yet been revealed.

While the cast shakeup might be a shock to some fans, Scott is forever grateful for the opportunity to be a part of Dick Wolf's Law & Order universe, however short-lived.

As the 48-year-old told Town & Country magazine in 2024 after joining the procedural, "I was probably the only one in my circle of actor friends who didn’t appear on the show."

"It was not for lack of trying, believe me," he continued, "I wanted it so badly because it was a rite of passage when you’re 20, 21. Everyone I knew was doing it, and for whatever reason, it never came my way."

But after landing a lead role on the series—which costars Tony Goldwin, Maura Tierney, David Ajala, Hugh Dancy and Odelya Halevi—Scott was able to check the life goal off his bucket list.

"Not only am I scratching this itch from 20 plus years ago," he told the outlet, "but also, it's just fun to run around the streets of New York with a gun, a badge, and a bad attitude."

Virginia Sherwood/NBC

Scott also detailed how working on Law & Order was different from any TV set he's worked on before.

"You can't help but give yourself over to it and become part of the machine," he explained. "I've never done anything like this before; I'm still really enthralled by all that. How wow, this thing, it just takes you."

"You show up on the day and you do the stunt, say the line; you clack the handcuffs on the bad guy; you are a super cop; and you give your testimony, and you go home," Scott continued. "And then you rinse and repeat. So the challenge becomes: can you keep up with that grueling schedule because it's a marathon, having to do it week after week after week after week."

Scott certainly isn't the first beloved cast member to shock fans with a surprise departure. Keep reading to see more TV stars who left their hit shows.

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Jennifer Garner

The actress played a graduate student who has a romantic encounter with Benjamin Bratt's character in a 1996 episode.

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Adam Driver

Before his breakout role on Girls, Driver appeared on Law & Order's final 2010 season and played a lab technician accused of murdering an escort.

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Julia Roberts

In 1999, while she was dating series star Benjamin Bratt, the actress made a rare TV appearance as a party planner involved in the death of powerful businessman.

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Sebastian Stan

Nearly 20 years ago, the Pam & Tommy star played a boy abducted and raised by his abuser in 2003.

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Allison Janney

Early in her career, the Oscar winner popped up on Law & Order twice in 1992 and 1994. The first time, she played a character scared to testify about a murder. She returned two years later to portray someone interviewed about the murder of soap opera actress.

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Sam Rockwell

The Oscar winner has portrayed two different characters on seasons two and three, playing a police officer and a member of a family accused of murdering a Chinese-American student respectively.

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Emmy Rossum

Rossum's very first acting gig was on a 1997 episode playing a preteen who was the target of a female circumcision.

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Sarah Paulson

In her very first TV role, the Emmy winner played a teen who claimed that she was having an affair with her murdered mother's new husband in 1994.

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Samuel L. Jackson

The actor appeared in a 1991 episode as the lawyer for a drug dealer accused of rape. Who played the drug dealer? Read on...

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Philip Seymour Hoffman

In his first television role, the future Oscar winner played a drug dealer betrayed by another crook. Samuel L. Jackson is his lawyer.

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Claire Danes

Even before her starring role on My So-Called Life, the actress played a troubled teen in a 1992 episode that also featured future Six Feet Under star Lauren Ambrose.

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Leighton Meester

In a 1999 episode, she plays the daughter of a battered woman who helps detectives Briscoe and Curtis with a case.

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Vera Farmiga

The Up In the Air star had a part in a 1998 episode about a shooting.

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Ellen Pompeo

The Grey's Anatomy actress actually appeared on Law & Order twice, in 1996 and 2000. (Fellow Grey's stars Kate Walsh and Chandra Wilson also got work on the series.)

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